WPNYC Meetup Member Aurelia Santiago on our Speakers Tour

Aurelia is a WPNYC Meetup member and her company, Special Places to See Productions, gave our speakers a tour of The High Line.  Every WordCamp has a speakers event. A tour of the iconic 1.45-mile-long elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail that was created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan would be a great welcome to New York City.

It was a beautiful New York evening on Friday, 9/14. The group gathered at the entrance to The High Line at 34th Street. I had contracted another tour guide, Carol Lang, and two friends to be sweepers. I spoke to a number of persons who toured with Carol and they were pleased with her presentation. The group I had also seemed pleased with my efforts.

As we walked down the path, we were able to see that many of the buildings are actually being built on top of the Hudson Yards. The participants were able to take pictures from a distance and closer up as we came to the area where all the construction is being done. They saw the Vessel and we played a game called “The Steps is Right” and we had a winner for the number of steps at the Empire State Building (1576) and another for the number of steps for the Vessel (2500). Most of my group learned about the Shed where there will be cultural events and the mall that is being built there and one of the tenants will be Neiman Marcus (their first entry into New York City). We also talked about who would be willing to take an elevator to the 106th floor of a new building where there will be an outdoor Observation Deck with a glass floor to see what is happening at the street level. There were quite a few brave hearts who can’t wait to check this out. Some of the participants want to return next year to check these new structures.

We had a total of 5 games with small trinkets such as an eraser in the shape of a llama or a pencil sharpener in the shape of a football/basketball and a small fan that you crank, a pen in the shape of a scooter. This was Special Places to See gift to WordCamp NYC 2018 to say thank you for trusting us in providing a good experience to the speakers, sponsors and volunteers. We are also very happy to have had the opportunity to meet them.

By Aurelia Santiago,  Special Places to See Productions

WCNYC Organizers joined the tour, too. Following this was our Speakers Happy Hour sponsored by Bibblio.