ESSENTIALS AT A GLANCE
The Venue
Aja Bergresort Werfenweng
Industry
Global enterprise post-purchase SaaS
Country & Region
Salzburg, Austria
Producers
Johannes Hoyos, Marica Lehmann & Julia Hartung
Character
Grounded, celebratory, and quietly pivotal.
Campfire Field Notes. Client Retreats
How parcelLab marked a decade of growth with five days in the Austrian Alps, absorbed a leadership transition mid-planning, and came down from the summit with something that felt, for the first time in a while, like solid ground.
parcelLab was founded in Munich in 2015 with a specific frustration in mind. In e-commerce, the moment a parcel leaves the warehouse is the moment most brands go quiet, handing the customer experience over to a carrier and hoping for the best. parcelLab built a platform to reclaim that moment, turning post-purchase communication into a branded, data-driven experience that keeps customers informed and connected from dispatch to doorstep.
A decade later, the company operates internationally, with teams across Germany, the UK, and the United States, and a client list that spans some of the largest retailers in Europe and North America.
We all know the statistics on how often new businesses fail, so 10 years was definitely worth celebrating. The real question was where to mark such an occasion.
A decade later, the company operates internationally, with teams across Germany, the UK, and the United States, and a client list that spans some of the largest retailers in Europe and North America.
We all know the statistics on how often new businesses fail, so 10 years was definitely worth celebrating. The real question was where to mark such an occasion.
Closer to Home
The brief that came to Campfire pointed toward the mountains. parcelLab had previously gathered in Italy, and for the 2025 anniversary edition the instinct was to go closer to the company's Munich origins, somewhere with altitude, clean air and a clear view.
Werfenweng, a small Alpine village in the Salzburg region of Austria, answered all of it. The unique resort there integrates naturally into the village landscape without sacrificing the practicalities a global team requires. Two hours by coach from Munich Airport, it sits at the kind of elevation where the air genuinely tastes different and the agenda items that felt urgent at sea level begin to loosen their grip.
Getting over two hundred people from three continents into a mountain village without friction is its own discipline. Munich served as the central hub, consolidating international flights and allowing more of the budget to go directly into the experience on the ground rather than into transfer logistics.
Werfenweng, a small Alpine village in the Salzburg region of Austria, answered all of it. The unique resort there integrates naturally into the village landscape without sacrificing the practicalities a global team requires. Two hours by coach from Munich Airport, it sits at the kind of elevation where the air genuinely tastes different and the agenda items that felt urgent at sea level begin to loosen their grip.
Getting over two hundred people from three continents into a mountain village without friction is its own discipline. Munich served as the central hub, consolidating international flights and allowing more of the budget to go directly into the experience on the ground rather than into transfer logistics.
A Pivot in the Planning
Shortly before the event, parcelLab's internal landscape shifted. A period of rapid leadership change brought new executives into the organisation, including a new Head of People and Culture, at a moment when the company was pushing hard into new markets. The original brief, weighted toward outdoor activity and informal team connection, needed to absorb something more urgent: the actual work of alignment.
Campfire rebuilt the agenda around both. The week that emerged balanced corporate workshops and leadership sessions with the celebration that a ten-year milestone deserved. The shift happened behind the scenes. From the team's perspective, the week simply worked.
Campfire rebuilt the agenda around both. The week that emerged balanced corporate workshops and leadership sessions with the celebration that a ten-year milestone deserved. The shift happened behind the scenes. From the team's perspective, the week simply worked.
The Week Itself
New leaders bonded with the broader workforce in the way that a structured onboarding session rarely achieves: over meals, on trails, in the informal rhythm of days spent in the same place. Breakout sessions moved outdoors, into meadows and local village spots, replacing the conference room dynamic with something that invited a different kind of conversation.
The summit ride was the week's most striking moment. A cable car carried the group to altitude for drinks and dinner with the mountains spread out below, followed by mountaineering activities for those who wanted them. It is the kind of shared experience that travels back with people: a specific memory, a specific height, a specific evening light.
The anniversary dinner took place in a historic regional castle, the kind of setting that gives a decade of work its proper weight. Ten years of building something, celebrated somewhere built to last.
The summit ride was the week's most striking moment. A cable car carried the group to altitude for drinks and dinner with the mountains spread out below, followed by mountaineering activities for those who wanted them. It is the kind of shared experience that travels back with people: a specific memory, a specific height, a specific evening light.
The anniversary dinner took place in a historic regional castle, the kind of setting that gives a decade of work its proper weight. Ten years of building something, celebrated somewhere built to last.
What Came Down from the Mountain
parcelLab arrived in Werfenweng in the middle of a transition. They left it with something more settled. The new leadership team had found their footing with the people they would be leading. The international workforce, scattered across time zones for most of the year, had spent five days in the same valley. The anniversary had been marked in a way that felt proportionate to what it actually represented. The Alps have a way of making things clear. Distance from the day-to-day, a shared landscape, and enough time to actually talk tend to do more for an organisation than any agenda item written in advance. parcelLab came down from the mountain ready for the next ten years.
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