Since retiring I have been home about 10 days: I took a fabulous tour of the Costa Rica Natural Paradise from Caravan in early March, returned home for a few days, and then headed up to New York for a high school drama reunion at a performance of The Miracle Worker and am staying until Passover. So much has happened since then, and I have been neglecting my tour guide blog. I decided to take a few minutes before heading over to the Passover seder at my sister's house to catch up.
After a lot of leg work, consternation about the process, and trips to the Alexandria police station and the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, I successfully submitted all of the paper work for my DC tour license guide and have my appointment for the test on April 27th. It wasn't easy. I have never seen as much red tape as in the process for securing a tour guide license in the District. In the process I have learned that the DC Tour Guide Guild has successfully lobbied to revise the test, but that will be after my examination. In the mean time, I have secured a study guide for $110 and have spent about 60 or more hours researching the answers to the questions that the guide doesn't provide. The argument is that you will learn the details better if you have to research them yourselves. I will let you know if this argument is supported by the results. Some of the test is outright absurd -- matching addresses to sites with almost 100 addresses to memorize for perhaps two questions or so (I will most likely get these incorrect since it is an impossible task) and identifying photos that are old, taken at odd angles, and perhaps are inches of a large statue. I still have about 5 I have not been able to identify. But after hours of research and reading, I know have an 80-page study guide, and on tap for tomorrow's seder is a question and answer period with my 11-year old wonderful niece, Sophie.
My first job interview was before leaving for the Big Apple. It is one of the largest student tour companies, and they are primarily interested in my doing work in DC; I am supposed to let them know when I have my license, and it seems that they will make me offers then. Although most of the spring tours are fully staffed, there is a possibility of the need for last-minute fill-ins and then work next spring. In the meanwhile, they suggest that I shadow tours, and that is what I have done and will continue to do so. They set me up with one of their "star" guides, and I followed him and the students around to the Capitol, National Cathedral, Jefferson Memorial, and the FDR Memorial. I learned a lot (less is more) and look forward to continuing the process.
But, the most amazing thing is that the job offers have started to come in! After meeting with one of the owners of a student tour company that specializes in tours for music and theater groups, I have secured a tour of New York theater in April. Are they really paying for me to see Wicked, In the Heights, and Mary Poppins, as well as touring all of the usual spots in New York? Transportation, hotels, meals, sightseeing, and plays -- the pay isn't great, but the environment and opportunity to do something I love even if it is working a 16-hour day is my idea of bliss. I also have a step-on guide for the tour part of New York, so I can act as the tour escort without the New York license, a distant goal.
There is another company that creates tours for college visits; I didn't even know there was such a thing! They are more interested in tour leaders with educational backgrounds, and with my work in the IB as well as teaching, they have showed a great interest in my participation. For my first job I am going to show a young man looking at the top schools in the nation, including UVA, around DC before they head up to New Jersey and Princeton. Is life grand or what? I hope to be able to do more of these tours with this very innovative company.
So, although I thought it might be a long time coming, and those international tour directing jobs with Tauck, Collette, or Globus might be, it seems I am actually on my way to fulfilling a dream.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
DC Tour Guide License
Job opportunities in tour directing aren't much better than the general job situation. I have come to terms with the fact that my first job isn't likely to be an international tour directing position for a deluxe adult tour. But, in the unlikely chance that anyone from Tauck is reading, I would certainly jump at the chance! What I can do are student tours. What is available are local DC tours. However, as I have learned from a few conversations with student tour providers, no one is going to hire me without the DC license. My next goal: obtain a DC tour license.
That might sound easier than it is; I already knew that the application for the license was mired in red tape. In fact, I took a class in "Cutting Through the Red Tape in Getting a DC Tour License" with First Class a couple of months ago, and after downloading the application and being totally overwhelmed, I thought perhaps I could dodge it. But now I have contacts and people encouraging me and supporting me, and I am confident that by the end of April I won't get arrested (or fined) if I point in the district. We were told in ITMI course that a tour director who pointed out some things on her group's way from the hotel to dinner was actually fined $200 for tour guiding without a license. I wonder what happens if one is guiding friends and family through our nation's capital?
There are two types of tour guide licenses: A and B. I even learned that a question on one of the 7 different tour guide tests is what is the difference! The tour guide A license allows you to start a tour in DC; tour guide B requires you to start the tour outside of DC. Residents of the DC area are encouraged to get the A license, and if I am going to start with local tours, it only makes sense.
The requirements for either license include a long list of paperwork and a 100-question test: physician's statement, "clean-hands" document (not affirming your hygiene, but the fact that you don't owe DC any more than $100), 6 letters of recommendation, a business license, DC tax certificate, fingerprints, and a criminal report. After successfully submitting all of those, you can sit for the test comprised of 100 questions: multiple choice, true and false, fill-in-the-blank, and picture identification. Legend has it that the pictures have been copied so many times that it is sometimes difficult to make out the photo let alone identify, locate, and state its purpose. I thought a $110 study guide would be a good investment.
