Yet another satisfied guest!

From: Eloise Larsen
Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2010 2:34 AM
To: info@toursnorthwest.com
Subject: my experience with NorthWest


Hi there, I went on a tour to Mt Rainier in August when I was in Seattle on
business. The Mt Rainier trip really was the highlight of my visit. Thanks
for your great service. Tom, our cheery guide, was full of interesting facts
and enthusiasm for the mountain & surrounds. Please pass on my appreciation
to him.
Cheers
ELoise

Eloise Larsen PhD | Environmental Microbiologist | Institute for Sustainable
Resources | Biogeosciences Discipline |

Queensland University of Technology | Gardens Point | R334, 2 George St,
Brisbane QLD 4000|

Can you spot him?

         Tours Northwest version of Where's Waldo: Discover Duane!

Thank you

Thank you for the e-card and the flowers sent for my mother's funeral. She died on the 18th of October after 97 years of living a full life. She had 5 children, 19 grandchildren and 41 great grandchildren and they all were there for the service. We have had 3 amazing days of family celebration.

Steve

Wine Tour

During Sweet Week we ran two wines tours. The morning one went our to Woodinville with stops at St. Michelle, Columbia, and Brian Carter. Our afternoon tour, went to Fremont, north Lower Queen Anne and Ballard.

The "CRUSH" is going on right now, and we are developing a relationship which gets our guests in for a first hand look.

Smith Tower, a new look

Click here to see a great article in the New York Times about the inside of the pyramid on Smith Tower. Are you conveying all the facts about who lives there? Now you can. Thanks, Ann Peavey, head of Seattle Visitor's Center concierge desk for the heads up.

Stockholm City Voices

This is one of two Swedish choruses visiting Seattle. They performed on Sunday night and will be competing this week against large choruses of up to 120 voices. Go Sweden!

Last Company Standing!

Diann snapped this picture of No. 13 in the Paradise parking lot. We are, of course, the last company to take tours into the National Park. We go through Nov. 1st, and trust that our coach will be full of singing Sweet Adelines throughout this week.

Singing at St. Michelle Winery

Sweet Week Poses

Some sang at Kerry Park, some posed. ALL had fun. Here are some Sweet Adelines from Rick's tour.

Geoducks is a Dirty Job

This is a clip from Dirty Jobs when Mike visited Taylor Shellfish in Shelton a few years ago. When we go to Taylor on Chuckanut Drive on our Sea to Sky tour, there are great displays talking about oysters, clams and, yes, geoduck.

A Discount for a Song

Tours Northwest answers phones for KUOW Pledge Drive

On Oct. 13th eight of us answered phones at the KUOW offices for their pledge drive. While some wore yellow to show off our company colors, others realized this was a RADIO pledge drive and the yellow would not be too apparent to those calling in, or listening.

Liz, Steve and Dan sat with Bryan, Duane and several long time volunteers who taught us the ins and outs of Pledge Drive phone effectiveness.

Joy, Tom and Dustin held down the other end of the room. It was a fun and rewarding experience, and we'll do this again in the spring.

We even had street cred in the U District! Ok, well, TWO of us did.

Sweet Adelines Press Release

Tulsa, OK (Top40 Charts/ Sweet Adelines International) - Seattle awaits Sweet Adelines International as nearly 7,000 a cappella vocalists from around the world prepare for the 2010 International Convention and Competition. Attendees will converge during the week of Oct. 19-23, 2010 at the Key Arena where from dawn to dusk each day will be jam-packed with the best in barbershop singing.

More than 70 quartets and 43 choruses are perking up their barbershop chords and will heat up the stage for five days of flavorful and rich competitions.

The convention commences on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 6:00 p.m., with Sweet Adelines International's Harmony Classic Contest, featuring the top small and mid-sized choruses, all competing for the international gold. The vibrant Young Women in Harmony Festival chorus will also take the stage that evening to entertain the audience with a lively performance.

The close-harmony international quartet semifinal competitions will open on Wednesday, Oct. 20, at 10:45 a.m. The top 10 quartets return for the finals on Friday, Oct. 22, beginning at noon. The 2010 International Champion Quartet, Zing!, will relinquish their crowns to one winning quartet.

The chorus semifinal competitions open on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 10:45 a.m. and only the 10 best choruses will reach the finals on Saturday, Oct. 23, beginning at 3:00 p.m. The 2010 International Champion Chorus, Rich-Tone, will hand over the title to the 2011 champion.

