The Location
Miami, FL
The Challenge
A Bay Area IT company of roughly 2000 employees was planning their annual Sales Kickoff event for the revenue team. They had already chosen Miami as the destination for their annual sales kickoff and had selected a downtown hotel as the venue. The Chief of Staff was carrying too much of the operational work while also owning the event content and all of her other tasks related to supporting the company CEO. With the event just 8 weeks away, there were several large details that still needed executing.
The Objective
The motto for 2026 was “One Team, One Vision” with the goal of better alignment across the the sales and marketing teams and cultivating a culture of collaboration.
With this in mind, and the work the Chief of Staff had already done, Affinity Travel Co’s focus was to give the Chief of Staff time back to focus on event content rather than coordination.
What Affinity Travel Co. Did
1. Took high-value logistics off the Chief of Staff’s plate
The client did not need ATC to take over every part of the event. They needed a partner who could own the logistics that were creating the most strain internally. ATC worked with the Chief of Staff to identify the details that were pulling her away from the event content. From there, we took ownership of the welcome dinner agenda, group activities outside the working sessions, and keynote speaker logistics. That division of work allowed the client to keep ownership of the working sessions and messaging while ATC handled the details that would have otherwise consumed hours before and during the kickoff.
2. Secured and managed the keynote speaker
The CRO had heard a keynote speaker at a prior conference and wanted that person to open the sales kickoff. The client knew who they wanted, but they were struggling to get in touch with them and did not have capacity to manage the details once the speaker was confirmed. ATC made contact with the speaker, negotiated a contract, and managed the travel logistics needed to bring them to Miami. The result was a keynote that felt specific to the team’s sales goals without adding another workstream to the Chief of Staff’s list.
3. Designed a welcome activity around competition and teamwork
The client wanted the welcome reception to reflect the culture shift they were trying to execute from a competitive to more collaborative revenue organization. They believed a little competition was healthy, but the team needed to see how even when competing they were all still working toward the same goal.
ATC designed a unique full-team activity for the welcome reception. Attendees were divided into smaller teams putting people who didn’t regularly work together on the same team. Each group was responsible for completing part of a larger puzzle. The activity included a built-in twist: some puzzle pieces each team needed were actually distributed to other teams. To win, each team had to identify what was missing, negotiate and collaborate with other teams, and complete their own section as quickly as possible. But, the winning team was not just the one to complete their puzzle the fastest, it was the team voted on as the best collaborators and helpers. The activity was a metaphor of how individual performance matters, but the organization only wins when teams share information and work toward the same goal.
4. Curated smaller-group activities for a free afternoon
For one free afternoon, the client wanted a fun group activity. ATC advised against sending the full group to one activity and instead offering several different Miami-specific experiences. A single large activity would have made it easier for employees to stay with the same colleagues they already knew and with 60 employees it would have limited the options of what to do and see.
Instead, ATC curated a menu of smaller-group options tied to the destination:
- Jet ski tour of the Miami Bay area.
- Bikes and Bites tour of Miami Beach, with biking along the intercoastal and tastings at local restaurants.
- Walking and tasting tour of Little Havana.
- Graffiti art class at the Winwood Murals
The smaller format gave employees more choice and helped people connect across territories, tenure levels, and roles. It also made each activity easier to manage and more useful as a relationship-building moment.
The Outcomes
The sales kickoff earned an Event NPS of 77. Employee feedback was strong, with many attendees saying it was the best sales kickoff to date. The comments centered on the same theme: the event gave employees more space to connect. They had time for structured training and discussion, but they also had time to socialize, experience Miami, and build relationships outside the meeting room.
The Chief of Staff was able to stay focused on the content and be present during the event. The event showed the value of a right-sized planning partnership. The client did not need to hand over every decision. They needed ATC to absorb the details that were slowing the internal team down, and to execute the parts of the kickoff that required local expertise and vendor coordination.
Key Takeaways
1. Delegation isn’t all or nothing
Some companies need full event management. Others need targeted support around the work their internal team does not have time, contacts, or expertise to handle. For this client, the right answer was a custom scope. The Chief of Staff kept ownership of the event content and onsite coordination, while ATC handled logistics that required specific expertise from team building activity design to keynote coordination.
2. Smaller activities create stronger cross-team connection
Large-group activities often let people stay with the colleagues they already know. Smaller-group activities make it easier for employees to mix and mingle. For a revenue team, that matters. Sales and marketing employees need trust, shared context, and a clear understanding of how their work affects one another. Smaller activities give people more time to talk, participate, and build those relationships.
3. Free time is part of the ROI
A sales kickoff does not become more valuable by filling every hour with sessions. Employees need time to process, connect, and build the relationships that make the formal content more effective. In Miami, the free afternoon was not empty space in the agenda. It was a designed part of the event. By giving employees a choice of smaller activities, the client created a better attendee experience and gave the team more reasons to remember the kickoff positively.