TRYTN - About Us - Tour and Activity Business Software Service Provider

What We Do

Our easy to use reservation system will streamline your business, save time and increase your direct bookings.

About the Company

TRYTN is an online booking and central reservation management system for tour and activity companies. Businesses increase direct sales, streamline operations and reduce costs by utilizing our state of the art booking platform. To fully optimize their business presence online, TRYTN partners also have exclusive access to custom marketing solutions and subsidized web development services.

Who We Are

Reza Barissi

Co-Founder and CEO

I founded TRYTN to bring ease of use and efficiency to world travelers and vendors who share my passion for great excursions. TRYTN is a user-friendly booking platform and reservation management system that enables tour operators to streamline their businesses online. Enhanced further with access to our subsidized web development services, our business partners stay ahead of the competition and have more time to focus on creating memorable experience for their customers.

A graduate of the University of the Virgin Islands, I spent my early adult life in the Caribbean where I worked primarily in the maritime industry. An experienced boater and dive instructor who has worked in a variety of tour operator roles, I also have an unofficial degree in the world of tourism and activities.

Online booking, reliable reservation management and maintaining an optimized web presence have long been pain points for excursion providers. In today’s connected world, these pain points have only become more important over time. As a result, I was determined to develop the necessary technology and tools for tour operators to stay ahead in the increasingly competitive activities space. To turn my determination into reality, it was essential to assemble a team of experienced professionals who viewed persistent problems from an operator-first perspective. Working alongside this extraordinarily talented group of engineers, and with continual strategic advisement from industry professionals, TRYTN was able to finally provide true solutions to the long-known problems in the tours and activities space.

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Steve McDowell

Co-Founder and Chief Technologist

From jigsaw puzzles to building custom remote-controlled boats to splicing together the technology of the day to play 8bit video games Steve grew up with a love for building things and solving problems. Serving in the US Army for 13 years he learned many valuable lessons and gained perspectives that have helped fuel his drive to make things better. Over the past two decades, he has worked in varying technical leadership roles in Fortune 500 companies across the Chicago land area. His life changed one day when he accidentally bought a book on the lean startup movement which started him down the entrepreneurial path. Prior to joining TRYTN, Steve helped co-found PatentEngine where he served as lead developer and CTO.

Steve holds a BS in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University and an MS in Management Information Systems from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Darcy Gassel

Account Management Director

Darcy earned an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, consistently ranked as a top international entrepreneurship MBA program. Her background at advertising agencies, market research and consulting firms and start-ups across a variety of industries molded her into an enthusiastic believer in constant innovation. This experience allows her to approach solutions from different strategic angles, and she motivates others to do so as well to achieve highly impactful results.

An early member of the TRYTN team, Darcy has personally helped hundreds of tour and activity companies across industries and geographic regions to grow their businesses. Years of experience in this ever changing and exciting industry enables her work as a true partner and advocate of TRYTN companies to constantly improve, grow and move forward.

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Peter Johnson

Business Development Lead

An avid traveler, Peter spent a year taking TRYTN on the road while tapping into tourism markets and meeting with local operators across 7 different countries on 3 continents. Prior to TRYTN, he spent the last 10 years in different capacities within hospitality and tourism.  From large corporate hotels Stateside, to living and working at boutique properties in Central America, Peter has accumulated a wealth of experience across the different segments that make up the travel industry.

The tours and activities space suits him well, and he is firm believer in TRYTN’s mission to be the champion of the individual operator.  In addition to getting out and experiencing a new place through tours and activities, it is Peter’s humble opinion that in order to get the full experience you must eat the street meat, drink the local liquor and see the live music.

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Brandon Parker

Manager, Front-End and Analytics

The fascination of the Internet—the capabilities it holds, the freedom to share information across the globe in an instant, the openness for anyone to use, and the challenge of how to make it all work—that’s what motives Brandon as a lead developer, analyst, and digital strategist.

Brandon’s foray into web development can be traced back to when he was 8 years old and received his first computer. By middle school he was building a website for his dad’s regional cycling club, and by high school he’d earned the role of webmaster for the school’s site. He went on to earn a degree in web development and to devote 10 years building ecommerce solutions for B2B and B2C enterprises. He has implemented custom booking engine solutions for a leading hospitality company and has developed ecommerce solutions for a FORTUNE 200 leader in technology services.

As lead developer and analyst for TRYTN, Brandon manages front-end development, analytics and reporting, multivariate testing, user research, competitive analysis, social media marketing, and search engine marketing (SEM). He also contributes to quality assurance and sales efforts, and is certified in Google Analytics and Google AdWords. Brandon excels in collecting all perspectives and determining a solution that achieves marketing and customer-experience goals.

Brandon’s passion for solving and building extends outside of computers; he loves to woodwork (he even handbuilt wall hammocks for his two cats, Vesta and Benjamin). He lives in Denver, Colorado, where he enjoys hiking, snowshoeing, biking, and skiing. He’s also mildly obsessed with KU basketball and all-things-NASA (in fact, he was even chosen for the Deep Space Network Social in 2014).

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Virginia Rieger

Content Creator

Traveling and experiencing new places has always been a passion for Virginia. Born in New York City and raised in Alabama, her love of travel began early. As a high-school student, she participated in an exchange program in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany and was later selected for Daikin’s Homestay Program in Kobe and Osaka, Japan. After a tour of European capitals, her love of travel and adventure was fully ignited. Virginia graduated summa cum laude with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Honors English and Theater from the University of Alabama. UA provided her with many opportunities to study abroad including New Zealand, South Africa and Greece. All of which further sparked a passion for discovering treasures and adventures around the globe. After Virginia received her bachelor’s degree, she continued her education at the University of Oxford graduating with a Master of Studies in English Literature (1700-1830).

Recently moving to Nashville to pursue a degree in Secondary Education at Vanderbilt University, Virginia is excited to experience all that Nashville has to offer. She is thrilled to be at TRYTN which combines her two greatest passions, traveling and writing and looks forward to championing TRYTN’s mission.

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Kim Berman

Support Specialist

Prior to TRYTN, Kim was a teacher. She received her Undergraduate Degree from Indiana University and Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership. Kim is a people person who enjoys creating new relationships with clients through onboarding and support. She uses her former experiences in education to best assist TRYTN’s clients. She is a mother of 2 who truly are her whole world. Her travel experiences and exploration helped her to take the plunge into a new career path and she is excited to continue learning and make new connections in the tech world. Amazed at what TRYTN can do to enhance the on-line booking industry, she is thrilled to be a part of this unique crew!

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