Business on the River Torrens

I’ve just returned from a three-day retreat in Adelaide. Every year, my EO (Entrepreneurs Organisation) forum goes away to spend quality time together, learn from guest speakers, and undertake some professional development. Over the last four years, we’ve travelled to Wellington, Hobart and Queenstown. This year, it was South Australia’s turn.

Once again, I was tasked with planning and managing logistics for our retreat. The group decided to make this year’s event an intensive professional development event. As a result, we spent most of our time learning to apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in our day-to-day business and revisiting business fundamentals during an intense session with one of South Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs.

We flew into Adelaide on Wednesday morning and based ourselves for two nights at SkyCity, Adelaide’s new casino and hotel complex overlooking the River Torrens. Before getting down to business, we made the most of the sunny weather and spent an hour walking a circuit along the river. We walked from the Riverbank Precinct Pedestrian Bridge as far as the Albert Bridge and back again.

After a full afternoon of meetings, we went for a drink at SOL rooftop bar, enjoying nighttime views of the River Torrens, Elder Park and the Adelaide Oval. We then walked into town for a superb degustation meal at Fugazzi Bar & Dining Room. The service was impeccable.

Thursday was given over to a full day of intensive AI training. I kicked off my morning with a serene walk along the river before the training began. At 5:00pm, we went to the Malt Shovel Taphouse, a nearby microbrewery, for a meet-and-greet session with members of the EO Adelaide chapter. We then went for dinner at Jolleys Boathouse, a landmark building overlooking the river. Sadly, the meal was nothing special despite the stunning location.

Yesterday, the group relocated to Glenelg, where I’d booked a meeting room overlooking the beach. We spent three hours learning from Richard Turner, a successful entrepreneur who has grown several billion-dollar companies. His presentation was a timely reminder that everything gets easier in business if you can achieve scale and build a team to share the load.

We finished our afternoon with a walk along the Glenelg promenade before making our way back to Adelaide Airport and heading home. It was an intensive three days. However, our location on the banks of the Torrens River was a superb choice. It gave us plenty of green outdoor space to explore between all the academic activities.

Central Adelaide certainly is a beautiful location. Although, we all agreed that it’s a rather sleepy town compared to Sydney or Melbourne. I will say one thing in its favour. The flight path into Adelaide Airport took us directly over the central city. We enjoyed us a superb view of our hotel and the surrounding parklands as we came into land, with the Adelaide Hills providing the perfect backdrop. It’s as good a view as the final approach over Sydney harbour.