Can you discuss how you created Retreat 21? What was the idea behind it? What made you inspired to do so?
As experienced venue owners, we knew we wanted to push the boundaries on our next venture. Retreat 21 is the culmination of all the things we are good at and passionate about: building beautiful and inspiring event spaces for people to celebrate; creating unique experiences that take people beyond their expectations of a typical event; delivering exceptional hospitality; and connecting experiences to beautiful outdoor settings with sustainability and conservation in mind; creating engaging team experiences.
Can you give us a little of the history of the company and as owners?
Co-owners, Liz and Carl Seiley started their journey in the event world working as servers / caterers for Young’s Jersey Dairy near their hometown, Enon, OH. Their shared passion for events, customer service and serving their community provided the foundation for launching FLIP, a cancer prevention nonprofit in 2010 and Vue Columbus, their first event space in 2013.
Our theme this year is Compound Up. Can you talk about how Retreat 21 has done this?
Compound growth is essential to our mission at Retreat 21. We believe in constant growth and constant improvement. Our approach to venue development is gradual, yet consistent and dedicated investment. Financially, we could not do everything we wanted all at once. Its been very hard, but we’ve invested in landscape improvements every year; and slowly but surely they are starting to really pay off. The property looks much different than it did even 2 seasons ago. We’ve invested back in the business every season by adding additional spaces and offerings (Geodomes, Wifi in cabins, outdoor spaces at the Taphouse, AC at the Taphouse). This type of consistent investment takes a lot of work, and a lot of sacrifice. But, the ROI on consistent, gradual leveling up is incomparable.
Can you talk about your corporate retreats? What do they entail? How do you book them?
We are proud to offer the best corporate retreat experience in the midwest! Groups can come for just the day, or stay overnight in modern lodging for a multiday retreat. Featuring unique, upscale indoor meeting rooms (complete with state of the art AV and meeting essentials); shaded outdoor patios for breakout sessions; trails to explore; a gorgeous waterfront experience for dinner or games; happy hour at the Taphouse; and tons of unique team building activities to chose from. We are meeting planning and team engagement experts and make the entire experience seamless, fun and impactful.
How about company events (holiday parties) at the Retreat 21 Taphouse are those also easy to book?
We have tons of great options for team outings like happy hours, celebration dinners, and holiday parties. Options range from fun and active – like shuffleboard or curling (winter), to unique and intimate (reservable glasshouses); to upscale larger celebrations.
