A Wellbeing Weekender: A Regional Creator Digital Detox
Burnout has become increasingly present within industry conversations over the past year. As a marketing agency, we recognise that we have a responsibility to consider the wellbeing of the dedicated content creators whose social media followings we leverage and whose testimonials we have relied on. And with this in mind, the idea for the Wellbeing Weekender came into fruition.
As with everything that the Tandem Collective hosts, we’re always looking to put a spin on it that aligns with our touchstones of compassion, courage and creativity.
We set ourselves the challenge of re-thinking the ‘Creator House’ trend, with the aim to support creator burnout, and the pressure for perfection. We wanted to provide a space for bookstagram to come to life, offline - without restriction of follower count, or vanity metrics.
Across a weekend in January - when the height of pressure for personal development is at its apex - we invited creators to join us for 48 hours of digital detox, bookish fun, and creative challenges.
We had over 250+ creators apply, and only had space for 40. This was a huge vote of confidence that we were giving the community what they were craving. Another huge plus for us was that was one of our first concerted efforts to ensure regionality and a non-London centric approach and creators were still chomping at the bit to be involved. Our commitment to hosting the event outside of London ensured our regional community felt supported but also allowed us more wriggle room when it comes to budget.
Hosting 40 creators on site all weekend, with full board and accommodation, definitely provided some challenges, but with our multi-skilled team we were able to curate the peaceful, yet creative space that we had designed.
As a publisher agnostic event, we were able to support 10+ publishers with different sessions and exclusive ‘moments’ on site. We held journaling sessions, author interviews, book-to-screen adaptation movie nights, active sessions including walking and chair-accessible yoga, and so much more. All with the added benefit of having designated ‘digital detox’ days where we offered creators the opportunity to ‘down tools’ and lock their phones away, enabling them to simply read, relax, and recharge.
Creator Reviews:
“Full of laughter, relaxation, creativity and of course, reading” - @nic_readsbooks
“Welcoming, inclusive and a whole lot of fun!!” - @happymotherbooker
“Full of new friends, laughter, creativity and books all the books” - @teaandbooks2020
“A weekend of relaxation and slower living surrounded by the bookish community 🥰”- @readwithcatriona
“Beautifully bookish with a much needed slower energy and break from reality!” - @gimmebooksjoanna
“A wholesome weekend filled with laughter, new friends and books.” - @talkingchicle
“Fantastic weekend with fellow book lovers full of reflection, fun and reading” - @nic_thebookworm
“A wholesome weekend full of relaxation, reading and incredible chances to connect and learn with other content creators.” - @bookswithbecki
If you’d like to have a discussion about a potential Wellbeing Weekender, please do contact char@thetandemcollective.com
