Meet the SideTour Team: Joanna

    

Joanna is in charge of making sure people know about the most awesome events in NYC. She fell hard for SideTour while interning this spring and still can’t get over how great it is to “work” on the weekends attending clambakes.

Where’d you grow up?

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Meet the SideTour Team: Christy

Christy’s (on the right) first encounter with SideTour was as a host (hint: it was electric), and she liked us so much that the only logical thing to do was join our team. She is tasked with finding and meeting some of the city’s most interesting people.

Where’d you grow up?

So, I think I’m going to have to keep the tradition going of claiming the best-known city closest to the one where you’re actually from. I say San Francisco, but truth be told I grew up in San Carlos, CA which is a small town about 30 mins south of the city.  Since no one usually knows where this is, if I choose not to go with SF, then it’s Silicon Valley, which inevitably always turns into Google.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

I feel like everyone has horror stories about time spent working in restaurants, and I’m definitely no exception. The worst job I ever had was working at a restaurant (that shall remain nameless) in New York, where for starters, part of our uniform was a headband with an obnoxiously large yellow flower attached to it. Aside from looking like I belonged at a themed garden party during every shift, I was the chosen target for our manager, an always frowning, chain-smoking woman from Albania. She would take every opportunity she could to yell at me for anything and everything. I was always getting in trouble for spending too much time with customers, not running plates fast enough, and I legitimately even got in trouble once for smiling too much. Needless to say I decided pretty quickly that it wasn’t the right fit.

Describe your perfect NYC day:

My perfect NYC day actually happened fairly recently. I started with a morning run in Prospect Park followed by grabbing a cup of coffee at Van Leeuwen, one of my favorite little spots in my part of Brooklyn. A group of us had never been to MOMA PS1, so we took the short train ride to LIC and had an incredible time taking in some of the most unexpected exhibitions; we got to play around in an enormous pit of yarn, get face to face with a live iguana and a croissant (together), listen to a sound installation that made you really believe you were sitting in a cathedral like Notre Dame, and then wash it all down with a beer in their garden. All of that works up a good appetite, so we ended our day with some of the best food I’ve had in New York at a nearby restaurant called Salt and Fat that one of us randomly remembered having heard about through friends of friends. Anything that involves friends and exploring a new corner of the city is always my go-to recipe for a perfect day here.

What’s your favorite part of working at SideTour?

Going on SideTours, of course! Before working at SideTour, I was actually a host, so for me, having the opportunity every day to meet some of the most passionate and interesting people in New York (and therefore the world), who then become hosts themselves, is beyond incredible. The other week, Alex and I started our Monday discussing architecture with one of the city’s foremost experts and then closed the week boxing at Gleason’s Gym, the world-famous spot where Muhammad Ali and all of the greats have trained - still can’t wrap my head around that one!

Favorite NYC hang-out?

For me, it’s impossible to choose just one. I could sit for hours in the pyramid extension of the Met where the Temple of Dendur is. The idea that any indoor space in New York could be large enough to fit an Egyptian temple is just amazing to me. I also love the Brooklyn Promenade at sunset, but my latest discovery, is the rooftop to my new apartment that my roommates and I had no idea about until the other day – during the summer rooftops in NYC are priceless!

Meet the SideTour Team: Andrea

Andrea’s responsible for deciding how SideTour would speak and act if it were a real person. Semi-ridiculous Internet obsession aside, she’s fairly certain she was born in the wrong era, as she would have made an incredible hippie.

Where’d you grow up?

Stow, Ohio, which is right outside of Akron. I usually tell most people the Akron or Cleveland area, depending on how familiar they are with Ohio cities. I always get these two questions: Do you know Lebron? Do you know The Black Keys? Yes, to both. Everyone in Ohio knows each other. Just kidding. That’s a total lie. But everyone living in NYC from Ohio is inherently awesome. That’s a fact.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

I’ve had a lot of jobs. I started working when I was 13 at a baseball field concession stand, moved on to a high-end gym, held a job at an ice cream stand that my dad opened, did a stint as a DJ, then simultaneously as a wedding videographer and a RadioShack employee, plus a mix of odd ball waitress and bartending gigs.

One time when I was bored with the gym, I applied at a different fitness center. The owner told me that I could have a job and then asked me to come in the following day, but to be sure I wore flip-flops. For the next week, I went in, hung out in his office, and had to listen to him talk about how beautiful my feet were and how I should be a foot model. After 4 or 5 days of this, I realized that he didn’t have any interest in me working the front desk, just in his weird foot fetish. The strangest part is that I have really ugly feet, so I’m not exactly sure why he was into them.

