Plex's Ambitious $500,000 Survivor-Themed Retreat in Honduras Turns Catastrophic
In 2017, streaming service Plex invested half a million dollars in a corporate bonding retreat to Honduras, inspired by the reality TV show Survivor. However, the event quickly spiraled into a series of bizarre and chaotic incidents that employees still recount today, according to recent reports in the Wall Street Journal.
CEO's Dramatic Plans Derailed by Severe Illness
Plex CEO Keith Valory, 54, a devoted fan of Survivor, collaborated with retreat agency Moniker Partners to design an immersive experience mirroring the show's challenges. Valory intended to make a grand entrance akin to host Jeff Probst, but his plans were thwarted when he contracted E. coli from a salad at the resort.
"Everything there is fried. Basically, people are telling me: 'Don’t eat the vegetables. Don’t eat the vegetables.' I was like: 'I’ve got to have a salad. Just one little salad,'" Valory explained. The illness caused him to lose 8-10 pounds, requiring an IV bag nailed to his bedpost. From his sickbed, he could hear employees participating in drills outside, noting, "I’m in here thinking, This is terrible, but it sounds terrible out there, too."
Bizarre Challenges and Culinary Disasters Unfold
During the opening ceremony, Shawn Eldridge, 55, head of business development and content, faced an unexpected challenge: eating a dead tarantula found on his team's platter. "I just grabbed it and did it. Pretty horrible, not going to lie. Those hairs," Eldridge recalled, adding that as a Texan, he was familiar with tarantulas but had never consumed one.
The culinary woes extended beyond arachnids. The resort, unprepared for a group of 120, served undercooked food in a rush to accommodate everyone. Sean Hoff, 42, founder of Moniker Partners, instructed staff to cut meat in half to check for doneness. Despite this, Eldridge humorously remarked the food was "awesome" compared to the tarantula.
Employee Misadventures and Wildlife Encounters
Greta Schlender, 41, senior product manager, endured a particularly harrowing experience. She broke out in hives after falling into a fire ant hill, required an antihistamine shot in her buttocks, was bitten by sand fleas, and got stranded overnight on Utila island during a day trip. In a bizarre twist, a random woman administered another antihistamine through a vein in Schlender's head to alleviate her pain.
"We got back to rounds of applause from our colleagues for surviving," Schlender said, still calling it "one of the most fun trips ever." The stranded group made the best of their situation by purchasing matching tank tops and enjoying reggae music.
In another strange incident, senior software engineer Rick Phillips, 53, awoke to find a porcupine in his bathroom, likely having fallen through the ceiling. "I guess, for me, it was a good thing, because being a not-talkative software engineer, I got some notoriety," he noted, gaining respect from coworkers.
Enduring Bonds Despite the Chaos
Remarkably, key figures including Valory, Eldridge, Hoff, Schlender, and co-founder Scott Olechowski, 52, remain with Plex nearly a decade later. Olechowski highlighted the retreat's lasting impact, stating, "There are probably hundreds of little inside jokes that came from that retreat." Valory echoed this sentiment, describing such trips as "the life-sustaining force of the company" that forge close bonds.
Despite the series of misfortunes—from E. coli and tarantulas to porcupines and antihistamine dramas—the $500,000 investment in Honduras created a legendary corporate tale that continues to unite the Plex team through shared, albeit chaotic, memories.
