Sundance Vacations Corporate Blog

Start your engines for an exciting night of fun. Sundance Vacations Speedway is holding an Employee Day on Saturday, April 18.

Employees - FREE ADMISSION
Guests: Adult - $10
Children 10 & Under – Free

The employee sign in will take place from 4:30-6pm. The grandstands will open at 5pm. Racing will follow. Please make sure you sign up with your manager. We hope to see you there!

Do you have a favorite local driver that you’re excited to see?

A few Sundance Vacations employees including Founder Tina Dowd have been working on core values and designing a corporate culture that will be beneficial to the company. While at a conference in Las Vegas, Tina attended a seminar given by CEO Tony Hsieh from Zappos. Mr. Hsieh explained 10 solid core values that act as a formalized definition of their company culture. Zappos core values weren’t formed by a few people from senior management that sat around in a room at a company offsite. Instead, they invited every employee at Zappos to participate in the process. That’s what we hope to accomplish at Sundance Vacations. What matters to you? What values do you live by daily?

The final list Zappos collectively came up with include:
1) Deliver WOW Through Service
2) Embrace and Drive Change
3) Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4) Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5) Pursue Growth and Learning
6) Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7) Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
Do More With Less
9) Be Passionate and Determined
10) Be Humble

The cool thing about the Zappos core values is that they can be used as personal values as well. The Zappos CEO explained that his core values work because, his employees live by them. We want you to come up with a set of core values, or even just one. If you live your life by a certain value and you think it would benefit the company, we want to hear from you! According to Robert Bundy, “If there are no common values, there can be no image of the future.” Please be an image of the future for Sundance Vacations!

What core values are important to you?

Sundance Vacations Founders John and Tina Dowd are currently attending the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) conference in Orlando, Florida.

ARDA promotes the growth and development of the travel industry through a variety of capacities: Advocacy, Networking, Business Partnerships/Bridge-Building, Outreach, Knowledge, and Support/ Development. ARDA and its members are committed to the highest standards and ethics in resort, vacation, recreational, residential and community development for the benefit of the public.

The Dowd’s are at the conference receiving the latest industry news and learning new techniques that might be valuable to the company. While many companies have been forced to close their doors due to the recession and banking crisis, Sundance Vacations remains thankful for our position in the market. We value our customers and strive to ensure their happiness with our product.

Have you heard any good stories about the travel industry lately? Do you have any fresh ideas for Sundance Vacations?

Did you ever see someone blend a yard rake in a normal functioning kitchen blender? I know you’re probably thinking, yeah right! This is a true story. While attending the Social Media for Communicators Conference in Las Vegas I saw just that. Interested? www.willitblend.com.

Besides blending, the CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh also attended the conference and gave a great presentation on what Zappos is all about. According to Hsieh, the ultimate aim of the Zappos brand is to be the very best when it comes to customer service and consumer experience.

Hsieh firmly believes in creating a ‘wow’ experience for the customer and investing in a corporate culture that allows employees freedom and space. “If you get the culture right, then most of the other stuff, like great customer service or building a brand will just happen naturally”, said Hsieh. Zappos has formalized the definition of its culture into ten core values and employees are hired and fired based on those values. The company culture is different because it is not driven by the CEO or Management, but the employees who themselves determine how they want the culture to evolve.

Needless to say, Zappos has Sundance Vacations CEO Tina Dowd in a frenzy and willingly changing the corporate culture at Sundance Vacations. Just check out the corporate intranet!

Gosh, this conference sounds more like a seminar for women. With blenders and shoes, one would think. But, it was actually very fulfilling and taught me a lot about all the different types of social media, blogging, vlogging, and tweeting. I learned a lot about web strategy and building a successful brand for Sundance Vacations. Also about building an online newsroom, which is currently in the works. Don’t worry, this isn’t the last you’ll hear of social media. Pretty soon I have a feeling Sundance Vacations CEO Tina Dowd will be tweeting from the moon!

The conference was presented by Ragan Communications and the Public Relations Society of America. The conference was held at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas.

What companies have you been impressed by? What impressed you most?

Sundance Vacations experienced a huge loss on Thursday March 5th. A long term employee Helen Koval passed away from an illness. Helen was employed as the Assistant General Manager of Sundance Vacations. After running the Wilkes-Barre dayshift for many years she soon took over the Inbound and Confirmations Department. Helen touched the lives of many employees and everyone was deeply saddened by the news. “You don’t meet someone like Helen Koval every day. She was so much more than a coworker, she was a best friend. We shared secrets, dreams, and goals. I’m very fortunate to have worked with her for so many years. I’ll miss her more than words will allow me to express,” said Christina Allen.

There will be a memorial service in Helen’s honor on Tuesday, March 10th at 2:30. The service will be held at the corporate office, and all employees are invited to attend. If you have any memories or stories of Helen that you would like to share, please do.