Describe your perfect NYC day:

Can I steal Alex’s answer? I totally agree with what he said. I love anything that’s unexpected, especially if I’m with a good group of friends. I’m also a big fan of the stranger brunch/dinner, meaning I like to put myself in situations where I don’t know anyone at the start, but am bound to meet at least one or two characters with a story. I could probably sum up my life in five words: I live for the story.

I also have an avid passion for weekend day drinking. So there’s that too.

What’s your favorite part of working at SideTour?

I love writing and that’s basically what I’m tasked with doing all day long. It’s awesome to be able to take all of our amazing hosts and give them a presence on our site. I love when I write up an experience and then immediately call dibs on attending it. There’s also something really special about working in an environment where everyone is focused on one thing and that one thing is super cool. Plus, the staff at SideTour is the best in the city. Don’t even try to argue with me. It’s the truth.

Favorite NYC hang-out?

Luckily I live in my favorite neighborhood in the city, right above Chinatown and between Little Italy and the LES. It’s packed with great spots. I love Local 138 on Ludlow Street or d.b.a. for low-key, pre-night drinks. Peels and Freeman’s for brunch. Ninth Street Espresso in Alphabet City for the best lattes in town. Rockwood Music Hall for live shows because they switch bands every hour so if you don’t like the music, just wait a few minutes. There’s a wine bar in Astoria called Crescent and Vine that I don’t get up to nearly enough. I’m also still a sucker for the touristy part of the Seaport – the views of the Brooklyn Bridge at night are unbeatable.

Meet the SideTour Team: Alex

Alex helps scour cities for fascinating and talented people to host experiences on SideTour. Currently he’s in the middle of a caffeine detox, so please tweet him your favorite dance tracks to help him stay awake. 

Where’d you grow up?

Mount Vernon, NY and The Bronx.  I only mention the Bronx because not many people know where Mount Vernon is and the Bronx brings some level of context to my hometown. Whenever I tell out-of-towners that I’m from Mount Vernon, they think Virginia and ask what it’s like to share a hometown with George Washington. Denzel Washington is from Mount Vernon, NY though and you know – that ain’t so shabby. 

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? 

When I was 12 I worked at a Country Club in one of the wealthy towns 40 miles away. It was my only option because I wasn’t legally able to work, so I had to do something off the books, like a golf caddy. It sucked because all of the other caddies were 3-5 years older (and therefore stronger) than me. So, they got all the work. I went there four days a week for five weeks. Finally, on the sixth week I got out to the greens. It really sucked. The bag was half my weight. I made $60 that day though. That was awesome. The next summer, I finagled my way into working at the Hallmark store in a mall 40 minutes from my house. I appreciated the air conditioning, guaranteed paycheck and never strained myself picking up a birthday card.

Those formative years were a great learning experience on what a sucky job actually felt like.


Describe your perfect NYC day:

Any day with a good surprise. Life can get real routine and monotonous if you’re not paying attention. Even in NYC. You’ve got to be a bit spontaneous or daring to keep it interesting. 

What’s your favorite part of working at SideTour?

My job right now is basically finding the most interesting people in New York City and talking to them about why they do what they love. That’s just an extraordinary opportunity. I know I’ve found the right host when I get excited just talking to them about their experience. It was like that with Danielle Saunders and David Greco. Think about it. David beat Bobby Flay in a Throwdown. Danielle won Chopped All-Stars and then was Diddy’s personal chef. These are just extraordinary people.

Yesterday, we were talking to a guy who’s going to be hosting an experience soon who has been bartending in NYC for the last 20 years and now runs a venue in Meatpacking.  He used to tend at this bar after-hours and has these crazy stories about actors, musicians, mafia, and their strange happenings after the city shuts down at 4AM. Dude has some serious stories.  And I’m sitting here listening to him and it’s just amazing. I mean, this is New York City. This is what the city is. It’s 4:30AM and only a few joints are open and if you are in there you’re a celebrity or gangster who’s high on something or you just got off of work (bartenders, call girls, etc.) So there’s just this crazy intersection of social class and culture with a-list Hollywood actors and directors socializing with NYU barbacks and call girls. It’s nuts. But, that was NYC then!  That was NYC as much as City Hall, or $1 coffee from blue cups or hot dog vendors. That’s part of the soul of the city and it’s just amazing to get access to that. Who wouldn’t love this job?

Favorite NYC hang-out?

