SideTour launches in Philadelphia today and it wants to help you explore the city.
Already in New York City (its headquarters), Chicago and Washington, D.C., SideTour offers a variety of events — from tasting dinners to walking tours to mural paintings — that aim to let you see the city through someone else’s eyes, as Sidetour representatives tend to put it at a recent launch event.
(And no, don’t confuse SideTour with Sidecar, a transportation startup that launched in Philly recently on more controversial footing.)
Events are small and intimate, said spokeswoman Joanna Ehrenreich, from as small as four people to up to fourteen. Sidetour’s three preview events ranged in price from $25 to $60.
Check out the Philly events here.
Events are guided by the host’s interests.
For example, at a recent SideTour Philly preview event, Andrew Wood, chef of Center City BYOB Russet, hosted guests for a four-course charcuterie tasting dinner because of his passion for the cured meats. Sidetour also seems to place importance on letting its guests have access to event hosts.
Wood spoke about each course, took questions from guests about the meal and gave them a tour of his charcuterie cellar. He even offered up a plate of (cooked, of course) pig ears to a few guests who were curious about them (Wood had placed a pig head at the center of the table during the meal).
SideTour expanded to Philly because of its rich cultural scene, Ehrenreich said. But also, Ehrenreich, a Penn grad, said she was “rooting for Philly” because of her ties to it. The company has two part-time community managers in the city.
Though more in the local discovery and tourism spirit than distinctly technology, the effort has found early adopters in the urban creative class and bills itself as something of a scalable startup.
Before you go...
Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.
3 ways to support our work:- Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
- Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
- Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
Join our growing Slack community
Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!