Creator Science with Jay Clouse

Jay Clouse

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Everything We Learned From Our Second In-Person Event — The Good, The Bad, and The Full Economics

7/21/2026 • 61 min

This week, my wife Mallory joins me for only her second podcast appearance ever to break down everything from The Lab Offline Powered by Circle — our second annual 2-day in-person retreat for Lab members, hosted June 8–9 at Hotel Renegade in Boise, Idaho. Mallory planned essentially everything: seating charts, venue contracts, menus, swag, run of show. She's been at it for roughly 6 months. In this episode, we talk about: The full economics of running a community retreat (we lost $8,300, which is actually an improvement) How we took breakfast from a 4.8 to an 8.1 rating — and what we'd cut to reduce costs next year What ranked #1 for attendees 2 years running, and why trivia (our favorite activity) came in 7th Whether we'll keep doing this in Boise — and what Columbus, Toronto, and doing 2 events per year might look like By the end of this episode, you will have a clear picture of what it actually costs to run a high-quality community event, what's worth paying for, and what we'd do differently. Circle (event sponsor) Hotel Renegade Boise Craft and Commerce Conference The Lab Full transcript and show notes *** TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Cold open: people were moved, tears were shed (00:53) The Lab Offline explained: 2-day member retreat, goals, and agenda (06:44) Initial impressions: a reunion feeling, smoother logistics, zero fires (13:08) Attendee feedback numbers: 9.3/10 overall, 91% returning, 34% said underpriced (18:46) Event economics: $30,459 revenue, $38,800 costs, $8,300 loss (23:05) Top cost drivers: hotel catering, travel, venue rental, dinners (26:52) Planning challenges: acoustics, dietary restrictions, every decision is a trade-off (36:52) What to keep: assigned seating, Kat's Immunity to Change workshop, Fighting Off the Sleepies (42:04) What to improve: more mastermind sessions, less solo writing, better acoustics (47:49) Open question: should the event stay paired with Craft and Commerce? (53:49) The case for Columbus, 2 events per year, and an international option *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE #260: Detailed Breakdown: Our First Offline Event (And What We’ll Do Differently Next Time) *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞 Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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