Last weekend I planned an executive retreat for my company at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake. This was actually my second choice for venue (none of the Cabins at Deacon’s Lodge were available), but it turned out to be very nice.

I picked up the HSRA LA program director from the airport on Friday morning and took her to Al’s in Dinkytown for breakfast. Afterwards, I dropped her off at The Marsh spa in Minnetonka for a massage.

The actual retreat started with a dinner meeting Friday night at the buffet, which ended up lasting more than three hours. Everyone had their own rooms Friday and Saturday nights and we had a lovely meeting room from 8-5 Saturday and Sunday (the Winuna Room).

We used up all nine hours both days for meetings (with a few delays here and there), but I did manage to get in some fun things too. On Friday, I played a twilight round of golf on the Meadows course with a neighborhood friend. Also played a little video poker both days and lost $45–almost as expensive as the golf.

The family came out and stayed both days, taking advantage of the extra bed and the swimming pool. I didn’t get to see them much, but we did have dinner at the Meadows Grille on Saturday night (it was family BBQ night). Kid one went to a friend’s birthday party sleep-over Saturday night, but they all got to go to Canterbury Park before that to watch the Preakness (and see the live horses too).

In hindsight, I probably could’ve used a massage before this retreat as well. It was a little tense at times and was mentally draining. Our organization is small and has a loose, unstructured culture that is very different from my past corporate experience. That’s not a bad thing, but it does drive me crazy sometimes.

We’ve scheduled a follow-up meeting in California for the end of June. I think the next few months will be a very interesting time for Studio 4. More details coming soon…