Is it possible your guests are uncomfortable in your dining facilities?

Quite possibly, according to Harvard Business Review’s November 29, 2011 Daily Stat. According to HBR, table spacing is too close for comfort in typical restaurants (see http://goo.gl/QzeKX).

“Restaurants typically place parallel tables along banquettes at 12 inches apart or less, but research led by Stephani K. A. Robson of Cornell shows that patrons—including those who are used to busy restaurants—feel awkward being so close to their neighbors. Even at a spacious 24 inches apart, parallel tables were seen as crowded and uncomfortable by 35% of people responding to the researchers' survey.”

So, one simple way to .........

Matt Pogue, Young Life's Manager of Camping Food Service, says you should keep these 5 things in mind about the food service when selecting a retreat venue:

1. What's the quality of their food?

Is it "typical" camp food (served buffet style, including fish sticks and greasy pork chops), or do they serve family style dishes that are as good as home made?

2. What's the price?

You have a budget, and food could break it. But, keeping costs down doesn't necessarily mean suppressing the food quality. The guest services personnel should be able to work with you to design a menu that's not only delicious, but fits within your budget.

3. What's the health ............

Following are six tips from event specialists for choosing the right location for your retreat/meeting:

1. Reach out and don't be afraid to go after the city you want, but keep your cards close and do your shopping first. Don't declare your top choices right away. - Stephen Hahn, Marriott International

2. Don't base site selection entirely on price. You'll always find people who are prepared to underprice their services just to get business. But how good and reliable are they? Next time you're tempted to make a buying decision based entirely on price, think again. - Susan Friedmann, "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies"

3. Always stop in to check out......

When planning your group retreat, you may have a particular room configuration in mind from the get-go. And that's usually a hotel-style room. But, have you considered a dorm configuration, with multiple beds in a single room? Here are 4 reasons to consider something different for your next group retreat:

1. Lower cost = lower price.

By configuring rooms to hold multiple beds and people, properties keep their per guest costs down, passing the savings on to their customers.

2. It's no less comfortable.

Sleeping on bunk beds may conjure up memories of old metal frames with rusty springs and soiled pillows. That was the old days. These days, most .........

Have you ever been to a working retreat where you were expected to leave your work behind, think creatively and get out of your box? Or, a personal/spiritual retreat where you just wanted to get away from the frantic pace back home? But, when you arrived, you discovered the same fluorescent lighting, din of traffic, phone distractions and wide screen temptations that you thought you left behind? Your retreat attendees have, too!

Here are a few good reasons to hold your retreat at a location that’s a little bit off the beaten path.

1. Leaving one city to retreat to another city might leave your constituents feeling like they should have just stayed home.

By its definition, .........

I recently received an email from @GroupPublishing, promoting two great resources for putting on a woman’s retreat.

Resource #1: A guide for retreat planners that makes planning a women’s retreat stress-free!

Group Publishing has just made it easy for you to put together women’s retreats that will transform lives, without making yours miserable. They promise that, with their “relational approach,” participants won't just hear a lesson or Bible story, “they do it, discuss it, and act on it so that it becomes a part of their lives.”

The materials in the kit are designed to save the retreat planner time in preparing for the retreat, and to .........