Key takeaways
- —Annual offsites create space for strategic alignment and meaningful conversations beyond daily work
- —Learning from industry leaders and peers accelerates growth and provides real-world transformation insights
- —Some of the best team memories happen when plans change—flexibility and adaptability matter as much as structure
Once a year, we take the whole team out of the office for a summer offsite: workshops, guest sessions, competitive cooking, and enough time together to actually talk about what matters.
Here's how it went.
Day 1: The kickoff
We started at the office. Breakfast together, then Justin opened the week with a State of the Business: where we are, what's working, what's not.
Then we hit the road.
Once we arrived in Sainte-Adèle, we settled in with a fireside chat with Andrew Lockhead, CEO of Stay22, who shared what it actually looks like to scale a high-growth tech company, lead through change, and keep the business aligned when everything is moving at once.
Day 2: Lights out
A messaging workshop, followed by a product demo workshop led by PG, and then a summer storm rolled through and killed the power.
It never came back that day.
We kept going. We welcomed Véronique Roy, Director of Technology Change Management and Project Office at Héma-Québec, who talked through what leading large-scale ERP transformations actually looks like from the inside.
Once the rain cleared, it was happy hour outside, followed by a candlelit Italian dinner to close the night.
Turns out, the best offsite memories don't need electricity.
Day 3: No power. No problem.
Still no electricity.
That didn't stop the team from giving it everything during a morning full of games and friendly competition.
Later, Alain Dubois, Partner & Chief Revenue Officer at Beyond Technologies (a Syntax company), joined us by the fire to talk through what successful ERP and business transformation programs actually look like after years of helping organizations get there.
The power came back, and we wrapped up the day exactly how every offsite should end: music, dancing, and a DJ night that kept everyone on the floor.
Day 4: Looking ahead
Our final morning was dedicated to closing out Q2 and setting the stage for Q3.
We brought everything back together: the learnings from the workshops, the conversations sparked over the last few days, and the reality of what it takes to drive meaningful business transformation and ERP initiatives at scale.
A few closing words from our CEO helped anchor the direction ahead: clear priorities, aligned execution, and a continued focus on building momentum as a team.
Then, it was time to head home.
Bonus weekend: Unplugged mode
Some of the team stayed a little longer. Family joined at the chalet: kids running around, shared meals, and slow mornings in the Laurentians.
We also met Potato, Justin's dog (and, as it turns out, the unexpected inspiration behind the company name).
It was an unplanned but fitting reminder that some of the best stories behind a business don't start in boardrooms.
A simple, grounded way to close the offsite, blending work, life, and the people (and dogs) who support it all.
