To ensure an event-you-won't-want-to-miss reputation is maintained, Acappella Omaha always asks members for volunteers to host the retreat. Last year, when nobody had stepped up by the usual November-December timeframe, I halfheartedly told the president I had an idea and could take it on if nobody else seemed interested. I had just seen Pitch Perfect, learned the now famous Cups Song (When I'm Gone), and recorded it as a special musical project for my iWiNK Productions YouTube channel, so thought a rhythm related retreat theme would be fun. Thank goodness, someone else stepped up and I didn't have to follow through in what ended up being the busiest time in my job at that time.
However, this past fall--I had more flexible time as my position had been eliminated following a subsidiary merger--so I could more readily take on this additional volunteer project. I talked my quartet Firelight into helping me pick back up on this idea, and the rest of the flames graciously agreed to help assemble goodie bags and brainstorm on activities for the party portion of the weekend.
I thought it might be fun to put together a blog with ideas used in this particular retreat, in case anything is helpful to others looking to do something similar. Here are 10 Ways to Add Fun to a Musical Coaching Retreat:
1) Choose a fun musical theme. Our retreat theme was inspired by and named for the Gloria Estefan song The Rhythm is Gonna Getcha.
2) Create a fun-filled flyer to introduce the theme to members and begin creating the excitement in the months counting down to the retreat. We sent the flyer below to members about two months before the retreat. We also had a video possibility we were unable to record before our quartet's snowbird member left for the winter, but here's a link to the script in case of interest.
3) Ask members to contribute a piece of themselves to include in the decor. We asked members to provide three-to-five copies of a fun rhythm selfie--basically a picture of them with some kind of rhythm instrument like the one pictured.
4) Choose a fun related project attendees can work on learning in the countdown as they're looking forward to the event. Our fun related project for this rhythm weekend was learning the Cups Cadence. I made a How-to video and sent it to Acappella Omaha members about a month before the retreat.
5) Create a theme-relevant decor plan with a generous amount of eyecandy and interest that welcomes members the minute they enter the room, and continues to inject excitement for them--even when they're standing on the risers. At the entrance, we hung fabric strips with the rhythm selfies attached from the rafters which happened to be part of the architecture in the Mahoney Lodge Nebraska room, where the retreat was held.
6) Create goodie bags with as many things attendees might need for the weekend as possible. We gave everyone a cup for the Cups Cadence, plus various things a singer might need (tissues, water, throat lozenges, mints, gum, crackers, granola bars, etc.) and finally, a little rhythm shaker we made by putting Skittles in Easter eggs!
7) Send links to fun relevant videos in the countdown and--if possible--a customized teaser to the crazy fun weekend, helping ensure everyone's enthusiasm is at an all-time high when they arrive. We sent video links to different versions of The Cups Song and The Rhythm is Gonna Get You, and finally an iMovie video made with photoshopped slides including the rhythm selfies. It's set to royalty-free latin music and called Less Than 24 Hours to Our Rhythm Retreat. It served as a fun way to kick off the weekend.
8) Ask attendees to BYO snacks to share and plan fun theme-related skits, activities or presentations to help provide entertainment for the afterparty. We had two sets of roommates do skits (Baby Mamas sang a parody of Rhythm of the Rain called Rhythm Method Fails Again and Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha (in disguise) give a stellar rhythm skit performance), one set did a Happy-and-You-Know-It team activity song, and we threw in a few additional activities to complete the fun (Cups Cadence, teaching Bim-Bum-Bittie clap-snap-pattycake song, and a shameless video-dancing finale). We hope everyone found something they liked about the evening!
9) Be generous with whatever decor items members can take back to their rooms or home with them as often the parties continue even after the coaching retreat party ends! This year, we had balloons, miscellaneous rhythm pictures and leftover snacks for members to take.
10) Create a final wrap-up message to ensure members know every effort they made to help in the weekend's success was much appreciated. We sent a faster-paced video using the aforementioned slides, with more of a fun ending-with-a-bang flavor. It includes a final "Catch the Fun" slide with Acappella Omaha's website and Twitter page URLs, in case members' friends see it on Facebook and want to take a closer look at the group.
There it is--10 Ways to Add Fun to a Musical Coaching Retreat. Hopefully, one or more of these suggestions will help in a project of yours one day. If you have any creative ideas for such a retreat to share, we'd love to hear from you. Happy planning!
Today's Quote:
"Vision is the true creative rhythm."
-- Robert Delaunay
