We had been working with our amazing client, Boldheart for around a year, initially venue finding for their London-based events, which quickly moved to managing the logistics pre-event and onsite for all their European events. They then asked us to get involved in running their first UK Mindset Retreat, and we of course jumped at the opportunity.

Boldheart’s Mindset Retreat has been running in America for 12 years. The three-day event is hosted by the fabulous, world-class business coach Fabienne Fredrickson, and focuses on working towards becoming the greatest version of yourself, making shifts to think bigger, all within a trusted community with content delivered in a ‘heart-centred’ way.

To promote the retreat and attract the target audience of small business owners, Boldheart wanted to launch a pre-event roadshow touring the UK, giving a taster of what they could expect at the Mindset Retreat.  The roadshow events were free to attend and offer a three-hour intimate session with Fabienne, where attendees are given the opportunity to purchase a ticket for the retreat.

To get an insight into the retreat itself, Hannah and Nicola joined Boldheart’s 2019 Mindset Retreat as observers for three days at a resort in Orlando, Florida, experiencing the Mindset Retreat firsthand. Back in the UK, we then searched for suitable venues, and secured a London hotel with the capacity for running the event.

For the roadshows, Nicola’s considerable roadshow experience with her former agency came in very useful. We mapped out a selection of UK cities with possible routes and used our contacts in the major hotel chains to work out availability and capacities and to negotiate preferable terms. The complex logistics of travel between venues took some unravelling; with American clients, we were relied on to advise the geographical suitability – the UK rail system takes a bit of getting used to! We also needed to factor in the most suitable order for the roadshows so Fabienne could easily travel to and from her home in Paris at the beginning and end of each week.

We selected locations based on our analysis of transport and sphere of influence, then curated a week of consecutive roadshows in Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham in late January, followed by a further week in early February at venues in Bristol, Cardiff and finally London (at the same venue as the Mindset Retreat, which was scheduled for May).

Once the locations and dates were finalised, we could fine-tune the details, from organising printed material and badging solutions and sorting out flower arrangements and hotel rooms for each venue.

With tight timings and restrictions on how much equipment the team could physically carry, we developed a bespoke registration system, using digital check-in and branded blank name badges that delegates added their own name to.

In the middle of this planning, we also successfully found a venue for and managed a ‘Your Business Your Way’ event for Boldheart in Amsterdam (their first event there) and supported their quarterly Paris members’ event.

In the lead up to the first tour stop, Boldheart got in touch asking if we’d be able to call all the people who’d registered for the roadshow events, to confirm their attendance and answer any questions. With over 3,000 people registered, this was no small request, but with the help of our wider team of Sunflower freelancers, we achieved this within two weeks, and made some great connections with the attendees.

Once the roadshows began, Nicola and her on-site team were able to get a feel for the rhythm and timing for the day, to develop and improve the plan for each subsequent event; back at Sunflower HQ we were able to field calls, advise of any on-the-day traffic issues and generally send good vibes their way.

The roadshows were a tremendous success, with an impressive number of sign-ups for the Mindset Retreat in May, and lots of contacts for Boldheart.

Of course, the May event could not quite happen as planned, with the lockdown imposed by the government after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. But Boldheart pivoted; instead of a live event with hundreds of attendees in the same hotel, Fabienne, aided by her CEO husband and her family, and supported by the Sunflower Event Team, hosted the retreat from the comfort of their home in Paris!

More to follow in part 2, and in the meantime here is snippet of what we got up to: