Archive for March, 2009

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!