A private summit for L&D leaders, planned and run end to end by Unboxed.

Our goal is simple: bring learning leaders together to explore how to build skills at the pace of change, and let them feel what experiential, in-person learning can be, so they leave inspired to create something like it for their own teams.

See how we plan a summit Explore Spring 2026
Spring 2026 highlight film, with guests from Cummins, Alkermes, Synchrony, Hilton and AbbVie. 2 min 20 sec.
March 2025
Spring 2025
Theme
Let's Explore Together
Dates
March 23rd to 25th
Keynote
Dev Patnaik, Jump Associates
Attendees
16 L&D leaders
The first summit
March 2026
Spring 2026
Theme
Your Next Bold Move: Rethinking How L&D Creates Value
Dates
March 23rd to 25th
Keynote
Dr. Keith Keating, BDO
Attendees
21 L&D leaders
Your Next Bold Move
Who attends

Organizations in the room

35client organizations across three summits, from pharma and hospitality to rail, aviation and financial services.

16organizations have joined more than one summit.

Attended all three summits
How we work

How we plan a summit

The same playbook runs under every summit. It starts months before guests arrive and keeps going after they fly home.

  1. 1

    Listen before we design

    Before the event begins, we ask participants about the challenges most present in their organization, then build a workshop to help solve those challenges.

  2. 2

    Curate an exclusive, senior room

    Each summit is an invite-only event for our valued clients, trusted advocates, and select industry experts. This gives the opportunity to collaborate with fellow leaders shaping the future of learning and development.

  3. 3

    Book a keynote worth the trip

    An outside voice opens the day: Dev Patnaik of Jump Associates in 2025, Dr. Keith Keating of BDO in Spring 2026, and Emmy-winning comedian Steve Waltien for Fall 2026.

  4. 4

    Design the workshop as a sequence

    We build every workshop ourselves. Examples from workshops we've run include a printed workbook, timed reflect-and-discuss rounds, group rotations, peer consulting triads, and a poster gallery walk to close.

  5. 5

    Handle every detail

    Once an invitation is accepted, we handle all the details. Every guest has accommodations, transportation, shuttle services between venues, informational guides, etc. No small detail is missed through our personalized experiences.

  6. 6

    Let Richmond host the evenings

    Receptions, dinners and experiences at independent Richmond venues, showcasing our city.

  7. 7

    Capture it

    A highlight film and short video interviews with guests, so each summit leaves a record we can share. Guests leave celebrating new ideas, new connections, and strategies to move forward.

  8. 8

    Keep the conversation going

    After every summit, guests receive a feedback survey, a thank-you gift and an award cube recognizing their place on the Skill Agility Committee. A virtual round table keeps the group connected between summits, and their feedback shapes the next one.

Hospitality

How we take care of guests

  • Rooms reservedEvery guest's room is booked for them: the Quirk Hotel in 2025 and Spring 2026, and The Jefferson for Fall 2026.
  • Rides prescheduledAirport transfers are arranged in advance for ease of guest access, as part of a fully curated experience.
  • Shuttles between every venueTransportation runs from the hotel to Unboxed HQ, to dinner, to the evening experience and back.
  • Unique, hands-on experiencesNo boring banquet halls. Guests stamp their own leather notebooks, solve puzzles at an immersive bar, and walk Richmond's history by night.
  • Meals taken care ofBreakfasts, a welcome reception, workshop-day lunch, a group dinner and a farewell breakfast. We ask about dietary restrictions and allergies on every RSVP, then build meals specifically around each guest's needs, so every meal works for everyone at the table.
  • Personalized for every guestWelcome gifts labeled with each guest's name, gold pins customized with their company name, and leather notebooks they stamp and make their own. The event should feel unique to them because that is how we planned it.
  • Know before you goA guest guide for each summit covering venues, travel, dress and the keynote, plus practical tips like sensible shoes for cobblestone grounds and layers for cool fall evenings.
  • Personal point of contactEvery guest has a personal point of contact to reach anytime, whether travel plans change, they have a general question, or there's an emergency.

Print materials and keepsakes

Branded to match each summit, and personal to every guest.

