A small but mighty crew took to Cervecería Tulum toward the end of SITE Global Conference 2025 for an afternoon of giving back to our host destination.
After arriving at Cervecería Tulum, our host venue for the afternoon, our group split into two teams and toured the onsite brewery, while also challenging one another to complete three different CSR projects.
Each project, and the brewery tour, were themed around the four elements of earth, wind, air, and fire. Activities included building homes for a local bee species, crafting beaded bracelets for a “make one, take one” initiative, and planting herbs that will be used by our hosts at Cervecería Tulum.
Aside from the memories and positive sentiments gained through engaging with small slices of our host community, here’s what else stood out from this Global Conference giveback opportunity.
Activities that flowed like “water”
One of the obvious perks of this programming was its flexibility and custom elements.
While groups enjoyed the mix of community-oriented activities, that ranged from crafting to cultivating to constructing (all in the spirit of serving local needs), it was just as interesting to observe how organizers would work hand-in-hand with the brewery team and a DMC partner to add or revise activities to further suit their group.
Planners could add or cut time from the activities sampled as part of this specific afternoon, or find easy ways to add pops of personalization to make each station’s CSR activity that much more meaningful and personally impactful for their own incentive participants.
Organizers can support efforts to create and stake in custom signage when planting, for instance, or a follow-up report on where the projects a group creates actually wind up in the community.
Both the brewery and DMC teams were also incredibly kind in communicating with attendees in both Spanish and English, accommodating a mix of group needs — adding to the fluid flow of the program, and making it an ease to jump in and get started on each project throughout the course of the afternoon.
Passion in the “air”
As groups progressed to each of the four CSR activity stations, the blended Connect DMC and brewery team members onsite conveyed admirable excitement and energy for each project, and for the individuals and families the CSR work would help service.
Whether they were relating stories of a teenager looking to support their family through the bracelets everyone crafted or relaying facts about the Mayan Melipona bees that would dwell in the wooden hives created, tackling each give-back project was both an empowering and informative way to connect in further with the host destination — very much driven and shaped by the clear passion from the teams leading the activities!
“Fired” up by teamwork
It sometimes feels a bit cliché to comment how attendees at an event like SITE Global Conference can start as strangers and leave as friends: but the afternoon building, digging, and brewing at Cervecería Tulum certainly shows why this is a well-trod line that often holds true.
It was immensely rewarding to go throughout the afternoon and experience the power of teamwork in action, as group members had to work together to accomplish most of the CSR tasks set for us.
Many of these projects would’ve been nearly impossible to complete alone — and none of them would have felt as good to complete solo. Everyone enjoyed the sense of shared group accomplishments at the end of the afternoon, as the full group shared stories and made final connections over brews and burgers to cap off our hard work onsite.
“Earth” to introverts and ambiverts
A final meta-element of this CSR programming that really hit home for many was the introvert (or ambivert) friendly nature of the afternoon.
An event like SITE Global Conference can be overwhelming, especially for individuals not as used to the constant, frequent networking that comes with many outward-facing meetings industry roles.
While the CSR outing at Cervecería Tulum certainly had plenty of opportunities and moments to connect, you could also dig in — literally and figuratively — to a given project and enjoy moments of focused introspection and reflection, too: without losing impact or missing the “point” of what it is you were engaging with.
It’s key, I think, for those of us planning events (especially when it’s an event for those outside of the MICE industry) to keep top of mind that in addition to plenty of free time — crucial blocks for resting, relaxing, and having a moment to think and reflect — qualifiers will fall all over the introversion to extroversion spectrum.
Building in activities that are naturally more receptive and intuitively welcoming to a range of social preferences will always be a win for those looking to build inclusive incentives: with this CSR activity suite a key example of how to do just that.
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Thank you to Connect DMC for their planning and leadership efforts, and to Cervecería Tulum for hosting our group during SITE Global Conference 2025!
