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February 1, 2012

The Ultimate DuVine Soiree

Filed under: Pan Mass Challenge, events — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Bike tour guru @ 3:37 pm

It was a full house at the ultimate soiree.

We’ve had DuVine soirees in the past. We’ve celebrated our loyal guests, our valued partners, and our favorite causes. But never quite like this. Never on such a grand scale. On Friday, January 27, we topped all our past celebrations, bringing the DuVine Experience in full to the Taj in Boston. Judging by the pictures alone, it’s pretty clear that all in attendance had a blast.

One of the real highlights of the night was our raffle and silent auction, which raised a hefty sum of money for the Pan-Mass Challenge, which we’re partnering with this year to benefit the great cause that is the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and its Jimmy Fund. Up for grabs in the raffle was a ticket to Portugal’s stunning Azores islands, courtesy of the Consul General of Portugal, Paulo Cunha Alves, who was in attendance himself. And the items on the auction table were no less incredible: Red Sox and Celtics tickets; a four-course dinner for four at Rialto; a Tom Brady autographed Sports Illustrated magazine; a two night stay at the Wauwinet in Nantucket; a bike ride with the PMC’s Billy Starr and DuVine founder Andy Levine; and much, much more. All proceeds went to the Pan-Mass Challenge.

Andy gets the party started.

As all of you know by now, we at DuVine love to have a good time. If you’ve ever been on a DuVine bike tour, it’s hard to miss. The same goes for when we get together to celebrate. It’s actually hard to say what is more fun: a DuVine bike tour, or the soiree. It’s a close call, so we’ll let you decide. But after we were done chatting over a few drinks, some scrumptious appetizers, and an array of delicious entrees, Alisa and Andy got the party started. With their inspiring speeches and Andy’s memorable song and dance routine, the party was in full swing as everyone took to the dance floor for what quickly became a night to remember. From the food to the dancing, the photo booth to the auction, and everything in between, it could not have been any better. These things don’t just happen on their own, though, and there are quite a few people who deserve our thanks for making it all happen.

A big thanks is owed to everyone who made the auction possible. Their huge generosity is the reason that we were able to make such a wonderful donation to the Pan-Mass Challenge, and they absolutely deserve our recognition. Supplying the awesome auction prizes were: the Wauwinet hotel; Honest Tea; Nashoba Valley Ski Area; photographer Eric Levin (who also ran the crazy-fun photo booth); Steven Zevitas Gallery; Gstarfit; LAZ Parking; Lisa Pierpont and Boldfacers; Rialto Restaurant and Jody Adams; La Montage gallery; John Deputy, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston; and La Morra restaurant.

Another group of people absolutely crucial to the success of this fantastic event were our valued partners and sponsors, without whom this night never would have gotten off the ground. So, for their outstanding contribution to a great night and a great cause, we want to recognize: Isablle Perny from Atout France; Sharon Katzav from the Israel Ministry of Tourism; Fionna Dunne from Tourism Ireland; David K. Richter and Jess Canor from CitationAir; Laurence Gagnon from the Delegation du Quebec a Boston; Paulo Cunha Alves, the Consul General of Portugal; Pascal Marmier, the Consul General of Switzerland; Christophe Guilhou, the Consul General of France; Jody Adams of Rialto Restaurant; Pamela Feick from JG Blackbook; Aoife Owens and Heather Daly from Nantucket Island Resorts; and Patrick Blangy from the Taj. In addition to our dedicated DuVine staff, each of these people made an invaluable contribution to the night’s success.

Team DuVine.

Last but not least, a huge thank you is owed to all the DuViners out there. Without you, we would have nothing to celebrate. Without you, we would not be anywhere near where we are today, and it is thanks to you that the DuVine style is flourishing. 2011 was an outstanding year, but we can already tell that 2012 is shaping up to be even better. With new bike tours in France, Italy, Spain, and more, as well as new Pro Series cycling tours that will push you to your limit, there is so much to do this year. So keep on riding, and stay DuVine. We can’t wait to see you on the road soon!

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January 24, 2012

DuVine Ultimate Soiree and PMC Benefit Auction

Filed under: Bike Events, Inspiration, Video Blog, events — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Bike tour guru @ 4:46 pm

This Friday, DuVine Adventures is hosting the ultimate party for our beloved DuVine bike tours guests and many of our valued partners. This is our way of saying thanks to all of you for adding your own personality and your own passion to the DuVine experience, without which it would not be complete. On Friday night, at the Taj Boston hotel, we’ll be singing and dancing in a new year of outstanding DuVine cycling tours.

This year, the DuVine soiree has another exciting component to it. As a major sponsor of the 2012 Pan-Mass Challenge, an event near and dear to our hearts, we’re also holding silent auctions for 25 awesome prizes, the proceeds from which will all benefit the Jimmy Fund in its battle against cancer. This is a cause we can all get behind. Check out this video with DuVine Founder Andy Levine, previewing the stellar event.

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April 21, 2011

Adventure in Iowa!