PrintSwag and keepsakes
  • Formal invitation
  • Printed agenda
  • Richmond guide with travel information
  • Historical texts on The Jefferson
  • Welcome booklet with speaker and attendee bios
  • Daily schedules
  • Interactive workshop components: game cards, workbooks, canvases and more
  • Know-before-you-go guest guides
  • Name tags, name tents, and place cards
  • Welcome bag: personalized water bottles, Unboxed gear, useful tools and more
  • Local snacks: Ukrop's cookies and Virginia peanuts
  • Quirk Hotel keepsake
  • The Jefferson keepsake: Chocolate covered alligators
  • Padfolio with notepad to keep notes and stay organized
  • Custom leather notebooks by Awl Snap
  • Gold pins with each guest's company name
  • Skill Agility Committee award cube
  • Alumni award cube for committee alumni
Downtown Richmond skyline at dusk
Proudly local

Our Richmond partners

Unboxed is headquartered at 2201 West Broad Street, and every summit is built around the city we call home.

17Richmond hotels, restaurants, makers, musicians and experiences partnered with us.

Hotels and receptions

  • Quirk HotelHome base, welcome reception and breakfasts
    Spring 2025Spring 2026
  • Common HouseWelcome reception
    Spring 2026
  • The Jefferson HotelHome base
    Fall 2026
  • TJ's Bar & LoungeWelcome reception
    Fall 2026

Dining

  • Lolita'sGroup dinner
    Spring 2025
  • Chez FousheeDinner and fun
    Spring 2026
  • Bookbinders Seafood & SteakhouseGroup dinner on Tobacco Row
    Fall 2026
  • LemaireFarewell breakfast
    Fall 2026

Experiences

  • RavenchasePuzzle adventures
    Spring 2025Spring 2026Fall 2026
  • RévélerImmersive evening in Carytown
    Spring 2025
  • RVA on WheelsTrolley history tour
    Fall 2026
  • Historic St. John's ChurchFancy Me Mad spirit walk
    Fall 2026

Makers and local touches

  • Awl SnapCustom leather notebooks
    Spring 2025
  • Ukrop'sCookies for every welcome bag
  • Bousquet PicturesEvent photography
  • Local musiciansLive music from a pianist and a guitarist

Fall 2026

Upcoming

Monday, October 26th to Wednesday, October 28th

Fully booked

Fall 2026 is at capacity. We are no longer accepting new attendees for this summit. Interested in joining a future Skill Agility Summit? Let us know and we'll reach out when invitations open.

The Jefferson Hotel's front courtyard and clock tower

What's planned

The Fall 2026 Summit moves guests to The Jefferson, Richmond's grandest hotel. Every room is reserved in advance, and accommodations, meals, local experiences and transportation all come with the invitation. The workshop stays at Unboxed Headquarters.

TED-style talks and a keynoteOn the latest L&D trends and challenges
Focused roundtablesCandid discussion with peers
Skill Agility workshopsBuilt to deliver actionable strategies
AI and what's nextHow emerging tech is reshaping L&D

Keynote

Steve Waltien

Steve Waltien

Emmy and Peabody Award-winning comedian. Seven seasons writing for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Performs with the Improvised Shakespeare Company and is an alum of The Second City Mainstage in Chicago. He has trained and inspired corporate teams at Verizon, Microsoft and MillerCoors.

Three days in Richmond

Mon26Oct

  • Welcome reception at TJ's Bar & Lounge

  • Partnering with RVA on Wheels: A trolley ride to learn Richmond's (sometimes spooky) history by night.

Tue27Oct

  • Summit workshop at Unboxed HQ, with transportation provided

  • Dinner at Bookbinders Seafood & Steakhouse, in the 1901 American Cigar Building on Tobacco Row

  • Fancy Me Mad at Historic St. John's Church, 1741, the site of Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech. This annual spirit walk starts with a stroll through the historic graveyard, where costumed spirits tell their stories. Then guests head inside the church as Edgar Allan Poe reads from his tales.

Wed28Oct

  • Farewell breakfast at Lemaire

Dave Romero
The pre-read

The time we spend together

A note from Dave Romero, President, Unboxed

Before the summit, every guest receives a personal note from Dave Romero. His message: as AI makes work easier, time together becomes more valuable, and every hour has to earn its place.

Easier isn't always better. Real growth comes from trying, missing and trying again, which is why this summit is built to be felt in person, so guests leave inspired to create the same for their teams.

"Helping someone consume information is one thing. Helping someone build a capability is something different."
"When you get your people in a room together, how will you make that time count?"
Strategy, content and software are what we create.Human capability is what we develop. This is the work we are really in.
Spring 2026 workshop

Five stages to a Bold Move

Each stage pairs quiet individual reflection with a timed group discussion. Guests write as they go in a printed workbook, so the thinking from one stage feeds the next.

    Setting the scene

    Before the first stage, we showed how leading organizations are already rebuilding capability.

