KIŠIB team retreat 2025

For the last three days, the KIŠIB team left behind our desks, screens, and city routines to gather at Kloster Banz near Bamberg. It was our very first team retreat, and for many of us the first chance to spend extended time together outside the usual project meetings. The monastery’s calm setting on a hill overlooking the Main valley turned out to be the perfect backdrop for reflection, planning — and simply getting to know each other better.

During our work sessions, we mapped out the many responsibilities within the project, clarified roles, and discussed how we want to collaborate as a team in the coming years. These conversations were interesting and constructive, and gave us the opportunity to align our different perspectives into a shared vision. All questions were allowed and especially the interdiciplinarity between archaeology, assyriology and digital humanities and the communication within was of importance.

Equally important, however, was the time spent away from the conference room. In the evenings we went bowling (with plenty of laughter and a few surprisingly competitive moments), took a hike through the Franconian landscape (while surveying local fields for ammonites), and visited a local museum together (where we saw the fossilised head of an ichthyosaur). These experiences gave us the chance to connect in a different way, beyond research agendas and task lists, and reminded us that building a project also means building relationships.

Looking back, our first retreat feels like an important milestone. We returned home with clearer structures, new energy, and a stronger sense for the team we are working with. We also came back with a lot of experience on how to organize such gatherings — which will be useful, since the KIŠIB retreat is a yearly occurrance.