On Friday morning, thousands of singers will assemble at the Key Arena Plaza for a spectacular Mass Sing performance in honor of the city of Seattle. In addition to the singing, a secret is brewing that has the potential to reach international recognition as soon as it is unveiled at the Mass Sing. Members of the community and media are invited to join Sweet Adelines International members, friends, family and fans for this unprecedented event. Mass Sing begins at 11:15 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 22 at the Key Arena Plaza. This is a free event open to the general public.

The final day of competition features the youngest singers of Sweet Adelines International who are eager to let their voices soar in the 2010 Rising Star Quartet Contest scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 23 at 9 a.m. This annual barbershop contest offers an avenue for members aged 25 years and younger to present their talents by competing among 20 Rising Star quartets who are harmonizing the world from Arizona, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Canada and New Zealand. The 2010 Rising Star Quartet Champion VOGUE, will relinquish its title to one winning quartet.

All competition sessions are open to the public. Tickets may be purchased at the Sweet Adelines International ticket office at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center beginning Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 9:00 a.m. Individual tickets range in price from $40-$45 per competition session. For more information on the Sweet Adelines International Convention, call 800.992.7464, 918.622.1444 or visit http://www.sweetadelineintl.org/seattle.cfm.

Sweet Adelines International is a musical force in the United States and around the world. The organization is headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., where it was founded in 1945. This nonprofit music education organization is one of the world's largest singing organizations for women encompassing nearly 25,000 members, 1,200 registered quartets and 600 choruses in most of the fifty United States, Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden, The Netherlands and Wales.

Shock(s) and Awe

The No. 10 has been a favorite coach in the past due to its spaciousness, but in recent months it has gotten to be a bit "stiff" and "bumpy".

We are in awe of Dustin's abilities around the shop, and he is again performing his magic by putting in new suspension for this coach. Soon, the No. 10 will go from worst to best!

Fall Color at Mt. Rainier

Encourage all those in city/Boeing guests to go up to Mt. Rainier with us and see the fall colors. Ask our guides: it is spectacular this year. Click here for more info.

Singing at Kerry Park

Voices Northwest meets ... Seattle!

Voices Northwest and Tours Northwest Harmonize!

Today, Kim Ludvikson and Steve Powell will be taking Voices Northwest, a Sweet Adeline chorus from Everett, on a unique tour of Seattle: they will be part of the show! At Waterfall Garden Park, Fisherman's Memorial, the downtown Library, Theo Chocolate (a quartet) and maybe the top of Kite Hill Voices Northwest will offer up a song and remind everyone within ear shot that the Sweet Adelines International Convention is only two weeks away. We'll try to mesh with the 10 AM tours so our other guests will get an even more entertaining tour today.

During that convention, we'll be offering a discount if anyone, or everyone, will sing at a public place of the guide's choosing.

Take a look at this picture. Think Kim and Steve will be having any fun today?

KUDOS to Tom Naabe

Tom recieved rave reviews several times in the past week. From the Carneys came this note on Sept. 30:

On Tuesday September 28th, we took your Mt. Rainier tour with your guide, Tom.

We can not praise him enough for the outstanding job he did taking care of us throughout the day and his expertise as a tour guide. We had a wonderful, fun day 0 mostly due to Tom. We even were lucky enough to see Mt. Rainier at least 3 different times during the day.

Tom, also gave us a great recommendation to a restaurant when we returned to the city.

Great job Tom! Great tour, Tours Northwest.

We will not hesitate to recommend your company to others.

Another day, Tom had a Boeing tour in the afternoon. At one point he had four guests, but three cancelled and he was asked to take one guest up on the tour. He did so without any protest.

Before he left, a competitor's bus broke down and the driver was befuddled about what to do about the situation. Tom called our office to discuss the situation; we contacted the other company to offer our help. Tom loaded 23 people up on his coach and brought them back to Seattle.

The interesting part of this story is that the following day one of the rescued guests called to compliment the "tour" Tom gave on the way back. This guest fully appreciated not only the extra effort we offered to our competitor, but the incredibly interesting and entertaining tour given by Tom to make everyone feel good about their trip despite the mechanical problems delaying their return. Tom dropped them off - as he would with any of our own guests - at several spots downtown.

That effort makes our company look great, and those 23 people will spread the word to friends as well as the concierge of their hotel.

Great work, Tom!