Planning For Your 2027 Kick-Off Starts Now

Explore Performance facilitator delivering the Human Power keynote on a conference stage
Human Power keynote, built on Explore Performance’s own Bay of Bengal crossing.

Every year the pattern is the same. Between October and December, large organisations sign off the budget, venue, theme and running order for the events that open their year: leadership summits, town halls, sales kick-offs, technology summits and channel partner events.

By January the agenda is printed. The main-stage slots, and the people who fill them, are taken.

We see this from the inside. We have led the AWS global leaders summit in Seattle and the UBS global leaders summit in Zurich, to name two. The events that work have one thing in common: the content was agreed early enough to be built around the client’s strategy, not added in the final fortnight.

 

Before The Doors Open

This is the stage before a kick-off. An hour later, the room is split into teams at their tables, working through decisions taken from one of our own expeditions.

 

The Planning Window

October to November
Agree The Outcome
Decide what your leaders should be doing differently by March. Write it down. Test every agenda decision after that against it.

November to December
Book The Stage
Opening and closing keynote slots go first. Facilitator calendars for January and February fill before Christmas.

January
Build It Around Your Business
We spend time with your leadership team before the event: the strategy, the language your people use, and the issues nobody raises in the room. The week before is too late for that.

Explore Performance facilitator presenting the For Those Who Dare Everest experience in front of a Himalayan backdrop.
For Those Who Dare (Everest) on the main stage.

 

Know What The Event Is For

Each format has a different job. Be clear on yours before you book anyone.

Leadership summit
Agreement on the year’s priorities, and on how decisions get made between functions.
Town hall
One story for the whole organisation, told so every team can see its part in it.
Sales kick-off
A common language for the year’s targets that your sellers are still using in February.
Technology summit
The people side of delivery, where technical programmes often stall.
Channel partner event
A reason for partners to prioritise you over the other vendors they sell.
A full conference room working through an Everest adventure simulation, team by team.

 

Why We Use Real Expeditions

Our programmes come from expeditions our own team planned, executed and filmed. In 2025, Grant ‘Axe’ Rawlinson and his crew completed the fastest row of the Tasman Sea, after 11 years and three failed attempts. That crossing is the basis of Into The Unknown. The summit of Everest is the basis of For Those Who Dare.

The audience does not sit and watch. They work in teams through the same decisions the expedition team faced: what to commit to, when to turn back, and who to trust with the next call. Then we connect it to your business, your targets and the conversations your leaders need to have.

For UBS, that meant 18,000 leaders across 5 continents in 8 months following the Credit Suisse merger. The programme won Brandon Hall Gold for Best Learning and Development Programme in 2025. Across all our work, we have delivered to more than 40,000 participants in 25 countries.

Explore Performance speaker presenting Into The Unknown on a large conference stage with ocean imagery.
Into The Unknown at a corporate achievers event.

 

Formats For Your Kick-Off

Format 1
Opening or closing keynote
Sets the tone at the start, or lands the message at the end.
Format 2
Keynote plus facilitated simulation
The whole room works through it together, not just listens.
Format 3
Full summit programme
Built around your strategy from opening session to close.
Frequently asked questions
When should we start planning a January kick-off event?
In October. The outcome and theme should be agreed by November, and the agenda and speakers locked before Christmas.
What makes a sales kick-off keynote effective?
A shared language for the year’s targets and an experience people remember after February. Expedition-based simulations put sellers through real decisions under pressure, in teams.
Can expedition-based programmes work for large events?
Yes. Explore Performance’s UBS programme aligned 18,000 leaders across 5 continents in 8 months and won Brandon Hall Gold in 2025.

Talk To Us Before Your Agenda Locks

If your 2027 kick-off is in planning, call us now. We will tell you which format fits, what it takes to build, and whether we are the right partner for it.