Once a year, we swap our Zoom windows for a weekend together. By now, it’s something we look forward to for months.
We work fully remotely and do occasionally meet in person during the year – but usually only two or three of us at a time. Some team members also live and work abroad. That makes it all the more special when almost the entire team gets to spend a few days together in the same place.
With seven participants, our sixth retreat in August 2026 was also our biggest so far: Luke, Stefan, Ágota and our freelancer Nico travelled from within Switzerland, while Joey flew in from Hungary and Matic from Slovenia.
This time, our destination was Bern, the hometown of Kathrin. For the weekend, she had chosen both some interesting places with local significance and a few of her personal favourites – and of course, the Aare had to be part of it.
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Friday: Plenty to celebrate
Our Friday lunchtime welcome in front of Bern train station was a special one: until then, most of the team had only ever met Matic and Nico in our online meetings.
We started our time together with a light lunch in the shady courtyard of the Generationenhaus. With organ music drifting down to us from a window, we eased into the weekend, were soon chatting away, and wished Ágota a belated happy birthday.
“I was genuinely surprised to be invited because I’m not actually a permanent member of the team. But it’s the perfect example of Friendly’s values in action. At first, I was a little worried that I might feel out of place. But the moment we all sat down for lunch, that feeling disappeared. It felt as though I already knew you.”
Nicolas Previdoli, freelancer at Friendly
Our first activity of the afternoon was a coffee workshop at Blasercafé with Giuliano Bartoli.
We deepened our knowledge of the characteristics of Arabica and Robusta beans and their flavour profiles, learned about Switzerland’s surprisingly important role in the international coffee market, and discovered just how much artistry goes into turning a good coffee bean into a fantastic flavor through precisely timed roasting and careful brewing – and how little it takes for a perfectly roasted bean to turn into undrinkable lemon water in the cup.
Blasercafé – Bernese coffee history with an international reputation
Blasercafé is a long-established, independent family-owned coffee roastery from Bern. The company was founded in 1922 by Walter Blaser and his wife Cécile. It remains entirely family-owned to this day and is now run by the fourth generation.
Blasercafé’s reputation extends far beyond Bern: it is also an important hospitality partner throughout Switzerland and an influential player in training and quality within the coffee industry.
Through its sister company Blaser Trading, Blasercafé is also involved in the international green coffee trade. Blaser Trading sources green coffee directly from producing countries, carries out quality checks, organises trading, logistics and storage, and supplies roasteries in Switzerland and internationally. In this way, Blaser Trading contributes to Switzerland’s position as one of the world’s five largest coffee exporters.
The workshop culminated in our very own roast blend, and we each got to take several packages home with us – we’re really curious to trying our very own Friendly Blend.
There was another reason to celebrate during the workshop: Matic has now been with Friendly for three years. His development skills have been a huge asset to our technical team. We especially appreciate how thorough and friendly he is in his work. And because Matic is a big Korea fan, we gave him a selection of Korean sweets and snacks along with a voucher.
After the workshop, we walked through Bern’s Old Town to the Nydegg Bridge and on to the small Pêle-Mêle restaurant, almost directly by the river. In its cosy garden beneath shady trees, we raised a glass to our time together. The menu was small, the food was excellent – and the long waits between courses also had an upside: plenty of time for conversations.
“My favorite moments were actually the simple ones – enjoying meals together, sharing our origin stories and talking about personal experiences.”
Joey Keller, CTO at Friendly
There was something else to celebrate that evening: Kathrin has now been with Friendly for five years. She has grown significantly since she started at Friendly and currently manages not only our marketing but also our information security and quality processes.
Luke had come up with something special for her gift. Along with a voucher, he had put together an excellent selection of board games. And before the retreat, he had even created a small congratulatory website especially for Kathrin, which had really touched her.
We ended the evening with an ice cream from Eiswerkstatt at Altes Tramdepot by the Bear Park.
