The Minute ManDaniel Chester French
Concord, MA
Training for Smithsonian Student Travel
It has been a little over two months since I posted a blog; I haven't done any tours since October 11 with the exception of trip to Virginia wineries with a group of past PTSA presidents and a couple of meetups with DC Local Tourists. This afternoon I find myself "snowed in"; actually, I am just too lazy to brave the cold and the potential black ice on the local streets. With time on my hands, I thought it might be a good opportunity to reflect on the future of tour guiding and directing and the lessons I continue to learn in the off season.
The cold is an issue. Noone wants to tour in the cold. Most tour guides don't work from November through the start of March, at least here in the mid-Atlantic. I have given up posting meetups; we could visit any of the many fabulous museums or galleries in the area, but you don't need a tour guide to do that, and I don't believe in charging if my presence has no added value. We had a great visit to the U.S. Botanic Gardens with lunch at the Museum of the American Indian, but besides a few minutes of background information, and checking out the museums so I knew which way to walk, there was not much that I did. Doing "free" tours isn't a waste of time. It's fun, and I add to my experience (and my resume).
Tour operators, museums, and other sites use the off season for professional development and training. I completed a three-day training with one company and look forward to a two-day training with another here in DC. I have National Cathedral training as well as special training for a program at the Historical Society of Washington, DC called Facing History and Ourselves. The annual Symposium for the International Tour Management Institute is in Atlanta in January, and I am representing a company at the Texas Theater Teachers' convention promoting their theater tours. So, I am busy, even if I am not making any money (just spending).
Spring is the time to make money. It's clear that if you have a DC license and live in the area (even if you don't -- two of my tour guide friends, one from Boston and the other from Florida have gotten work) you will work in the spring. Thousands upon thousands of students, mostly 8th graders, descend on DC in the spring, and the student companies need almost every licensed body they can hire. Before I could put my availability on line for one of the largest student companies, they had scheduled me for several tours. It's good money (and good work) to meet the students at their first stop in the morning and guide them through their day in DC (and sleep in your own bed), but that is not what I really want to do, at least not every day for three and a half months. I quickly filled in as "unavailable" for the rest of the time, including my three scheduled tours to New York with the company I am representing in Texas and an additional three with another highly reputable student travel group.
Then Smithsonian Student Travel called. I didn't think that there was much of a relationship between the Smithsonian and the travel group, but after attending their three-day training with 30 other potential tour directors, I was pleasantly surprised. I like the way they do business. Even though there was no one in the company over the age of 35 (I think -- unless they are all very young looking), the training proved that they were of the utmost professionals with a dedication to the teachers and the students. I have the luxury of not supporting myself with the tour business, so I can choose to work with the companies I like (who want me) and not choose based on where I am going to make the most money!
I think I love the training and the research even better than I like the guiding! I love the educational aspect -- the research, the learning, the practice touring -- without the stress of being in charge. Perhaps with more experience and more self-confidence, I will learn to love the actual tour guiding as much as learning to do it! Through three days of getting to know the history of the company, the way they do things, safety, touring in Boston in below freezing temperatures, and completing the paperwork and getting paid, I was never bored and always intrigued. Still, the highlight was a visit to the Old Manse in Concord where Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife scratched writing into the window, and I touched the desk where Hawthorne began to write, "The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allott a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison." I had tears in my eyes; I hope that I get to take students (or adults) back there some day.
I have had some extremely challenging jobs throughout my career. As a camp director I was responsible for the well-being of 350 campers and 150 staff members. As the advanced academic specialist I was involved in a politically tense situation providing the best programs for our students. Yet, being a tour director has proven to be the most demanding and difficult job for me. I know I can be good (and have successfully met the challenges). But at the end of the two back-to-back on-the-road trips I questioned whether it was worth it. After some time to reflect and additional time to continue my education, I have decided to go forward with what I always considered to be my "dream" job.
I am learning to listen better. I love my colleagues who are willing to point out my errors and to show me some better ways to do things. I know I won't repeat some of my mistakes and I will continue to develop my strengths. Sometimes you need a different perspective. Why not eat with the passengers? The reason is that they are always watching; you cannot play favorites. You need to develop a relationship with each individual, but you need to maintain your professionalism. You need to know your company and to represent them well. And it is hard, but it is what I want to do.
