To celebrate our inaugural Mic Check Retreat, I’m taking you behind the scenes of all the details! Why we created this event, what I took away from it, and what I’d do differently!
Clocking In with Haylee Gaffin is produced by Gaffin Creative, a podcast production company for creative entrepreneurs. Learn more about our services at Gaffincreative.com, plus you’ll also find resources, show notes, and more for the Clocking In Podcast.
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Have you heard of Mic Check Society? It’s our community for podcasters who are looking to take their podcast from good to great. Come join us for educational trainings, a private member’s only community, and monthly calls! Get $10 off per month with code PODCAST at micchecksociety.com.
Why I Hosted Mic Check Retreat
Nearly two years ago, I launched Mic Check Society. While so much has changed within the community over the last year, I decided that I wanted to focus mostly on the community aspect of the society. Earlier this year, I decided it was time to add an in-person aspect to Mic Check Society.
Enter Mic Check Retreat. We initially launched it to the members, but after a few weeks decided to open it to the public.
The concept of Mic Check Retreat was to bring together a small group of podcasters to get inspired and work on their podcast. Whether their focus was on growth, monetizing, or improving, every attendees came in with a goal and left with a plan.
Mic Check Retreat 2024
The 2024 Mic Check Retreat took place at the Westin Hotel in Chattanooga, TN from June 2-4. Our attendees were a mixture of business owners or indie podcasters looking to take their podcast full-time.
There were 10 people total in the room and our speakers included Laylee Emadi of So Here’s The Thing, Danielle Desir Corbett of The Thought Card, Megan Wren of Gaffin Creative, and myself. We also had a live panel-style podcast recording with each of our speakers, along with Bree Pair of Thrive Blogger Podcast.
The event was two days of education and implementation broken up into a schoolroom style day and a relaxed, implementation focused day in a hotel suite.
My Top 3 Takeaways from Mic Check Retreat
Community is key.
We can get so caught up in our own work and forget to connect with people who do what you do. I really enjoyed having in-person community, while also seeing so many power-house women come together and collaborate. In-person events are worth investing my time and money in.
You can learn from anyone.
As a podcast producer, I am constantly in the podcasting space—this doesn’t mean that I know it all. You can learn from less experienced podcasters just the same as more experienced. It’s all in how you approach conversations.
Not only that, but being able to connect with peers who can teach me more was so exciting.
Opportunities for Content Creation
There are so many opportunities for content creation at events like this. I hired Quianna Marie to come capture the event and it was so worth it. I barely captured anything myself because I was so focused on the event. Here is what content came out of the event:
- Event photos
- Recap reels for social media
- Fun reels for social media
- Mini brand shoots for our attendees
- Podcast episodes (Let’s Grab Drinks Episode, Panel Interview, Advice Roundup, and Testimonials)
What I’ll Change at the Next Mic Check Retreat
The Structure of the Retreat
I initially structured the event to be a day of education with built in implementation on day 1, then mini workshops on day 2 with a full afternoon of implementation time. What I found was that many of us were exhausted on day 1 and the implementation time wasn’t necessarily utilized. We were all drained.
I think by restructuring to half day education and half day of implementation, it will allow for more intentional connection time and less exhaustion for those working the event.
Logistics of the Hotel Host
The next consideration is the logistics. We hosted in a hotel, which meant I had to move our decor, snacks, set up, etc to multiple rooms (hotel room, conference room, hotel room, hotel suite). This meant I moved everything about 4 or 5 times. What I will likely do next time is book just the suite for the whole event.
Additionally, we did a room block—which requires you to book a specific number of rooms and if you don’t hit the number of rooms, you pay a fee.
Pitching Sponsors
I started pitching sponsors for the event about 8 weeks before the retreat, yet I should have started about 16 weeks before. Many brands have specific budgets that they need to get approval or it’s set in advance and they can’t get more.
Mic Check Retreat 2025
So is it happening again? YES IT IS! Make sure you’re on the waitlist. Tickets will go to alumni first, then open to the waitlist before launching to the public (if there are still tickets left).
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