Producing an event in a remote location in the Adirondack Mountains creates certain logistical issues. But according to WeWork events director Karly Giaramita, the benefits far outweigh the challenges. Giaramita manages the company’s annual conference at Raquette Lake Camps, which this year attracted more than 2,000 members and staff of WeWork, a company that provides shared workspace and services for entrepreneurs, freelancers, start-ups, and small businesses in 16 cities around the world. Everything brought to the camp facility for the event—things like stages, lighting, bars, and food—had to be transported across Raquette Lake on a barge. “In a speedboat it takes about five minutes to get across the lake, but in a barge it takes about an hour,” she said. “We start a week in advance, eight hours a day, running two barges.”
The result was a three-day experience for attendees August 21 to 23 that mimicked the classic elements of children’s camp—sleeping in tents and cabins, communal dining at picnic tables, and endless activities such as sailing, ropes courses, and bonfires—combined with educational sessions, networking events, nightly concerts, and adult beverages.
“At WeWork part of our mission is to help our members make a life and not a living. So this is our way to give back to the community and provide a positive and enriching life experience,” Giaramita said. “All of our workspaces are in major metropolitan areas, and this is the exact opposite. There’s no cell phone service or Wi-Fi so everyone is completely immersed in what’s in front of them. It’s such a great opportunity for our members and staff to escape their routine and be in this inspiring atmosphere.”
Attendees have their choice of accommodations: the camp’s existing cabins with bunk beds for 12 to 30 people each, tents that organizers rent from Outdoors Geek that each have two to six cots, or their own tents. The sprawling facility has plenty of open spaces for games of soccer, group yoga, open-air speaker presentations, and more. But as the conference has grown over the years—just 350 people attended the first event in 2012—organizers have had to make some adjustments. New this year, Eventique, the event management company, brought in large air-conditioned tents from Deployed Resources that had individual showers and sinks and even an Astroturf floor.
During the day, attendees chose from a variety of activities, such as water sports, fitness classes, and survival skills training, and workshops on topics such as branding and goal-setting. At night the atmosphere turned more festive, with specialty cocktails provided by sponsor Pernod Ricard and entertainment that included Chromeo, T.J. Miller, and surprise guest the Weeknd.
