A couple weekends ago, hot on the heels of its Gidsy launch, our CEO Edial along with Frieda and Katie from the Gidsy Community team took a little trip to Istanbul. As the first city to launch on Gidsy through “Unlock your City!”, we just had to see it for ourselves. 

The city is great, the food is delicious (hello, baklava & kumpir!), and the people are so awesome - especially the wonderful Gidsy Community! The sights, smells and sounds (music, everywhere) definitely kept us energized and very entertained. We especially enjoyed our meetup-turned-epic night out, and went on some really fun (highly recommended) tours with Gidsy organizers Birgit and Dennis. There are some really fantastic activities happening in Istanbul, for tourists and locals alike, and we had a lot of fun trying a few out for ourselves.

So, a big thank you goes out to the people of Istanbul, especially those who took the time to meet with us and show us around your beautiful city. We’ll definitely be back, and we’re so excited to be working with you!

Here’s an audio re-cap of our trip, featuring interviews, a foodcast and a call to prayer:

Keep reading for a few photographic highlights from our adventures.

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The time has come, Belgian friends! It’s official - as of today, anyone in Hasselt & Ghent can organize and book things to do on Gidsy. 

After a neck-and-neck race to the finish, the people of Hasselt & Ghent both showed that their cities had the chutzpah to be named Gidsy’s next unlocked cities, and we were happy to oblige! 

Ghent impressed us with a great call-to-action blog post, but Hasselt really took things above and beyond. From Facebook groups and meetups to local media and radio coverage, Hasselt’s community-driven quest to put their city on the Gidsy map was quite spectacular. We’re totally humbled here at Gidsy HQ, that both of these great cities rallied together and have gotten involved! Big thanks to everyone in Hasselt & Ghent. 

Here’s a sampling of the fine activities happening soon in Hasselt & Ghent:

Hasselt

• Join the initiator of Gidsy Hasselt, Nick, on a “Creativity Hotspot Tour” of the city, get to know the growing start-up scene, and meet some creative entrepreneurs.
• Explore the sweet side of the ‘City of Taste’ with Greet, at the “Chocolate & Grappa tasting workshop”. 
• For the teens, play DJ for a day and learn how to program your own radio show at MaxHa! with Annelies. 

Ghent

• Join Tom on his 3-hour workshop about the ins and outs of Trend Forecasting and Coolhunting.
• Get a head-start on the rest of the world with Polle at the “Early Shift Experience”.
• Enjoy a day of biking around Ghent with Kristof, with pit-stops at some of the most creative and inspiring studios on the “Creatives in Gent bike tour”

And there you have it! If you’ve got a cool activity you want to offer in Hasselt or Ghent, be sure to create your listing today. We’d love to hear from you!

Organize an activity 

A classic tale of two Belgian cities, both alike in dignity, passion and probably waffles. Gent and Hasselt dueled it out to see who would prevail as the next Gidsy city to launch.

We have been amazed and very impressed by their community efforts - from blog posts and Tweets to Facebook groups and even newspaper articles!  This has made us so happy that we have decided to launch in both cities next week - Wednesday, May 16th. 

Congratulations, people of Hasselt & Gent! You have successfully unlocked your cities on Gidsy, and we’re really excited to work with you!

If you’re living in Hasselt or Gent and want to get involved, you can start creating your listings now so we can feature them on launch day! 

Organize an activity 

Want to unlock your city?
If you think your city has what it takes but is just missing a Gidsy, follow the lead of Hasselt & Gent, and get your community involved! Once there are enough listings in your city, we’ll launch there. Easy as that! Click here to learn more about unlocking your city on Gidsy.

We’re in the middle of growing season, so it’s time to start planting your vegetables and flowers. To give you a head start and to celebrate Food Revolution Day, we’re organizing a Seed Funding. Join us on May 19th at The Makers Loft. All proceeds of the event will go to the Jamie Oliver Foundation. Hope to see you there!

Mark your calendars: Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday (you’re welcome)!

Still looking for the perfect Mother’s Day surprise? While the obligatory card/breakfast in bed/flowers/hug always makes them smile, why not break the mold this year and do something fun together with mum?!  

