Our Market Refined Media & Publishing team is completely virtual—we are scattered coast-to-coast across the country with Mandy, our team leader, located near the Chattanooga, Tennessee area where we held workshops and the Refined Conference this year! For the day-to-day operations of MRM, we stay connected to each other with regular team (Zoom) calls, sometimes lengthy emails, a private team Facebook group, and some days, never-ending text threads!
For years, Mandy had the vision to bring our team together—in-person—under one roof for a long weekend to dream, plan, pray and pour into each other, and that vision finally came to life for us last year. Just like the in-person events we hosted this year for clients and connections, we see the value in connecting with our team face to face as we review our business plan, catch up on the details of our lives that aren’t communicated well across a screen, and dream up big ideas for MRM!
This year, we stayed in a gorgeous Airbnb in the St. Elmo area—with room enough for our team and several cozy spaces for casual, productive conversation! We started the weekend with a tour of a space in the Chattanooga area that’s a beautiful possibility for next year’s Refined Conference {yes, we’re doing it again!}. Finding the perfect spot that feels welcoming and functional for a conference is no easy feat, and we are excited to be in the planning stages as we begin to plan next year’s conference! While together, we intentionally debriefed on this year’s conference and held discussions focused on topic ideas for sessions, breakouts, and potential speakers for next year.
Did you know our social media posts are a whole-team collaboration with each team member speaking into their specific area of service? We work hard to bring you relevant information on our socials, and we highlighted the importance of the group effort this weekend while discussing strategies and processes. Our team also discussed new services, ideas for growing and customizing our newsletter, and an MRM website refresh to be added to our agenda for December. Cramming all of these conversations into such a short amount of time is only doable in comfy clothes and cozy spaces and with lots of goodies and coffee in easy reach!
It wouldn’t be a weekend getaway without seeing all the sights, and Chattanooga definitely has many great spots to explore! We browsed the Art District, admired the view from the Walnut Street Bridge, had dinner at Tony’s Pasta Shop & Trattoria, coffee from Rembrandt’s, and finished our weekend exploring the Chattanooga Choo Choo and a final team meeting at Frothy Monkey. {Shout out to the kind barista who gave us a “how to steam milk” tutorial!}
We love sharing our lives through the screen, but we also know how good it feels to pass a cup of coffee across the counter to a team member and listen to them chat about the challenges and triumphs they’ve experienced in the last few months. This team retreat is a special and intentional time for us to fill our cups, encourage each other, and plan for all the behind-the-scenes business details together! MRM is truly a team effort, and this in-person time reminds us of how blessed we are that God brought us all together for such a time as this!
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