A send-off to remember
A career’s worth of thank-yous, on film
Colleagues, friends, and family scan a QR code to record their memories, gratitude, and well-wishes, send photos and write a note. Within 24 hours after the collection closes the guest of honor receives a first tribute film, then a personalized film with the photos and notes.
Try it like a guest: see the demo →
What is a retirement video guest book?
A retirement video guest book is a QR code that colleagues, friends and family scan with their phone to leave a message for the person retiring instead of signing a leaving card. With Video Message, each person can record up to 3 videos of up to one minute, send photos several at a time and write a note signed with their first name, in the browser with no app, no account and nothing for IT to approve. Remote and former colleagues use the same link before, during or after the send-off, and at the party photos can play as a live slideshow on a screen. Within 24 hours after the collection closes the organiser receives a first tribute film of the video messages, then builds a personalized film with the photos and notes and downloads every file. It costs $49 for the event, whatever the size of the team.
Picture it
From the whole team
Most colleagues never say the thing they actually think about someone until the leaving card comes round, and then they write “all the best”. Given a question to answer instead, the same people talk for a minute about what that person taught them.
From past colleagues
The people who worked most closely with a retiree are often the ones who left years ago. They are the easiest to reach and the most often forgotten, and a link forwarded through two or three old contacts usually finds them.
At the party
Speeches at a send-off come from three or four senior people. Everyone else claps. A code on the tables lets the rest of the room say something without standing up in front of colleagues.
A lasting tribute
Thirty years of work usually ends with a card and a lunch. A film of forty people describing what someone was actually like to work with is the only record of that career they will ever be given.
How it works
Place the QR code
On the office noticeboard, the party tables, or the email invite.
Guests scan & record
No app to install. They record a message, send photos or write a note straight from their phone.
Receive your films
Within 24 hours after the collection closes you receive your first tribute film, plus each individual video. Then you build a personalized film with the photos and notes.
Old team photos, a slideshow, two films
A career leaves pictures behind in a dozen inboxes. The same QR code that collects the messages brings them together.
The photos nobody has seen in years
Old team photos, the leaving do from 1998, the office before the refit. Colleagues send them from their phones, several at a time, and they sit in one album instead of scattered across inboxes.
A slideshow at the send-off
Open the slideshow link on the meeting-room screen or a projector with a browser and internet. Photos appear as people send them, automatically or after you approve each one, so nothing unexpected reaches the room.
A tribute film, then your edit
The video messages become a first tribute film within 24 hours after the collection closes. Then build a personalized film with the photos and notes, choosing the order, the music, the color look, the transitions and your own opening and closing text.
One link for the whole company
Share the films by link with every site and every former colleague. Download all photos and videos as ZIP files and the notes as a PDF message book to hand over. Files are kept for 3 months after your first film, and we email you a reminder before they are deleted.
Organising a send-off film when you are not the one retiring
You are collecting on someone else’s behalf
Retirement is the one occasion here where the person being celebrated is not the person organising it. That changes the job: you are chasing colleagues, working around a leaving date you did not choose, and keeping it quiet if it is meant to be a surprise.
One person should own it. Shared responsibility across a team reliably produces nothing until the week before. Whoever owns it needs the link, a deadline, and permission to remind people twice.
Do not forget the people who already left
The colleagues who mattered most to a thirty-year career are often the ones who moved on five or ten years ago. They are the people whose messages land hardest, and they are the easiest group to overlook because they are not on the internal mailing list.
Ask the retiree’s closest colleague to name five people who left. Forward the link to them and ask each to forward it once more. That single step usually adds more messages than the all-staff email does.
What to ask people to say
The default message is “congratulations, enjoy the retirement, you deserve it”. Forty of those is a chore, and it tells the retiree nothing they did not already assume.
Ask a question instead. “What did you learn from working with her?” “What is the one story about him that people still tell?” “When did she get you out of trouble?” These produce specifics, and specifics are what makes someone cry at their own leaving party.
Put the question on the sign and in the email. People answer what they are asked.
Shift patterns and distributed teams
Offices are easy. Hospitals, factories, retail and anything with night shifts are not, because there is no hour when everyone is available and no noticeboard everyone passes.