Filed under: Staff Posts, events — Tags: , , , , — Bike tour guru @ 1:32 pm

Deborah Newmark, DuVine’s Director of Sales attended the Heritage Clubs International Annual Peer Group Conference in Iowa this past month, where she worked to spread the word on DuVine’s bicycle tours and adventure travel trips.

DuVine bicycle tours

Midwest landscape

Heritage Clubs are Bank clubs that provide social and travel services for their bank members.  Club directors, amongst many other things, plan travel events throughout the year from mystery day trips to international excursions.  The directors are a friendly, fun-loving bunch, extremely dedicated and highly organized.  DuVine Adventures joined their team this year as a new Niche travel partner.  The Heritage Club group includes Preferred Tour Operators, Convention & Visitors Bureaus from various states and select Niche Travel Partners.  DuVine’s luxury cycling trips offer a new active product to the members, the majority of whom are retirees.

In an effort to show our presence in this new niche market,  I flew from Boston via Chicago to Dubuque to attend the event.  We flew in through such low cloud that it was a shock when exiting Dubuque airport to discover the surrounds of wide open fields in various shades of brown – Iowa is famous for its corn and I could see why!  Dubuque is on the upper mighty Mississippi and our conference filled the newly renovated Julien hotel in Dubuque, a landmark of luxury and sophistication. We had very comfortable rooms overlooking the harbor and the staff did an amazing job looking after everyone.

DuVine bicycle tours

Dubuque harbor

The conference started with a vintage ball with everyone dressed to the nines, it was a great way to meet people and renew acquaintances.  It was a fun group and we were treated to daily entertainment throughout the event, including the Cats Pajamas vocal band who flew in all the way from Branson MO and created quite a stir, and Bill Boggs an Emmy award winning television talk show host who gave us a very motivational speech.  We were also hosted to cocktails at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, where we were ogled by sharks and stingrays.  Of course we were at the event to work and our days were spent in many meetings, discussing new destinations, brainstorming and gleaning new information from the Travel Expo.  It was a highly successful week of networking and planning.

The Bankers were treated to a Fam trip of Iowa prior to the conference, and during the event many of us were hosted on an afternoon excursion into Wisconsin.  We visited the Sinsinawa Mound ministry, home to 700 Dominican Sisters, and tried local cheeses at Brunkow Dairy, followed by a beer at the Potosi Brewery, originally founded in 1852, and now housing a museum filled with historic artifacts.  Back in Iowa our final bash was held at the Mystic Casino (there are two in Dubuque), and we were mesmerized during dinner by a mentalist who entertained us with his mind reading prowess.  I hope he could see many Heritage group bicycle trips ahead.

DuVine bicycle tours

Working the conference

I look forward to seeing everyone next year in Arkansas and hearing of the various DuVine travel adventures that everyone has taken throughout the year as a result of the conference.

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November 23, 2010

A San Francisco Treat: French Affairs 2010

Filed under: Bike, Conferences, France, Giro d'Italia, Staff Posts, events, family tours, staff stories — Tags: , , , — Bike tour guru @ 1:28 pm

Before the Oscars, Golden Globes, Grammys or even the CMAs there is….
ATOUT FRANCE’s French Affairs awards ceremony!

Celebrating at the French Awards 2010

 

You are probably saying to yourself – Quoi? – and I am happy to explain. ATOUT FRANCE, formally known as Maison de la France, is France’s national tourism association. Every October for the past seven years, they hold an event that culminates with an awards ceremony to honor travel operators for their success in the country. So while the event is certainly not high profile, it is a very exciting date on DuVine Adventure’s calendar.

The 2010 French Affairs was held in San Francisco’s Hotel Nikko in Union Square.  At the awards ceremony  there were 8 unique recognitions up for grabs and of the 8, DuVine was nominated for 3! Not bad if I do say so myself. Here is the list of our nominations:

• Best website
• Best special interest product
• Most creative use of social media

We were particularly delighted to be nominated in these categories because they honored not only our mission to develop unique and personalized travel but also to create a community where our guests can interact and share knowledge and experiences.

As DuVine’s representative at the event, Michelle Duffy, I eagerly awaited the awards ceremony to see if we would once again be taking home one of the coveted quasi-parallelogram shaped, glass awards. My fellow table mates, and eventual new friends, were quick to become DuVine enthusiasts as each nomination was announced. They were also equally supportive as each category passed without seeing me take a trip to the podium. Despite their jokes of sabotage and robbed glory, I assured them that the nomination was enough of an honor and it was great to see some of DuVine’s friends, like Discover France, be recognized for their accomplishments. Plus, there is always next year…

The Winner's Circle...

 

While the awards ceremony is certainly a highlight of ATOUT FRANCE’s French Affairs, there is much more to the event. After all, you cannot have vendors and operators flying across oceans and continents just for a gala dinner – we have work to do! The 2 day event is a unique chance for operators and vendors to connect face to face and includes presentations, panels, lectures, activities, a trade shows and plenty of exquisite French cuisine.