    Skills visibility

    Mapping workforce skills and connecting them to roles and opportunities.

    IBMNovartis

    Internal talent marketplaces

    Letting employees take on projects and stretch assignments outside their formal roles.

    MastercardPepsiCo

    Enterprise reskilling

    Reskilling employees for emerging roles during transformation.

    AmazonAT&T

    Learning ecosystems

    Enabling peer learning and communities of practice.

    GoogleSpotify

    AI-enabled work

    Embedding AI assistants into everyday tools so people learn while they work.

    Microsoft

    Creative learning culture

    Opening creative classes to every department, unrelated to anyone's job.

    Pixar
    What L&D has beenWhere L&D is going
    • Training programs becomes Capability systems
    • Course catalogs becomes Skills visibility
    • Learning events becomes Development through work
    • Completion metrics becomes Business capability signals

    What every guest left with

    A one-page Bold Move canvas, filled in over the day and turned into a poster for the gallery walk. A strong Bold Move carries a decision, a behavior shift, a trade-off and visible impact.

    1. 1Business challengeThe problem worth solving
    2. 2StopWhat L&D stops doing
    3. 3Value shiftL&D moves from… to…
    4. 4LeverThe decision that activates it
    5. 5AdjustmentWhat changed under pressure
    6. 690-day signalWhat an executive would notice
    A hand-drawn Bold Move poster with five light bulbs labeled challenge, subtraction, bold move, lever and signals
    A hand-drawn Bold Move roadmap poster drawn as a winding road with a stop sign, traffic light, barriers and a finish flag

    Two finished Bold Moves from the gallery walk.

    Leadership patterns with Meghna Bhagat

    Experiential facilitator, astrologer and speaker Meghna Bhagat gave guests a different lens on their teams: people aren't difficult, they're different, and those differences follow patterns. Her framework maps four elemental styles, and what goes wrong when one is missing from the room.

    Fire

    Initiator, trailblazer, catalyst

    Starts the movement with energy, courage and momentum.

    Without it, nothing starts.

    Earth

    Builder, stabilizer, sustainer

    Turns vision into structure, systems and dependable results.

    Without it, things start strong but don't last.

    Air

    Strategist, connector, visionary

    Sees patterns and connects ideas and people into strategy.

    Without it, people move fast but not together.

    Water

    Cohesion builder, humanizer, culture carrier

    Reads what matters beneath the surface and weaves the team together.

    Without it, results happen but people disengage.

    From the Spring 2026 summit

    Keynote slide reading Instead of, with constraint, convention and escalation
    The keynote
    Guests in discussion at a workshop table
    Reflect, then discuss
    Guests reviewing posters on the wall during the gallery walk
    The poster gallery walk
    The workshop space at Unboxed Headquarters
    Workshop day at HQ
    Guests talking at the welcome reception
    The welcome reception
    Two guests in conversation
    Connecting with peers
    A host speaking to guests at dinner
    The evening program
    Guests raising a toast
    A toast to the group

    What attendees told us

    9.8/10Would recommend the summit
    100%Will put what they learned into practice
    9.3/10Hospitality
    100%Want to join the virtual round table

    How guests rated each session

    Keynote: Hidden Value, Dr. Keith Keating11 of 11 rated it valuable or better
    Strategic perspective: Dave Romero11 of 11 rated it valuable or better
    Industry signals and the five workshop stages11 of 11 rated it valuable or better
    Poster creation and gallery walk10 of 11 rated it valuable or better
    Extremely valuableValuableNeutral

    Biggest takeaways, in their words

    • "Being obsessed with value!"
    • "Making sure you measure impact and share the story."
    • "The need to bring L&D to the table in a different light."
    • "How AI is reshaping how we do things, but as leaders we can also help control the narrative and remain relevant."
    • "The opportunity to have a learning circle focused on my L&D team's Hidden Value."
    "The Skill Agility Summit stands apart from traditional learning conferences. As a vendor-hosted experience, it demonstrates a genuine commitment to partnership and not just delivery."
    "I thought the entire event was well curated, allowed ample opportunity for discussion and was a fantastic use of time."
    "I love the format and the balance of thought leadership, workshopping and networking."
    "Great materials, great interactions, fun and engaging atmosphere, and the right amount of time."

    Quotes are shared anonymously from the Spring 2026 attendee survey.

    In their words

    We filmed short interviews with guests during the summit.

