Ask HN: Would you take your engineering team to Buenos Aires for an offsite?

3 points by yoouareperfect 83 days ago | 3 comments

Hey HN,

I’m doing some market research on the logistics and viability of hosting corporate tech offsites in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

With the shift to remote/distributed work, annual or bi-annual company retreats have become the main way teams build rapport. We see a lot of teams going to Mexico City, Lisbon, or Costa Rica, but I'm looking closely at Buenos Aires (as I live there).

Timezone: Favorable for the US (EST +1 or +2) and easier for EU overlap.

Cost: Highly favorable exchange rate makes luxury/premium experiences much more affordable.

Culture: World-class food, infrastructure, and a strong local tech ecosystem.

However, the flight time from the US West Coast or parts of Europe is significantly longer than going to Mexico or Portugal.

I’d love to hear from founders, CTOs, and engineering managers who have planned or attended company retreats:

1. Has your team done an offsite in LATAM? If so, where, and how did you choose the location?

2. Is flight duration the ultimate dealbreaker? Would a 10-14 hour flight rule out a destination, even if the on-the-ground experience was significantly better/cheaper?

3. Budget: What is your typical per-head budget (flights + accommodation + food/activities) for a 4 to 5-day retreat?

4. Experiences: If you were bringing your team all the way to Buenos Aires, what "must-have" experiences would make the trip a clear win for the team (e.g., premium steakhouses, a day at an estancia, local tech networking)?

5. Logistics: Do you usually plan these in-house via an EA/Ops team, or do you outsource to an offsite planning agency?

6. Any extra comments or suggestions are super appreciated

Any raw feedback on the logistical nightmares of planning international team offsites would be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

inhumantsar 83 days ago |

that is too much flight time for a 4-5 day trip. 14 hours of flight time usually means at least 20 hours of travel time. anyone doing that is going to be wrecked the next day, then they would have to turn around and do it again at the end of the trip.

presumably you'd be wrapping up the offsite on a Friday, so people would fly back that morning or Saturday morning. if they fly back Friday then they lose a day of offsite time, if they fly back Saturday then they lose their weekend to travel and recovery.

if a large % of your team is within 5-8 flight hours and it's only a handful of people coming from further away, then I'd spring for an extra night or two at the hotel/airbnb for the people with extra long flights.

cost and activities are hard to gauge without knowing team size. smaller teams can usually share a large airbnb which helps a lot with cost. larger teams means hotels and the cost balloons.

similar story for activities. larger teams limits your options and makes pleasing everyone hard. I'd recommend booking one or two "all-hands" activities, like dinner at a fancy restaurant, and researching some "this is a thing if anyone is interested" ahead of time. with a large team, make arrangements if enough people opt-in, or for smaller teams make it easy for people to go off and do that on their own. I've had good success with booking a few all hands activities and setting up a shared space where people can hang out together. smaller activities tend to naturally grow out of those interactions.

dlcarrier 83 days ago |

How about Honduras?: https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/this-corporate-re...

On a more serious note, if you're taking a large group somewhere that far away, charter a flight.

ggm 83 days ago |

Uruguay offers amazing entry experience and long visa with no conditions for technology workers. I'm not saying BA won't cut it, I prefer BA to Montevideo in some ways (10yo experiences mind you) just that you have a good rational and price competitive natural alternate nearby.

With the same steaks (ducks out rapidly..)