Total Solutions Plus (TPS) will bring manufacturers, distributors, contractors, retailers, and other ceramic industry professionals together to network and learn at The Washington Marriot Wardman Park in Washington D.C. Nov. 4-7. Show organizers recently announced the various networking events that will be hosted in conjunction with the event. It’s asked that visitors register in advanced for activities either on their paper or online registration forms.
Sunday, Nov. 5 will feature a Welcome to Washington Highlights, Smithsonian Exploration, and a Magic of Mount Vernon Tour as well as an Escape Room event. During the Highlights tour, attendees will be introduced to the history and architecture of DC with stories, facts and trivia, as they explore monuments, memorials and notable buildings (by coach) such as The White House, the Inaugural Parade Route, Smithsonian Institution Complex and the Washington Monument. Smithsonian Exploration will include visits to two of the Smithsonian Institution museums: The National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of American History. On the Magic of Mount Vernon tour, guests can pay respects at the tomb of George and Martha Washington, see the innovative Pioneer Farmer site, a working 4-acre farm and re-creation of Washington’s 16 treading sided barn, and visit the Slave Memorial, interesting outbuildings of the mansion, and the lush gardens of the estate.
Guests can experience a unique team building activity in the Escape Room, a real-life Exit Game where players are placed in a locked room and must discover the way out using logic and teamwork. Each room is filled with hidden objects and a series of clues that guests must work together to solve within 60 minutes. This is designed to be a highly cooperative experience as communication and teamwork are essential to escaping. Guests will be split into groups, each participating in an escape activity with a different theme.
Monday, Nov. 6 will host the DC Foodie Experience: Capitol Hill. During the Dine Around Tour, guests will enjoy a series of dishes from restaurants nestled beside quaint row houses and clustered down barracks row. Guests will meander through the neighborhood that John Philip Sousa and J. Edgar Hoover called home. Enjoy a variety of food that follows the culinary history of this diverse Washington DC neighborhood. A host will walk the group at a leisurely pace throughout Capitol Hill, detailing stories on the history of the area and its residents. (Alcoholic beverages not included in tour.)
On Tuesday, Nov. 7, TPS attendees can participate in the First Ladies Tour. On this tour, guests will receive an exclusive look into the lives of U.S. first ladies and learn how they influenced their husbands. The tour begins by The White House lawn where guests will learn about the first garden on these historic grounds, Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden, in addition to the current first lady’s garden. The tour will then move to the First Ladies exhibit housed in the National Museum of American History, featuring more than two dozen gowns from the Smithsonian’s almost 100-year old First Ladies Collection, including those worn by Frances Cleveland, Lou Hoover, Jacqueline Kennedy, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. A section titled “Changing Times, Changing First Ladies” highlights the contributions of Dolley Madison, Mary Lincoln, Edith Roosevelt, and Lady Bird Johnson to their husband’s administrations.
All leisure activities have a minimum participation requirement and are subject to cancellation. Registrations for the Tours are due no later than October 5. Individuals canceling within 72 hours of a tour will not be refunded. On-site registration will be on a space-available basis.
For more information, call (630) 545-9415, email info@ctdahome.org or visit www.ctdahome.org.
