Each year the entire Accountfully team gathers at our headquarters in Charleston to stay connected, strengthen our workplace bond, and celebrate the year’s hard work. Sometimes we need a few days to remove ourselves from the outsourced accounting grind and connect as the cool accountants we are. We seem to say this every year, but we believe this year was extra special. We rebranded the name, added a day, and decided on our first theme: “Smooth Sailing”. The theme permeated across all of our activities, from our workshop held at the Charleston Yacht Club to our Yacht Rock-themed playlist to Thursday’s sunset cruise aboard the Charleston Princess. Sit down, relax, and dive into our recap of the event.
Thursday started with an in-depth workshop focused on strengthening our team’s alignment. This was held by Ben Sands, of Sands Leadership. We shared important insight into our values, beliefs, and goals with our close work colleagues. This made for a fun and engaging way to learn about our work habits and come away with some new tools to better ourselves.
The workshop was held by the Charleston Yacht Club, right on the water. Each table had nautical-themed decor to get us in the smooth sailing mood. Each team member was greeted with a commemorative Smooth Sailing notepad, mug, and pen.
The downtime between our workshop and the yacht cruise allowed us to catch up on work, connect with colleagues, and enjoy all Charleston has to offer. Our tax team (which is primarily remote) enjoyed a short history tour led by our local Tax Manager through Rainbow Row and various historic sites in the area.
Later that evening, we met at the Maritime Center to board the Charleston Princess for a sunset cruise and dinner. The weather and scenery were a perfect backdrop while sipping our Accountfully Spritz drinks from custom-branded cups. The Accountfully team-curated Smooth Sailing playlist was our soundtrack for the evening. To celebrate the theme, we dressed in nautical-inspired attire.
For those seeking a more kitschy nautical experience, we had a fun photo booth set up with various props. Both digital and Polaroid pictures were an option. The majority of the team took the party to downtown Charleston and enjoyed each other’s company much later into the evening.
Friday was our competitive athletic day, where we competed against each other in the first-ever Accountfully Olympics. Relays and various event stations allowed each team to score points, with fun, simple games like Yahtzee, an adapted Corn hole challenge, putting, pool noodle javelin, and more.
Each event was challenging enough to inspire our inner competitiveness, but simple enough to keep it fun and light. We all wore black athletic attire to match, and our teams were designated by colored hats. The development of the team names was its own event. Our inner marketing skills went full send as each team developed not only accountant-sounding names but logos with their team captains incorporated in each.
Our team names were:
The top three teams were placed in Gold, Silver, and Bronze at our Taco Boy Farewell Fiesta.
Our winners were:
Once we wrapped up our Olympics, we met at the downtown Taco Boy, for our Farewell Fiesta. We reminisced and said our goodbyes over excellent Mexican food.
If you want to join the fun and share our playlist and cocktail, made specifically for the Annual Retreat, we’ve got you covered. Our Smooth Sailing playlist can be found on the Accountfully Spotify account here. It has over 100 Yacht Rock-inspired tunes perfect for keeping your workday easy and light or relaxing aboard a yacht sailing smooth waters.
Our signature cocktail is inspired by our Charleston office location, which used to be a pharmacy. The Park Pharmacy was famous for its homemade elixirs, one of them being Lime water. To make an Accountfully Spritz, simply combine Gin, Club Soda, and fresh Lime.
2023’s Annual Retreat has set a high standard for next year’s planning, but we can’t wait to get started on the next one. Our team went home recharged, relaxed, and motivated to take Q4 by storm. Google Meets and Slack will surely be abuzz reminiscing over the week’s events well into October. If you are reading this and seeking the kind of camaraderie and team atmosphere our Annual Retreat brings, feel free to learn more about Accountfully life by following us on social and exploring our Careers page.
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