CASE STUDY
The Retreat 2026: How we helped Cerebral Palsy Alliance raise $1 million, one cue at a time
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1000000
Dollars raised for Charity
200
Attendees
2
Days
80
Years of Doing Good
A Welcome to Country carries across a ballroom as the last of the daylight fades. A DJ set dips to nothing so a single voice can be heard. Two days later, a cellist opens the afterparty and the dance floor doesn't empty until well past midnight. In between: a live auction, a silent auction, a golf tournament, three raffles, a pledge moment built entirely around a QR code, and a room full of guests who came to give generously, and did.
Over one weekend at RACV Cape Schanck, The Retreat 2026 raised more than one million dollars for Cerebral Palsy Alliance's Remarkable program, which backs the founders building accessible technology for people living with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. We were the production partner behind it, running audio, screens, lighting and live content across two very different nights for more than 200 guests.
- Event
The Retreat - Date
28 & 29 August 2026 - Venue
RACV Cape Schanck
Why us?
Cerebral Palsy Alliance first worked with us on their 80th anniversary celebration. It went so well that when a conversation opened up around The Retreat, we were the first port of call. As Lucy Jordan, CPA’s Event Manager, put it, the decision came down to that earlier event and the relationship it built.
Two nights, two very different jobs
Friday was the welcome event: a Welcome to Country from Willie Pepper, a committee address, DJ Chloe on the decks with timed breaks for a CPA playlist, a kids' club and putt-putt running in parallel, and a room that needed to feel relaxed before the main event even started.
Saturday was the gala. Comedian Vince Sorrenti held the room as MC across a night, carrying a highlights video, an Acknowledgement of Country, a CEO address from Rob White, a major sponsor video for Toyota Australia, a live interview between Alexander Kouts and Remarkable founder Jay Davey, a golf prize presentation across half a dozen categories, a live pledge drive with a QR-coded giving screen, an eight-lot live auction run by Andrew McCann, a silent auction ticking down on GalaBid, and three separate raffle draws. Every one of those needed its own microphone plan, its own slide, its own handover, and its own place in the running order, with the next cue always loaded before the last one landed.
That's the part of the job nobody sees from the audience. What they do see is Lucy's answer when we asked what made the night work: great preparation beforehand, flexible pricing, and a team onsite who could adapt when it mattered.
What success looked like
More than 200 attendees. Over one million dollars raised for Remarkable. Multiple entertainment formats, from live auction to golf presentation to live music, all landing successfully in the same room on the same night. Feedback, in Lucy's words, was great all round.
The moment that stuck
When we asked Lucy which part of the weekend she'd point to first, and the answer comes without hesitation: Saturday night's afterparty. After a night of formalities, speeches and fundraising, the room moved next door for a live performance from SXNCELLO and simply didn't want to stop. It's the kind of moment that only happens when everything before it has gone to plan, and the AV can hand the night over cleanly the second the last raffle winner walks off stage.
We deliver. Professionally, with purpose and personality. For CPA, that meant a weekend where the fundraising landed, the room felt looked after, and the last song of the night is the one everyone's still talking about.
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