Saturday: Aare River Swim and Circus
Saturday began with a shared breakfast at the hotel and the presentation of this year’s retreat goodie.
Each of our retreats comes with a small keepsake. This year’s fit the program perfectly: a hand-printed, personalised swim bag made in Bern – in Friendly yellow, of course. And we could put it to use straight away.
We took the bus to the Enge peninsula and walked from there through the forest along the Aare to Zehndermätteli.
“At one point I almost went flying through the bus because our driver was taking the corners pretty enthusiastically. Several of my teammates immediately jumped up and caught me. Apparently, our teamwork works pretty well outside Slack too.”
Ágota Dimén, Customer Support Specialist at Friendly
At Zehndermätteli, we made ourselves comfortable under the trees with camping chairs, hammocks, snacks and drinks.
With the summer heatwave still going strong, the obvious next step was to jump into the Aare.
Equipped with life jackets and our new swim bags, we let the cool, turquoise water carry us downstream. We enjoyed the scenery, chatted – and, above all, laughed a lot.
We had so much fun that one round was obviously not enough. For the second one, we also brought along two small boats, which made the whole thing even more entertaining.
“My favorite moment was Matic finally saying, ‘Okay, f*** it,’ and joining us on the Aare. When he eventually ended up in the water with everyone else, he had this huge smile on his face. I was right next to him, and that’s a picture I won’t forget.”
Lukas Sigel, COO and CCO at Friendly
Swimming in the Aare definitely became one of the highlights of our retreat – and during the heatwave, it was about the best way imaginable to cool down.
On our way back from the river, we made a quick stop at Kathrin’s home nearby before setting off for our final big activity: a visit to Circus Knie.
It was a perfect fit for our weekend in more ways than one: Knie is a Swiss institution with a special historical connection to Bern. And with its event venue “Zauberhut” and the children’s zoo, Knie AG is also a customer of Friendly.
Read our case study with Knie here.
We were lucky that Circus Knie happened to be stopping in Bern on its tour during the exact weekend of our retreat.
Circus Knie – Swiss circus history with beginnings in Bern
The history of the Knie family of performers dates back to 1803. That was when Friedrich Knie abandoned his medical studies in Innsbruck and joined the world of travelling performers. Over several generations, the family then travelled throughout Europe.
The Swiss National Circus Knie in its present form was established in 1919. For the first time, the family bought a large circus tent – and gave its first performance on 14 June of that year on the Schützenmatte in Bern.
Rapperswil-Jona later became the family’s headquarters and winter base; Knie’s Children’s Zoo also opened there in 1962.
Over more than 100 years, the family circus has become an established part of Swiss popular culture. Its annual tour through different regions and language areas, its collaborations with well-known Swiss artists and performers, and its long family tradition continue to make Knie an exceptional Swiss institution.
The performance was a fitting finale to our Saturday.
We particularly remember Alyona Pavlova’s aerial hoop acrobatics, clown Matute “No Problem” Alvarez, the motorcycle globe, the Chinese lion dance and, of course, Knie’s famous horses.
Sunday: Until the next retreat
On Sunday, there was only enough time left for one final long breakfast together before we all headed home again.
Our retreats are increasingly becoming something we look forward to all year.
At our retreats, we get to know each other better, understand more about what matters to one another and appreciate each other even more as a result. And we notice that these personal encounters continue to have an impact on our day-to-day collaboration for many months afterwards.
“After the retreat, working together always feels a little different. You know the people behind the screens better – and for me, that makes a real difference.”
Lukas Sigel, COO and CCO at Friendly
That’s why we’re already looking forward to retreat no. 7.
Curtain up: The costs
As every year, we’re also publishing the cost of our retreat.
With seven participants, this was our biggest retreat so far – and, at a total of CHF 4 480, also our most expensive.
Viewed over the course of an entire year, however, our retreat remains a small expense (CHF 53 per person per month). At the same time, we see a significant impact on our team and the way we work together. For us, it is therefore an investment that pays off again every year.
