In technology and software companies the corporate trip is often the only face-to-face gathering of the year. The team sits in three different cities, part of it works fully remotely, and the sprint calendar, release dates and client deliveries narrow the window the programme can fit into. This page summarises the offsite, workshop and innovation visit formats we build for software, product, data and design teams; how hybrid teams are brought together; and how a workshop is turned into a concrete output.
Which formats work for technology teams?
The four formats most requested by technology teams are the quarterly or half-year offsite, the hackathon-style build workshop, the international innovation visit, and the design and storytelling camp. The question that decides the format is what has to exist at the end of the gathering: a roadmap, a prototype or a stronger team.
Quarterly and half-year offsite
A one- or two-night gathering of product, engineering and design leads, or of the whole team. Roadmap, architecture decisions and a team retrospective during the day, a social programme in the evening. The room is set up for working, not presenting: writable walls, movable tables, strong connectivity and a power socket for every participant. It is the most productive format for groups of 15-60.
Hackathon-style build workshop
A 24-36 hour format in which teams build a prototype around a problem and present it at the end. Teams are mixed across departments, and the jury and pitch flow are set in advance. Run residentially out of town it has fewer distractions; places close to the city such as the Princes' Islands and Sapanca suit this format.
International innovation visit
The Amsterdam and Singapore routes are 3-5 day programmes combining technology campus and start-up ecosystem visits, sector meetings and a cultural programme. Company visits require correspondence 8-10 weeks in advance. They suit product and leadership teams of 8-25 people.
Design and storytelling camp
A workshop for 5-25 people in which the product team focuses on the user story, the pitch language and the design system. It is chosen ahead of an investor pitch, a product launch or a client demo; the target output is a pitch skeleton and a design principles document.
How are hybrid teams in different cities brought together?
For hybrid teams the first decision is the meeting point. For teams arriving from Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir a common arrival window is set according to flight and train times, and the programme starts on the afternoon of day one so that nobody arriving on a morning flight is late. For remote participants who cannot travel there are two options: rather than connecting them only to the social section, build live participation in specific workshop sessions and a parallel work stream on a digital board, or repeat the programme for two regional offices in the same week. If part of the team is abroad, the time zone difference sets the session times. Transport and accommodation are quoted on separate lines per city, so each office's budget lands in its own cost centre.
How does a workshop turn into a concrete output?
So that what remains at the end of an offsite is a document rather than a photo album, the programme is built backwards: the output is defined first and the sessions are ordered to produce it. In a roadmap offsite a decision list and an owner are written at the end of every session; in the hackathon format the pitch criteria are shared in the first hour; in the design camp the final session is a group read-through of the document. If a facilitator is requested, one is chosen either from the company's own staff or from the independent facilitators we recommend. The social programme is placed in the evening so it does not break this flow; a long social section on the first night lowers the productivity of the second day and is not recommended.
What changes with headcount?
- 8-25 people: international innovation route, design and storytelling camp, leadership offsite. One working room, one coordinator.
- 25-80 people: team offsite and hackathon. A main room plus 3-5 team rooms, a digital board and a presentation screen. Transport is planned per city.
- 80-200 people: all-company gathering. Main stage, parallel workshop rooms, a registration desk and hybrid streaming infrastructure. The programme is built over two days.
Which routes stand out?
The programmes we build most often for technology and software teams are these:
- Amsterdam Corporate Innovation Trip — a 3-4 day route for product and engineering teams of 8-35, combined with ecosystem visits.
- Singapore Corporate Technology Trip — a technology campus focused programme for 5-25 executives and product leads.
- Hybrid Team Meetup Organisation — a format that packages the meeting point, transport and live participation flow for teams working remotely and across cities.
- Princes' Islands Corporate Work Camp — a residential work camp close to Istanbul with few distractions, suited to hackathons and roadmap offsites.
- Corporate Design Camp — a workshop for 5-25 people on the design system and product language.
- Corporate Storytelling Camp — a workshop that builds the product story ahead of a launch or investor pitch.
- Milan Corporate Design Trip — an international route for design and product teams of 8-35.
How do planning time and the quote process work?
For technology teams we recommend 4-6 weeks of planning for a city or near-city offsite, 6-8 weeks for a residential hackathon or all-company gathering, and 10-12 weeks for international routes such as Amsterdam, Singapore and Milan. The date is chosen at least a week away from sprint deadlines and release dates. The quote process runs in this order: in the first call we settle which cities participants come from, the need for remote participation, the target output and whether a facilitator is wanted; within three working days we send a quote showing transport per city, accommodation, working space, technical infrastructure and the social programme on separate lines. Pricing depends on date, headcount and scope; there is no fixed list price.
You can send the offsite or workshop request for your team through the quote form. Stating the city split of participants and the expected output at the request stage improves the accuracy of the first quote.