There are lots of unique activities happening soon that would make great mother’s day presents. Here are just a few:

• In New York, go on a lovely long walk through the city’s coolest community gardens, and end the night with a sushi-making class together at home.
• In Berlin, surprise her with a 60 minute flight over Berlin, or take her on an alternative “coffee date” at the Coffee Circle brewing workshop.
• In Amsterdam, bust out the old cameras on the Vintage Camera Photo Walk, and spend the rest of the afternoon on a private canal tour. 
• In Istanbul, if she’s a fan of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature winner Orhan Pamuk, join this tour based on his novel The Museum of Innocence. Or, go for the old faithful: a day of pampering at the spa. 
• In San Francisco? A perfect gift for any food-lover: take her on a 3 hour culinary walking tour of the Mission District and meet the owners, purveyors and even taste some of the great local offerings. 
• In London, start a family brand and learn to make chutney, or take a watercolour painting class together so Mum can replace the “art” on her fridge.
• In Los Angeles , play tourist for a day or learn to make delicious homemade condiments from scratch.

Today’s the big day - the Gidsy community has officially unlocked it’s first city: Istanbul!

As of today, anyone can organize and book things to do in Istanbul, and we couldn’t be happier about it! Istanbul is the first city that’s been launched in the name of “Unlock your City!”, and there are many more to come soon. Stay tuned…

For now, take a look at these great events happening in Istanbul: 

• Alternative Istanbul, from Bridge to Bar, with Dennis. Escape the main streets, and visit the alternative side of Istanbul with a local, from the best restaurants and bars to stunning historical sights 
• Street photography workshop, with Arjen. Improve your photography skills, and get inspired by the street scenes found off the beaten path.
• A day of pampering, with Birgit. This one is for the ladies! Treat yourself to a relaxing day at the spa. 
• Early evening bar hopping, with Gokcen. Get a taste of Istanbul’s nightlife in your choice of neighbourhood. Visit 5 different bars, and enjoy a drink at each stop. Who’s ready for a great night out?

Now what are you waiting for? Istanbul’s got plenty going on, and this is only just the beginning! 

Organize an activity in Istanbul   or   Find something fun to do

Gidsy’s coming to visit!
We’re so excited about the Istanbul launch that we’ll even be sending some of our team to visit! Our CEO Edial as well as Frieda & Katie from the Community team will be strolling the streets this coming weekend. If you’re in Istanbul on May 12th, we’ll also be hosting a fun meetup (location TBD - know anywhere fun?) and would love to see you there. Feel free to RSVP on Facebook if you’d like to join us on Saturday!

Public Gidsy profile pages are a very useful tool for organizers to build and establish their own “brand” around their activity, improve their marketing efforts and share their activities with a broader audience. 

We already have some superstars on Gidsy, when it comes to successfully marketing activities and building up a steady fan base. There is, for example, Piet in Amsterdam. He’s a retired Amsterdam cop who leads Red Light District tours, and integrates his Gidsy presence into all his marketing efforts - with huge success!

Mark, the organizer of two NYC dumpling tours is another stellar example (read his handy promotion tips here). With his newly established Twitter account ‘Dumplr’ he can reach out to even more people and establish a brand experience that’ll help him to kick even more, ahm, dumplings in the future. 

Customize your public Gidsy page with a personal URL
An easy but efficient first step for you to get started is sprucing up your profile page, and set up your custom Gidsy URL. Choosing a personalized Gidsy URL will make sharing your public Gidsy page even easier, and more beneficial for you. It’ll also make it easier for people to find you via search machines and key words. 

A well groomed profile page with a personal picture that shows the very best side of your gorgeous face, a few lines that describe yourself and links to your other online presences will work wonders.

Berlin Web Week started yesterday. That means loads of presentations, workshops, events, organizers and all sorts of other activities are happening around the city. Bigger than ever, Berlin’s internet scene is thriving. Of course, we can not miss out on this. So, we’re organizing a very special Berlin Startup Crash Course. 

If you want to meet the founders of Gidsy (Floris, Phil and myself), we’d love to see you this Saturday at the Gidsy HQ.

We’ll talk about investors, press, team, product and everything else that you want to learn more about. 

Update: It’s sold out now! Stay tuned for the next one.