What I can do for you

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I have to offer, what makes me different.  What it is that I can give to Chicagoans and tourists that is different and new. Certainly I thought about this when I started the company and I had a pretty good idea then, but it takes a few months of running your own business – doing your own marketing, watching how tours change and evolve – to get a better feel. Plus, I think this question needs to be asked over and over, not just once when you get your business license, but many times throughout the evolution or the evolution won’t happen.

As a tour guide in a city filled with tour guides (the best no doubt), what can I do for you?

Giving tours is a strange skill. I have been an improviser and  performer for 15 years. Most of my friends can stand up in front of any audience and be comfortable and at peace. However, not many of them could be a tour guide. Why not?

I think part of it is storytelling. The best tours (to me) are story tours. Now, people like all kinds of tours, that’s the point. When I was a docent it was fun to watch how fellow architecture fiends did it. Some people really like the technical/engineering aspect of architecture, some enjoy the development/political side of it, some – the aesthetics. Me? I love a good story. I like talking about the personalities, about how Sullivan and Burnham dealt with each other. I like talking about Bertha Palmer and her relationship with Potter. I like how a neighborhood tells it’s stories through it’s architecture. Old Town is a wonderful neighborhood for this. You can start with moving bodies out of  Lincoln Park Cemetery, cruise on over to the balloon frame cottages on Eugenie, end up with a naked Sarah Palin and the story of Old Town has been told.

A love of history is a necessity. Not everyone loves history, for a long time I thought I hated it, but discovering tipping points (why did we REALLY want modernist architecture for our government buildings in the 1960s? THE RUSSIANS) and what leads to what is so amazing to me.

I also have a wicked sense of humor. I loved being a docent, forever and always loved it. However – like at fancy parties and doctor’s offices – I had a hard time not saying whatever comes out of my mouth. Sometimes that’s a swear word, sometimes that’s something maybe a volunteer tour guide shouldn’t say, but usually it’s something that will make someone laugh. Laughter during a tour is just one of my favorite things of all time – if I can teach you something about Chicago and make you laugh, well, my job is done.

If you come on one of my tours I guarantee I’ll say something silly and funny at some point. I am hoity-toity free. If you come on one of my private tours and your group wants to go have shots before we move on to Millennium Park? I drink Jamesons. If everyone just decides they’re really tired and you’d really rather sit and just kind of talk about Chicago? I know some really lovely places to hang out and talk history. Have something you know I don’t? Oh god please tell me, the coolest things I know, I know from people who spoke up during tours. (I will not however let you usurp the tour, remember I’m an improviser, I am well versed in taking back status. Heh.)

What I can show you is a good time. I give good tour. I’m passionate about my subject, but not over-zealous. I can read a group in seconds and vary my tour to appeal to what you all want to hear. I’m educated about Chicago and am constantly reading, updating, thinking and pondering what is new and old here.

Plus and this is really the kicker, I really like meeting people and making friends and hanging out discussing architecture and Chicago with you fine, smart people. Truly, I can head to a tour in the worst of moods and after teaching and learning and laughing for an hour with excellent people, I feel great. That’s what I hope I can give back.