As an Attractions Expert at doitwell I look forward to the ability to travel and dream sometimes sitting comfortably on my sofa with a PC in hand. All this is possible thanks to our international spirit and to a team that is located around the globe.
I have never visited Tokyo yet, but thanks to the possibility of interviewing our consultants; in a moment I am catapulted overseas. Amazing!
Some weeks ago, Courtney Mallory, our Project coordinator, and Copywriter at doitwell, was in Japan and I asked her to tell me about something that really she liked. Courtney studied Event Management in Orlando, FL, and moved to Washington D.C. in order to work with associations planning their conferences domestically and internationally.
I can only imagine what a great place Tokyo is! Courtney visited the Tokyo SkyTree Tower that with 634 meters was recognized by the Guinness World Record Company in 2011 as the tallest in the world. The pronunciation of the number “634,” when reading in old Japanese numbers, is “mu-sa-shi.” This reminds Japanese people of Musashi Province of the past, that used to cover a large area, including Tokyo, Saitama, and part of Kanagawa Prefecture.
Let’s try to understand why Courtney chose the Tokyo SkyTree Tower!
Selenia: What attraction have you visited today? Tell us about your experience
Courtney: I visited the Tokyo SkyTree because I wanted to see Tokyo from above since it’s such a large city. I have also gone up to other tall structures in other big cities so I wanted to keep the tradition going. There are two famous towers in Tokyo: the Tokyo tower, which looks like a taller red Eiffel Tower, or the SkyTree. Both were built for broadcasting and both have great views but I decided to visit the SkyTree because it is newer, opened in 2012, and currently the tallest tower in the world.
Selenia: What is it like to visit an attraction as a Project Coordinator?
Courtney: Visiting the SkyTree as a copywriter in the tourism industry I paid attention to the way they communicated information in Japanese as well as English. The ticket area was located on the 5th floor on top of a large shopping mall. There were detailed signs from when you got off the metro all the way through the mall to the entrance of the SkyTree tower. The sign had Japanese first then English but the use of icons was beneficial for those who didn’t understand Japanese or English. Right before you entered the ticket line a board showed the visible distance for the day. The day I went up it was too hazy to see Mt Fuji (106 m from sky tree) but I knew I was going to see it from the bullet train so I proceed to purchase my ticket. Once you paid for your ticket you followed a line that wrapped around directly to the elevators that took you up to the observation floor. While waiting for the elevation a guide informed the group on the speed of the elevator and the height of the SkyTree. It is the fastest traveling elevator in Japan- going up 350 meters in a matter of less than 1 minute. Once in the elevator which they try to pack as tightly as possible, a video played that showed the speed in which you were traveling and where you were in the SkyTree since there were no windows. Once the elevator reached the observation deck you came out into a circular room with windows everywhere to look out and see the expanse of Tokyo. There was a suggested route to follow once on the observation level. At each cardinal direction, there were digital maps with interactive features to zoom on the buildings in the foreground locating some famous or distinct buildings. A unique display was a large old painting of Tokyo showing landmarks that are still distinguishable today especially the exaggeration of Mt. Fuji in the background. The view was spectacular. It’s incredible to think that Tokyo isn’t even the largest city and all the eye could see were endless buildings, roads, bridges, and towers. An exciting part of the view was walking over the section of the glass floor. You were so high up that even looking down through the glass you could not see the ground directly.
Selenia: What part of the experience have you particularly liked and what could be enhanced?
Courtney: One aspect that I could see improvement would be limiting the number of people on the observation level. It would be more of an enjoyable experience getting to see the view you just paid for instead of squishing other people for a quick peek. There were also a lot of photo pose areas, I would minimize the amount that blocked the windows.
Selenia: Can you tell us a bit more about what you do and what it is like to collaborate with doitwell?
Courtney: As a Project Coordinator and copywriter for doitwell I want to convey our passion for enhancing the customer experience. Whether it is keeping the system in place and finding new advertising angles or changing the set up so the customer has a positive and memorable experience with the client. Working for doitwell, it is very evident that innovation is at the forefront of each project by combining unique thoughts and viewpoints that in the end are visible for the customer to engage with clients.
Selenia: What would you recommend to a Project Coordinator when visiting an attraction/museum/etc.?
Courtney: My recommendation when visiting an attraction is to look up some information prior so you can understand the importance of what you are visiting. Once you are there you are able to build upon what you know, it leads you to be able to ask relevant questions or use the base information to understand the new information while experiencing the attraction. You will walk away from the attraction with something you didn’t know before, which helps it to be more memorable.
Selenia: What do you like the most of being part of the international doitwell’s Team?
Courtney: Being part of doitwell‘s team is a very unique experience that brings people from all backgrounds and stages in our career to work on projects that we value and see the importance of adding our skills.
We are continuously motivated to visit new attractions in the world, with one goal: to stimulate curiosity, passions, and dreams!