    Cummins
    Director, Global Sales and Service Enablement
    Alkermes
    Head of Commercial Learning and Leadership Development
    Synchrony
    VP, Sales Process and Learning
    Hilton
    Senior Director, Learning and Development, Global Brands and Commercial Services
    AbbVie
    Head of US Commercial Learning and Development

    Spring 2025

    Sunday, March 23rd to Tuesday, March 25th

    Downtown Richmond skyline above the James River rapids

    Purpose

    The Spring 2025 summit brought clients, trusted advocates and industry experts together for a thought leadership workshop on the problems L&D teams face today.

    The workshop moved from a keynote and a current-trends roundtable into hands-on sessions on problem solving, innovation and cognitive biases, then into peer consulting triads where guests worked each other's real challenges.

    Keynote

    Dev Patnaik

    Dev Patnaik

    CEO, Jump Associates. Adjunct Professor, Stanford University.
    Cautions for those Forging the Future

    Author of Wired to Care and an advisor to CEOs at Starbucks, Target, Nike, Universal and Virgin.

    2025 recap film, 3 min 10 sec

    Inside the workshop: Let's Explore Together

    The day ran under the Chatham House Rule, so leaders could speak openly. Every activity was built to take each guest from a messy, real challenge to a solution their peers had helped pressure-test.

    1. 1

      Problem Post

      A five-minute warm-up. Guests wrote their challenges on sticky notes, posted them on the wall, and dot-voted the ones that resonated.

    2. 2

      How do you measure up?

      A show of hands on the pressures in the room, from deskless workers and hybrid work to leadership gaps, eLearning backlash and turning L&D from a cost center into a revenue center.

    3. 3

      Diagnose your problem

      A worksheet to dig past the easy version of the question to the real one. Guests swapped notes with a partner and left with a sharp problem statement for the afternoon.

    4. 4

      Problem-solving stations

      Choose your own adventure across three stations, each with its own worksheet:

      Do the OppositeBreak the RulesWear a Different Hat
    5. 5

      Peer consulting triads

      In groups of three, one guest shared their problem and stayed silent while the other two asked clarifying questions, brainstormed out loud, then presented a solution. Then they rotated.

    Skill Agility + AI: where we are and where we're going

    Over lunch, Dave Romero made the case that AI has crossed the chasm and nearly every executive will soon use it daily. His argument was about what that means for the skills L&D builds.

    • The value of raw intellectual horsepower will decrease.
    • Knowing the right questions to ask is more important than ever.
    • Applying knowledge will be far more valuable than knowing the answer.
    • We will move from fact collectors to dot connectors.

    From the 2025 summit

    View of Broad Street from the Quirk Hotel
    The Quirk Hotel
    Awl Snap's leather stamping station set up with tools and notebook covers
    Awl Snap's custom leather notebook station
    Two guests stamping their leather notebooks
    Guests personalizing their notebooks
    Guests talking over dinner at a long table at Lolita's
    Dinner at Lolita's
    Guests in conversation over drinks at Lolita's
    Lolita's
    The illuminated Révéler sign
    Révéler, Carytown
    Two guests examining nesting dolls and puzzle boxes beside a tiered tray of desserts at Révéler
    An immersive evening at Révéler
    Guests gathered around a locked red and gold puzzle box, working out clues at Révéler
    Solving the puzzle

    What attendees told us

    10/10Would recommend the summit
    100%Will put what they learned into practice
    10/10Food and refreshments
    9.9/10Hospitality

    How guests rated each session

    Lunch and learn: Skill Agility + AI9 of 9 rated it valuable or better
    Keynote: Cautions for those Forging the Future9 of 9 rated it valuable or better
    Problem statement definition and hot seat9 of 9 rated it valuable or better
    Problem-solving stations8 of 9 rated it valuable or better
    Peer consulting triads7 of 9 rated it valuable or better
    Extremely valuableValuableNeutral

    Biggest takeaways, in their words

    • "Drilling down the problem statement so that I am thinking of a solution that actually addresses the root cause!"
    • "It is very difficult, even among those of us who are skilled, to deep dive into problem statements rather than jump to solutioning."
    • "I think the 'do the opposite' was a thought-provoking exercise."
    • "How important it will be to stay connected and informed as our industry continues to change."
    "Modeled a great learning experience, great size, good networking, great space, speakers, content."
    "The experience was invaluable. Great flow to the well thought-out activities, interaction with highly invested colleagues, and social time provided to connect in meaningful ways."
    "The Summit agenda was very well done, demonstrating what a successful day of workshops can look like."
    "What a surprise to get gluten free cookies in my welcome [bag]... that was such a simple thing and personal touch that made me feel special!"

    Quotes are shared anonymously from the Spring 2025 attendee survey.