I learn better experientially. When I started to study with the Capitol, I realized that although I have lived in DC, I have never visited the Capitol. It seems that all of my visiting family and friends want to visit the same places -- the Air and Space Museum, the FDR Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial. I wonder why no one want to visit the Capitol. Perhaps its being closed to the public for an extended period had something to do with it as well. So, I decided to tour the Capitol.
I booked a 1:30 tour online and take the advice of the study guide's author to visit the Department of Commerce and Regulatory Affairs to get the insider's guide to the DC tour license process. The visit proved worthwhile; she took me step by step, even highlighting the parts that needed to be completed. I got my tax certificate stamped, the dates for future tests, and walked out confident that I can complete the application without too much more anxiety.
After a quick lunch at Union Station, I did some picture-taking in Union Station: I wanted to document some of the statues that I had studied the previous night. The most interesting fact I learned was that the Centurions, sculpted by Saint-Gudens, who adorn the main hall were not originally fronted by a shield. It seems that the manners of the time took objection with the fact that some of the statues were naked under their tunics.
The Capitol tour was interesting. Although I didn't learn much new, I now had a visual and experience to which to attach my knowledge. The challenge for me is going to remember the details -- the dates and the statistics. I won't forget the Brumidi Corridors -- the magnificently painted frescoes recently restored to their original. I won't forget that the enter of DC, where the quadrants meet, lies dead center in the Capitol, marked by a bronze star.
As I make my way through the sites of DC I will post photos and facts on my Flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/fayebrenner. I have about a month to study; I will concentrate on the natural beauty of Costa Rica during my ten-day tour there and leave the studying for home time.
That might sound easier than it is; I already knew that the application for the license was mired in red tape. In fact, I took a class in "Cutting Through the Red Tape in Getting a DC Tour License" with First Class a couple of months ago, and after downloading the application and being totally overwhelmed, I thought perhaps I could dodge it. But now I have contacts and people encouraging me and supporting me, and I am confident that by the end of April I won't get arrested (or fined) if I point in the district. We were told in ITMI course that a tour director who pointed out some things on her group's way from the hotel to dinner was actually fined $200 for tour guiding without a license. I wonder what happens if one is guiding friends and family through our nation's capital?
There are two types of tour guide licenses: A and B. I even learned that a question on one of the 7 different tour guide tests is what is the difference! The tour guide A license allows you to start a tour in DC; tour guide B requires you to start the tour outside of DC. Residents of the DC area are encouraged to get the A license, and if I am going to start with local tours, it only makes sense.
The requirements for either license include a long list of paperwork and a 100-question test: physician's statement, "clean-hands" document (not affirming your hygiene, but the fact that you don't owe DC any more than $100), 6 letters of recommendation, a business license, DC tax certificate, fingerprints, and a criminal report. After successfully submitting all of those, you can sit for the test comprised of 100 questions: multiple choice, true and false, fill-in-the-blank, and picture identification. Legend has it that the pictures have been copied so many times that it is sometimes difficult to make out the photo let alone identify, locate, and state its purpose. I thought a $110 study guide would be a good investment.
I learn better experientially. When I started to study with the Capitol, I realized that although I have lived in DC, I have never visited the Capitol. It seems that all of my visiting family and friends want to visit the same places -- the Air and Space Museum, the FDR Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial. I wonder why no one want to visit the Capitol. Perhaps its being closed to the public for an extended period had something to do with it as well. So, I decided to tour the Capitol.
I booked a 1:30 tour online and take the advice of the study guide's author to visit the Department of Commerce and Regulatory Affairs to get the insider's guide to the DC tour license process. The visit proved worthwhile; she took me step by step, even highlighting the parts that needed to be completed. I got my tax certificate stamped, the dates for future tests, and walked out confident that I can complete the application without too much more anxiety.After a quick lunch at Union Station, I did some picture-taking in Union Station: I wanted to document some of the statues that I had studied the previous night. The most interesting fact I learned was that the Centurions, sculpted by Saint-Gudens, who adorn the main hall were not originally fronted by a shield. It seems that the manners of the time took objection with the fact that some of the statues were naked under their tunics.
The Capitol tour was interesting. Although I didn't learn much new, I now had a visual and experience to which to attach my knowledge. The challenge for me is going to remember the details -- the dates and the statistics. I won't forget the Brumidi Corridors -- the magnificently painted frescoes recently restored to their original. I won't forget that the enter of DC, where the quadrants meet, lies dead center in the Capitol, marked by a bronze star.
As I make my way through the sites of DC I will post photos and facts on my Flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/fayebrenner. I have about a month to study; I will concentrate on the natural beauty of Costa Rica during my ten-day tour there and leave the studying for home time.
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