If I’m in the East Village and it is early then I’ll do drinks at Summit Bar. That spot gets too crowded nowadays though. If I’m in LES, it’s culturefix or 169 for drinks. Hotel Chantelle or IMOK for dance parties. I go where the good music goes. A few Sundays ago me and five friends convinced the good people at Epstein’s to let us put our iPods in and turned that LES-sports bar into a Sunday dance party. You’ve gotta bring the party with you. Or as Stephen Covey said, “You’ve gotta carry your own weather.” You know, it’s sunny because I say it’s sunny.

Meet the SideTour Team: Lee

Lee is in charge of telling our computers what to do so that you can discover and book SideTours on your computer. He used to build robots for the military, and has never, ever, used that line to impress a date.

Jupiter, FL, a couple hours north of Miami. There’s a Facebook group called “I Hate It When I Say I’m From Jupiter and People Say ‘Oh Really? I’m From Mars’.” I’m a member, so just don’t.

When I was 15 I worked at a beach-style restaurant, first as a dishwasher, then a bus boy, then food prep, then I cooked seafood and smoked ribs in the (very) small second kitchen, then I was a cook on the “line,” which is restaurant-talk for the main kitchen. By the time I was 16, I wasn’t officially a manager, but I was one of three people with a key to the restaurant. I either opened or closed most days, some days I did both, and I was the only person other than the owner with a key to the safe. We paid for our food deliveries with cash, so that was one of my jobs too.

I wouldn’t say this was a terrible job, but it was hard work. Really hard work. I was pretty scrawny as a kid and drunk Florida locals are pretty hard to deal with - especially since some of them were my coworkers. This one guy I worked with thought that I was the reason his wife got fired from the restaurant. I don’t even remember how he got that idea into his head, but he made it his mission to make my life a living hell. He would intentionally take other servers’ food and then blame me for being slow delivering their orders. He gave me the stink-eye every time I saw him. Once, he even attacked me with a broom when no one was looking. After about a week of this, I quit. I still remember the guy’s name, but I won’t post it here.

Showing my neighborhood to a friend for the first time. I like to do this by walking through Park Slope without any agenda on a nice day and finding the nearest interesting thing to stop and spend time on. Sometime it’s Prospect Park, sometimes it’s a great local brunch spot like Rose Water or Miriam. Sometimes a booth from the farmer’s market catches my eye - Dr. Pickle’s fresh olives always make me want to host a cocktail party just to share the love. Last weekend, I discovered the new Goorin Brothers hat store on 5th Ave with my friends who were in from Atlanta. Trying on fancy hats with a group of people is a surprisingly good time.

I like seeing the impact of my work right away. SideTour tech team is all about continuous deployment - and our development tools and style all feed into this. We do a lot of testing and pair programming to make sure that we can push new features to the site with confidence. And we work closely with design and product to come up with these ideas. A couple days ago, we got feedback about needing a better way to discover experiences by date, so we mocked something up and I’ve been working on it. We’ll be pushing that live later today. It makes me proud to know that what we’re working on is actually being used and loved by real people. Not every engineering job out that can boast that as confidently as we can.

Favorite NYC hang-out?

Lately, I keep finding myself at Flaming Saddles - Hell’s Kitchen’s country western gay bar. I was initially skeptical of this place, because I saw it open to pretty ho-hum reviews and it always seemed empty when I walked by, but it seems to have found its voice - and that voice is yelling “Yeehaw!” with a pronounced, yet adorable lisp.

Meet the Team: Suri

Suri basically gets to hang out with the most awesome people in New York. When she’s not meeting you on a SideTour or shooting you an email, she’s making obscure references to comic books or enjoying a well-crafted cocktail. 

Where’d you grow up?

Vienna, Austria. Specifically, at this giant park near my home where I spent 100% of my time that wasn’t at school or sleeping.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

Any of my unpaid internships, which were really jobs, but it’s too easy to exploit college kids.

Describe your perfect NYC day:

I think the perfect NYC day is when something totally unexpected happens, but as far as planning it ahead… definitely a summer Saturday reading in bed, followed by a run along the Hudson so I feel less bad about pigging out at a food fair like Smorgasburg later, then ending the day either drinking on a roof top with a few good friends or seeing a band like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs perform live.

What’s your favorite part of working at SideTour?

Finding, meeting and getting to know the endless supply of fascinating people in New York City (SideTour hosts, guests and employees alike). Also the endless supply of peppermint gum.

Favorite NYC hang-out?

Other than SideTour HQ? ;) I’m into variety, but historically I suppose it would have to be the fountain in Washington Square Park during the day (that’s my NYU showing) and at night the Wren, because the cocktails and company there are basically perfect.