Sundance Vacations sends their deepest condolences to the Koval family during this difficult time. “As a GM, Helen touched nearly every employee. She had incredible natural talent for managing people which made her extremely well loved at every level. We are distraught and saddened by the loss of this extraordinary woman. We ask for our customers understanding as we regain our composure and say goodbye during the memorial service set for Tuesday,” said Sundance Vacations Founders John and Tina Dowd.

Helen Koval and Christina Allen pictured at a Sundance Vacations Cristmas Party.

PA State Representative Dave Argall recently visited our Sundance Vacations Tamaqua office. Representative Argall is running for PA State Senator. He explained how important the March 3rd election is, coming after the tragic and sad death of Senator James Rhoades. Argall explained to the Tamaqua staff what he planned to purpose if elected. “With the governor predicting a $2.3 billion deficit, there is little doubt that our state is facing significant financial challenges. However, Pennsylvania families are also facing their own difficulties. Because of this, the governor’s call for tax increases is misguided. Pennsylvania taxpayers simply cannot afford to pay more in taxes. Instead, state government must find a way to bring spending in line with existing state revenues,” said Argall.

The Sundance Vacations Tamaqua staff asked a lot of questions, all that were eloquently answered by PA State Representative Dave Argall. For more information, please visit www.daveargall.com Don’t forget to go out and vote March 3rd!

A few employees from Sundance Vacations including: VP of Marketing Joe Molitoris, Wilkes-Barre Sales Director Jerry Sisk, Administrative Assistants Natalie Cassarella, and Pam Fantaskey, and Communications Director Amanda Miller recently attended a Lincoln Day Dinner to support local PA candidates running for office. The dinner was held at the East Penn Sportsman Club, in Lehighton, PA. The featured speakers were Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett, and State Senate Candidate, Representative David Argall. Sundance Vacations employees were proud to attend the meet and greet and catch up on state and local politics. “It is always an honor to be in the company of the PA Attorney General and other candidates who are passionate about doing their very best to improve local issues that affect us every day,” explained Administrative Asst. Natalie Cassarella.

(L-R) PA State Representative David Argall, VP of Marketing Joe Molitoris, Communications Director Amanda Miller, and PA Attorney General Tom Corbett

Sundance Vacations helps travelers find affordable vacation options every day. Let us help you! As the economy slumps, it’s more important than ever to keep your spirits up! From a bubble bath and a refreshing glass of wine every now and then to a weekend getaway, you have to make sure that you’re destressing in the midst of all the chaos. When you neglect yourself, your work and your relationships can suffer. Don’t risk the disappointment of unhealthy relationships and feeling of being overworked. Make sure that you are making time for you! Trust us, you’ll feel great and you’ll notice the difference.

Even if you can’t take an Affordable Weekend Getaway with us, make some time in your busy schedule to relax. Read a book. Pick up a hobby. Go for a walk. It doesn’t have to be big, but it has to be something that will soothe your mind, body and spirit. It’s not about living in excess; it’s about living better and treating yourself to the things you deserve. Get Away – Take A Vacation!

How do you destress? Does vacationing really help you keep your mind off your everyday problems?

The winner of the Sundance Vacations $50,000 sweepstakes is Argiris Hristofis from Edison, New Jersey. Argiris was randomly chosen from among 1,3000,000 sweepstakes entries that were collected at Sundance Vacations sponsored events in 2008. Mr. Hristofis registered for the Sundance Vacations sweepstakes at the New Jersey Nets game on November 3rd. Argiris had his choice of either the Ultimate Sports Giveaway, a luxury vehicle or the $50,000. Once again, the winner has chosen the cash.

Argiris told the Sundance Vacations prize patrol that he plans to use the money to visit his homeland, Greece. The Sundance Vacations prize patrol surprised the winner at his home this past Saturday morning. . The prize patrol consisted of CFO Marvin Metzger, VP of Marketing Joe Molitoris, Sales Director Ed Coppinger and Communications Director Amanda Miller. Check out the video footage coming soon of the Sundance Vacations prize patrol delivering the great news.

Sundance Vacations has a bonus program for employees directly related to the sweepstakes. Staff member Alicia Feghhi won $10,000 for registering the winning entrant. Other marketing and sales staff were ineligible for an additional $30,000 in employee bonuses because Mr. Hristofis did not visit one of the Sundance Vacations sales offices.

Join me in congratulating the sweepstakes winner!
Visit Sundance Vacations’ Sweepstakes page to get entered for this year’s big sweepstakes.

The Sundance Vacations Dowers Grove office was selected as a finalist for the Charity Contribution Award by the Downers Grove Chamber of Commerce.

The award will be judged by the company’s unique or innovative approaches, community involvement, employee empowerment, and the vision and mission of the selected company.

The award luncheon will be held on Wednesday, February 11th at the Doubletree Guest Suites and Conference Center in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Congratulations to everyone at the Downers Grove office! Keep up all of the great work!