Colleagues take part before, during and after the send-off, so the link can go out weeks ahead. If your team is spread across sites or rotas, set the closing date a few days after the send-off and remind people who have not recorded yet. You can move the date from your dashboard.
Where the budget usually sits
This is normally paid from a team whip-round or a small HR budget, alongside the card and the gift. At the price of a couple of bottles of wine, it tends to be the least contested line in the collection.
If you organise send-offs regularly, whether in HR or as an event professional, volume pricing is available on the pro page rather than buying one at a time.
When to set up & how to share
When to activate your space
Set up your space a couple of weeks before: add the retiree’s name, choose nostalgic or grateful music, and share your QR code.
Spread the QR code as widely as you can
- ✓Pin the QR code to the office noticeboard and the break room.
- ✓Email the QR code and link to the team and past colleagues, and drop it in the work or family group chat, so remote and former colleagues can take part too.
- ✓Place it on the tables at the send-off party.
- ✓Ask a manager to remind everyone to record a message.
Put it on your signage and send the guest link privately to your guest list (WhatsApp, group chats, SMS), before, during and after the event, so even the people who can’t be there in person add a video, photos or a note.
What you receive
Made for your event
Simple pricing
Digital QR code
One event, delivered instantly, everything included
$49
or 3 for $99, for 3 separate events
- ✓ Videos, photos and written notes
- ✓ Live photo slideshow
- ✓ Two films, the album and the message book
- ✓ No app and no limit on guests
Organizing send-offs for an HR team or clients? See pro pricing →
Questions
Can remote colleagues contribute?
Yes. Share the link and anyone can record from their phone or laptop, whether they are in the office, working from home, or on another site.
Can we collect messages over several days?
Yes. Colleagues can take part as soon as you share the link, before, during and after the send-off. You choose when the collection closes, a few days after the send-off if people are spread across sites or shifts.
How do we reach colleagues who have already left the company?
Forward them the link directly. Ask the retiree’s closest colleague to name a few people who moved on, and ask each of them to forward it once more. Former colleagues often send the most memorable messages and are the easiest group to miss.
What should we ask people to say?
Give one specific question rather than an open invitation. “What did you learn from working with her?” produces something worth watching; “say a few words” produces forty versions of “congratulations, enjoy your retirement”.
Do colleagues need to install anything?
No. They scan the code and the recording page opens in their browser. No app, no account, and nothing for IT to approve.
Can we keep it a surprise?
Yes, and most teams do. Collect quietly in the weeks before, then play the finished film at the send-off or hand it over privately.
How long can each message be?
Each person can record up to 3 videos of up to one minute, which is enough for one story told properly. They can also send photos and write a note.
What do we receive?
A first tribute film made from the video messages, delivered within 24 hours after the collection closes, plus every individual video to download and keep. Then a personalized film with the photos and notes, all photos and videos as ZIP files, and the notes as a PDF message book.
Can colleagues send old photos from work?
Yes. Anyone can send photos from their phone, several at a time, including scans of old prints. They go into the album, can play in the slideshow at the send-off and can be added to your personalized film.
What if some colleagues do not want to be on camera?
They can write a note instead, signed with their first name, or simply send a photo. Notes are gathered in the PDF message book and can appear in your personalized film.
We organise send-offs regularly. Is there a volume rate?
Yes. HR teams and event professionals can see volume pricing on the pro page rather than buying one event at a time.
Does this work outside the United States?
Yes, anywhere in the world. Nothing ships to you: your QR code and guest link arrive by email the moment you pay, and your guests take part in their phone’s browser. It works the same in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, across Europe and anywhere else. This page shows US dollars; we also have pricing pages in pounds, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Swiss francs and euros, and you pay in the currency of the page you buy from.
What language is it in?
Each event runs in the language you choose: English, French, Spanish, Italian, German or Portuguese. The guest page, your dashboard and the wording in your films follow that language. Your guests can speak or write in whatever language they like; nothing is transcribed or translated, so each message stays exactly as they recorded it.
Can we collect for longer?
Yes. Guests take part before, during and after your event, from the moment you share the link. You set the closing date, a few days after the event if you like, and can move it from your dashboard.