At Your Service - The Newsletter of the Greater Boston Concierge Association

Before our meeting began, a few members took the opportunity to experience a Boston Duck Tour thanks to Bob Schwartz. He even provided weather that ducks love! It was a short but fun way to get to know what the tour offers guests.

Our first speaker was our host Danielle Slapak of the Museum of Science.    She did an informative presentation about all of great offerings at the Museum of Science including the new Frogs exhibit, the Butterfly Garden, their new Triceritops Cliff, the Omni Theater, the Planetarium, and the theater of electricity.    There are just so many cool things to see and do at the Museum of Science everyday for adults and children of all ages.   Complete information about the museum can be found at www.mos.org and Danielle can be reached at dslapak@mos.org.   Thank you so much to Danielle for hosting us in the beautiful d'Arbeloff suite.   The view of Boston from here is just spetacular making this a perfect spot for meetings and events.

Our next Speaker was Joe Donlavey of Arts Boston.     He spoke of upcoming shows and other arts events in Boston, including Jersey Boys, the Color Purple and Dame Edna.    He mentioned that the new House of Blues on Lansdowne Street will be inviting concierge members to come and see a show in the near future.    As Seal was playing at the Orpheum the same night as our meeting GBCA members were also offered tickets from Joe.   Joe then called on two of his ArtsBoston colleagues who introduced their new website! This website, which has been the works for several years, makes it very easy to find out what is happening in the arts world and beyond on any given day in Boston, today or three months from now.     Definitely check it out as it will be a great tool for concierges to better assist their guests!     The new website is www.artsboston.org and the website for half price ticket listings is still www.bostix.org. Joe can reached at joed@artsboston.org

Alan Danley from Boston Segway spoke next about his new segway tour company currently based out of Charlestown.    Alan invited us to come try out the segways and encouraged us to let us our guests know of this excting new way to travel around the city!   Tours are organized for different areas of the city. Complete information can be found at http://www.segwaygolfconnection.com/boston.html and Alan can be contacted at adanley@driveambassador.com

Rafael Torres from Don Quiojote Tours spoke about his company and the mulitlingual service they offer our guests.   They been in business for many years and are passionate about providing excellent service and experiences to our guests and the many other people coming to experience Boston everyday.    In addition to spanish tours, Rafael's company offers tours in Italian, French and Portugese.   Complete information is available at www.tourboston.com and by calling 617-328-1333.

Babs Clough from Boston By Foot spoke next about the new season of walking tours they offer.   Weekend tours have begun as of April and a full schedule will begin in May.    New this year they will be offering all marathon runners (with a number) a free tour during marathon weekend.    Boston By Foot Tours do not require reservations, you simply meet the guide at the designated tour meeting spot and pay the guide.    Complete information about Boston By Foot can be found at http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/ and Babs can be reached at.

Our last speakers were from JazzBoston, an organization dedicated to supporting and promoting live jazz here in the Boston area.    They spoke of the upcoming Jazz Week here in Boston and the surrounding area.   This year it will be April 25-May 3rd.    They will be coming around to all of the hotels soon with brochures outlining all of the concerts for Jazz Week 2009.      At the end their talk they serenaded us with the sounds of Duke Ellington. Compete information about Jazz Boston and Jazz Week can be found at www.jazzboston.org.   They can be contacted at info@jazzboston.org.