Before the awards ceremony all 200+ attendees attended an opening session. This session included a review of 2010 and a discussion of 2011 developments. In general the tone was quite positive, demonstrating that economic recovery has truly been felt in France’s tourism industry, which is always a good sign for DuVine! Following this session, the there were various panel discussions about everything from e-marketing to familiarization trips (shortened to fam trips for us industry people). I was asked to participate on the publications panel since DuVine includes a copy of ATOUT FRANCE’s FranceGuide Magazine in every gift packet sent to our guests going to France (anyone remember getting their copy?). Myself and my fellow panelists explained how this publication is a great tool to excite travelers for their upcoming journey as well as open their eyes to some more unique regions and experiences available  in this diverse country.

Participating in the panel discussion...

 

After a morning alarm sounded by the Powell-Mason cable car outside my window, I began day 2 with a work session about the New French Hotel Classification system. This new system will build on the 1-4 star system by adding a 5 star category and Palace designation. A Palace will be a property that meets all 5 start criteria but is also located at a historically or aesthetically significant property. The first French hotel received its new rating in Feb 2010, 120 hotels have been rated so far and the old classification of hotels (in place since 1986) will be completely fazed-out in July of 2012.  The most highly anticipated benefit of this new system is that hotels will have to raise their standards to keep their stars, which will improve the overall experience for guests. For example, a hotel must have WiFi to receive a 3 star rating and all 4 star properties must have air-conditioning, which will be two greatly appreciated improvements as anyone who has traveled into the French countryside can tell you.

A delicious lunch presented by Antibes Juan-les-Pins was our chance to relax after the morning work sessions and before the big afternoon trade show. The show included some great opportunity to catch up with current vendors, explore new options and discover new developments throughout the country. In other words, a great day to get the creative business and travel juices flowing, after all we are known for having the best bicycle tours in France and we can’t be resting on our laurels.

As I sat in San Francisco Airport to catch my red-eye flight back to Boston, I felt invigorated by the trip. Despite the unseasonably wet weather, as many local San Franciscans apologized for, I enjoyed not only an engaging conference but also my very first trip out west. Yes, while I have certainly have traveled a fair amount, including 3 trips to France this year, I had never been west of the Mississippi! It really is quite funny that we find ourselves amazed by the diverse regions of countries like France, Italy and Spain, but do not even stop to realize all that our own country has to offer. I have no doubt I’ll find myself out west again soon, perhaps a Napa & Sonoma bike tour next?

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August 4, 2010

Biking and giving go hand in hand

Filed under: Bike, Inspiration, events, special interest — Tags: , , , , — Bike tour guru @ 1:24 pm

Here at DuVine Adventures we track a lot of biking related news and activities and one thing that is really amazing is the increase in the number of cyclists that are using bike rides and tours as the basis for giving to and supporting charities.

Sometimes these can be the lone rider going a cross the country, or in the case of Vin Cox, going around the world, raising money in the memory of a friend or loved one, other times it can be a local event attended by 100s or even 1000s of riders and other times still it can be national programs such as Livestrong.org, brought to the public consciousness by Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor.

In each case these cyclists are riding their bikes and pushing themselves in an effort to help others, which is rewarding for both them and those people who will benefit from the monies raised.

7 Tour de France victories

So why is bike riding for charity proving itself so popular? Well for one, not everyone can run a marathon, but just about everyone can ride a bike (especially people recovering from an illness or injury…hence the large amount of participants in charity rides). Perhaps another contributing factor is the increase and frequency of charity rides. In Massachusetts alone there are multiples charity rides happening during the month of July …including one of the most well-known: The Pan-Mass Challenge. Even the PMC has seen a sizeable increase in participation – between 2000 and 2009 it almost quadrupled the amount of riders then in the 80’s, with 16,668. There were almost 12,000 volunteers, and the donation amount for the nine year span totaled at a whopping $227,200,000. In fact, the PMC contributes more money to charity than any other athletic fundraiser in the world.

Another appealing benefit to charity rides – they are a great way to put on long miles without the worry of getting lost or left out in the cold. With multiple mileage options, charity bike rides give cyclists a way to get involved and enjoy the sport of cycling. Even better, they are fully supported with rest stops (restrooms, water, snacks), medical support, and bicycle support. Not to mention the take-away benefit –the knowledge that your participation is going to a great cause. As the PMC founder and executive director Billy Starr explains “The PMC is more than just a bike ride…It is a community of people with one unifying mission: raising money for cancer research.”

PMC riders

In the spirit of cycling and charity, our very own Andy Levine will be among the 5,000 cyclists riding the 31st annual Pan-Mass Challenge on Aug. 7 to 8 to raise money to for cancer treatment and research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. According to Andy “I am very honored to be joining a group of friends and fellow riders and pedaling the 192 miles over the course of two days from Sturbridge, MA to Provincetown, MA to help raise awareness for this incredible organization.”

It’s true that cyclists are a special breed and even though cycling is often viewed as an individual activity, it can be used to help millions of people through the unique ability to drive charitable contributions.

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