{"id":366,"date":"2011-02-24T17:32:29","date_gmt":"2011-02-24T22:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/?p=366"},"modified":"2011-02-24T17:38:03","modified_gmt":"2011-02-24T22:38:03","slug":"san-franciscos-experience-of-a-lifetime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/24\/san-franciscos-experience-of-a-lifetime.html","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco&#8217;s Experience of a Lifetime&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"2e5142c0289a1f785cf2dcce097231a4\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: left; margin: 10px 10px 10px 0;\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-6725039255769208\";\r\n\/* Reno Hotels Leaderboard *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"0584775893\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 728;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 90;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/fitness-ranger-skyara.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/fitness-ranger-skyara.jpg\" alt=\"Fitness Boot Camp\" title=\"Fitness Boot Camp\" width=\"640\" height=\"305\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/fitness-ranger-skyara.jpg 640w, https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/fitness-ranger-skyara-300x142.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>For years, tour bus companies have driven a rut through the same San Francisco attractions.   From the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sftodo.com\/goldengatebridge.html\">Golden Gate Bridge<\/a>, to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sftodo.com\/muirwoodssanfrancisco.html\">Muir Woods<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sftodo.com\/napa.html\">Napa Valley<\/a> \u2013 commoditized, often boring tours have become the norm.  For visitors to San Francisco looking for something different with a personal touch \u2013 a new service called Skyara is breaking new ground.  Skyara has created a review-based marketplace for travel \u201cexperience\u201d offerings \u2013 ranging from personalized tours of popular attractions to very unique services such as glamour photography and shadowing an executive chef as they choose the finest fresh, local produce.  <\/p>\n<p>The service was originally conceived as a more mundane tour booking service.   However, the team realized that Skyara could focus on a totally different type of tours.  By allowing independent providers&#8211; \u201cregular folks\u201d&#8211; to create visitor experiences \u2013 it opened up a whole new market for memorable experiences in San Francisco travel.  <\/p>\n<p>On a recent visit to San Francisco, we had an amazing tour of vineyards, markets, and restaurants with a wonderful personal guide.  The guide knew every trick, tip, and brought us to her favorite vendors.  The small tour was radically different than the throngs of tourists we saw pouring out of buses at the sites.  Skyara can allow San Francisco visitors to find exactly the experience they want to maximize their own memorable trip to the City.  What are some of the experiences you can sometimes find?<a href=\"http:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/dating-dummies-skyara.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/dating-dummies-skyara.jpg\" alt=\"Dating for Dummies\" title=\"Dating for Dummies?\" width=\"640\" height=\"305\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/dating-dummies-skyara.jpg 640w, https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/dating-dummies-skyara-300x142.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are examples of some of the unusual and personal experiences that Skyara offers:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Dating for Dummies<\/strong>\u201d:  Two attractive women meet up with you at a bar to assess your skills and make recommendations.  For the best candidates, match-making opportunities may be available\u2026?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sausalito by Kayak<\/strong>:  An experienced Kayak guide takes you around the shores of Sausalito including nighttime tours, sunset tours, and detailed information about the area.  Reviewers show the trip as being both \u201cspectacular and unforgettable\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Create Art with Glass<\/strong>:  Use hot, molded glass to create your own personal art with an expert in the glass-blowing craft.  The class includes all materials, training, and firing of your glass art piece.  <a href=\"http:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/dance-lessons-skyara.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/dance-lessons-skyara.jpg\" alt=\"Dancing Lessons in San Francisco\" title=\"San Francisco Dance Lessons\" width=\"640\" height=\"305\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-372\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/dance-lessons-skyara.jpg 640w, https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/dance-lessons-skyara-300x142.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Actors Makeup Workshop<\/strong>:  A professional makeup artist teaches you how to look your best including a professional makeover (just like on Oprah!) , and tips for hairstyling, skin-tone, plus photo-shoot secrets and photographer referrals.  <\/p>\n<p>You can see that Skyara allows visitors (and locals) to connect with San Francisco in a much more meaningful way than a bland tour bus ride.  The service is linked into Facebook and for many service providers, you can see reviews from past customers.  Like the fast growing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.airbnb.com\">AirBnB <\/a>which matches empty homes and rooms with travelers \u2013 Skyara is developing a new marketplace for travel engagement.  While it\u2019s not perfect for every business traveler or family, check it out to see if you can spend a day trying out an activity of a lifetime.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.skyara.com\">Skyara <\/a>is the innovative service of three New York consultants, who left high-powered banking and consulting careers to pursue their dreams.  The team is a combination of self-taught programming skills and business \/ marketing management focused on innovative travel products.   The company is funded by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ventures.io\/\"> I\/O Ventures<\/a> and located in the innovative <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesummit-sf.com\/\">Summit Caf\u00e9 <\/a>offices in San Francisco\u2019s vibrant \u201cstart-up\u201d district South of Market.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/sftravel-logo_bigger.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/sftravel-logo_bigger.jpg\" alt=\"sftravel\" title=\"\" width=\"73\" height=\"73\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-376\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>About sfTravel Startup Voice<\/strong>:  Each month \u2013 sfTravel highlights a Bay Area startup focused on the travel industry.  Our analysis brings home how startups can assist travelers and builds a link into the San Francisco travel business scene.  To suggest story ideas, contact <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sftodo.com\/write.html\">sfTravel<\/a> here.  <\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For years, tour bus companies have driven a rut through the same San Francisco attractions. From the Golden Gate Bridge, to Muir Woods and Napa Valley \u2013 commoditized, often boring tours have become the norm. For visitors to San Francisco looking for something different with a personal touch \u2013 a new service called Skyara is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,11,178],"tags":[180,375,179,181,182],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384,"href":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions\/384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sftodo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}