Tuesday, October 7, 2008

so THIS is tour directing

So here's the update. I just finished my second tour and it was a slam dunk. I earned more than $500 more in tips than the first tour! The group gave me a standing ovation at the farewell dinner and concluded it with "for he's a jolly good fellow". I turned bright red.

Many of the local shops upon seeing me the second time gave me a few books for free and I shared them with my guests as we went down the road. I got some inexpensive maple syrup cookbooks in woodstock VT and a seafood one on martha's vineyard and offered to photocopy two pages for every person on the bus who was interested. this was a big hit.

Here's some good one's alice:
This is called military corn: build it up for thirty seconds as they shout back their doubts...
They're all kearnels!!
"you see these round bails of hay...the cows wont eat them like the brick shaped ones...build up...its not a square meal!"
oh and the 2 pairs of socks routine at the golf course is also classic...

these work remarkably well as everyone is used to believing everything you say...

The ITMI estimates on what you should earn on a tour were well on the low side for these tours, but I also go with about 50 people so the tips really add up.

The reviews were so good that the company offered me one more tour starting the tenth so I'm on the hunt for alice. we do boston, lexington, concord, martha's vineyard, newport, mystic, woodstock, stratton mountain, portland and kennebunkport...do we have any stops in common?

Ive got another tour coming in December for a different company that specializes in foreign exchange students...7 days in New York city! and half the group speaks either French or Spanish...
I guess I will need to get some of the local day tours and meet and greets going around philly to fill in the holes during the slow season. Where did you guys look to find those?

2 comments:

Alice said...

Hey Greg. cpngratulations! I am so jealous of you for having that first one under your belt. I am still at the "Holy Crap!" stage. I leave today. I've been doing a bunch of daytrips to Manhattan so my microphone anxieties are gone. I know the route by heart and i'm sure I can pull a few jokes out of my a**. When I am at a loss for words I usually tell them "We see what we see when we see it." And when they are trying to interpret that I quote the Beatles..."There's nothing you can see that can't be seen." While thy contemplate the deepness of that statement, I get out my notecards and read them.
And finally if none of that works, I turn around in my seat and pretend to be sleeping.
I'll be in Boston on the 12th and 18th, in Newport on the 14th and 21st, woodstock on the 10th and 17th. I hope our paths will cross, it would be great to see a fellow I
Einstein!

Emily said...

Greg...I luv u mannnnnn! Congrats!! Sounds like it was a fruitful adventure. I loved your stories, I hope you keep them coming, that goes for those jokes as well. I really admired your courage in just jumping in there and goin for it! Youth...what can I say. I'm excited to hear about the foreign student tour. I was wondering if they will give you training, because mine is pretty thorough. I'll share what info I can pass on.
Em