An executive committee. The Bay.
And oysters at sunset.
Client GGVIE
Event type Corporate seminar
Participants 70
Date 4–7 October 2023
GGVIE wanted to take its executive committee out for some fresh air, the real kind, the air of Arcachon Bay. We found the hotel, organised the pinasse boat trip, climbed the dune and finished on a dance floor. In between: plenty of salt, a few revelations and zero screens.
The challenge
Give GGVIE’s executive committee a stay combining strategic efficiency with a genuine break, in an exceptional natural setting that changes how leaders relate to one another.
An executive committee that leaves the office is one that thinks differently. Not because sea air has managerial virtues, but because a new setting creates new conversations. Arcachon and the Dune du Pilat have something special: they put people in their rightful place, faced with something bigger than themselves. And that changes the way they talk to each other.
Our mission
Find the ideal hotel in the heart of Arcachon, build a programme that alternates meetings and experiences, digital detox and thrills, and create a final evening that leaves everyone with the memory of a moment truly shared.
What have we built? Our 5 Culture Makers Moments
Exclusive hire of a hotel in the heart of Arcachon
A hotel taken over entirely in the centre of Arcachon, a stone’s throw from the Bay, within walking distance of everything. A setting that sets the tone immediately: we’re here for something other than the everyday. The hotel as a shared base, where conversations start at breakfast and end on the terrace.
Pinasse at sunset, white wine & oysters on the Bay
A moment suspended in time. A traditional pinasse on Arcachon Bay, the sun sinking over the water, a glass of white, fresh oysters, and leaders who stop leading to simply be there. The activity that doesn’t look like one, and creates more connection than any structured team-building session.
Morning meeting
Working time set in surroundings that give it a different resonance. Decisions taken facing the Bay have something different about them: more perspective, less urgency, more clarity. The meeting as a useful moment, not an obligation to endure.
Digital detox & afternoon on the Dune du Pilat
A picnic at the top of the Dune du Pilat, then a total digital detox with four rotating workshops: a scent workshop, raft building, a stick puzzle and a cooperation game. All captured from the sky by drone. The dune as a playground with a touch of vertigo, the digital detox as permission to truly reconnect: no notifications, no Slack, no excuses.
‘The Love Boat’ evening
Cocktail dinner & dance floor: the theme that raises a smile the moment it’s announced and keeps every promise. A cocktail dinner in the spirit of the cruise: relaxed elegance, festive conviviality, before the dance floor takes over. The final evening as the last gift of the stay: we worked, we climbed, we rowed, now we dance.
Behind the scenes
Finding a hotel for exclusive hire right in the centre of Arcachon
Finding a hotel for exclusive hire in the very centre of Arcachon, with the catering and meeting capacity an executive committee needs, is no small feat. It takes a local network, persistence and the eye of someone who knows the area. The right hotel changes everything: it isn’t just somewhere to sleep, it’s part of the experience.
The drone photo on the Dune du Pilat as a visual signature
Organising a drone shoot on the Dune du Pilat with a group in the middle of an activity takes precise technical and logistical coordination: flight authorisation, perfect timing with the light, positioning the group. The result: a spectacular aerial image that becomes the definitive souvenir photo of the stay. The one you frame, not the one you file away.
The digital detox as a design in its own right
Four rotating workshops — scents, rafts, stick puzzle, cooperation — don’t happen by chance either. Each workshop was selected for what it brings to the group: sensory awareness, collective building, problem-solving, mutual trust. A digital detox isn’t a punishment: it’s a framework that gives people back the taste for being together without a screen in between.
“The Love Boat” as the ideal closing theme
A theme that’s festive but not childish, elegant but accessible, universal yet rooted in the maritime spirit of the stay. It links the Bay, the pinasse and the final evening effortlessly, with a smile. The best party themes are the ones that seem obvious once chosen. This is one of them.
Your executive committee deserves a setting that lets it think differently.
We know the places that make it possible.