Happenings

The Sundance Vacations customer service division is trained and ready to answer a wide variety of client questions about our product. We recently came across a more unique type of question from one of our customers.  The blogger from New Jersey questioned how Sundance Vacations can stay in business by offering such economical vacations.  He was happy with the price but expressed concern that if the company continued to offer this pricing structure we would become insolvent.  The exact words were “bankrupt.”

Not to worry.  We have a healthy profit margin.  Although our gross revenue and profit continue to grow each year we also control our costs in many ways. The really simple explanation that many customers will understand is that we own (and therefore control the price of) a lot of our own vacation inventory in many of the most popular vacation areas.  Over the past 17 years we have often taken profits and re-invested in the future of the company by purchasing resort real estate when it was smart to do so.   The current economic downturn is actually a positive event for Sundance Vacations who is ready to scoop up deals as prices fall on real estate nationwide.

We also protect customers through our fee structure.  How does a fee structure protect customers?

Well, because we don’t incur all of the vacation expenses upfront, you don’t pay all of the expenses upfront.  See one of our very first blog posts on this subject:  http://sundancevacations.typepad.com/sundance_vacations_corpor/2006/10/fees_facts.html

The fee structure guarantees that the company will always have a revenue stream to fulfill vacations.  Do you have a particular question about Sundance Vacations that you want answered?  Send it to pr@vacmail.com or simply reply with a comment to this post.

The Association of TeleServices International recently honored Sundance Vacations with the Call Center Award of Distinction. Sundance Vacations was recognized at ATSI’s 2008 annual conference held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in St. Louis, MO.

The award of excellence is a ‘mystery shopper’ program that provides individual testing for quality assurance in customer service levels. After six months of testing, a panel of judges scored call-handling skills for “enhanced service” applications focusing attention on customer relation management (CRM), courtesy, etiquette, and the use of proper call techniques, as well as response time and accuracy, the cornerstones of the Call Management Industry.

“We congratulate Sundance Vacations for their achievements,” said ATSI President Allan Fromm. This is the second year Sundance has received this honorable award. Be sure to congratulate the marketing team on their hard work!

Among the awards Sundance Vacations have received, what awards means the most to you or to your office?

Sundance Vacations is slowly nestling into their new home, located at 264 Highland Park Blvd, Wilkes-Barre PA 18702. The building is HUGE, and was a bit overwhelming the first day. It was similar to the first day of school, after getting lost a few times, I finally found my way around. I was glad I knew everyone; otherwise it would have been a nightmare. After all of the unpacking, we faced a few minor problems. Sundance Vacations had a glitch in their “network” system due to a problem with the company’s server. We’re always being told, “save everything you do to the network, and not to “my” documents.” Well, just about everything that I have ever worked on was saved to the network. As most people, I freaked out, which was an expected and normal response to the problem. However, I have a tendency to overreact and I’m almost positive, I did that day. After asking IT a few questions, I was told the problem should be corrected, and anything saved to the network in the past week might not be recovered. WHEW! That was the best news, I’d heard in a long time.

I want to thank the whole IT Team and those who helped with the set up of computers and repairing the network, Tom Berger, Jenny Yuhas, David Wehr, Courtney Long, Chris Woodside, and Sundance Vacations owner, Tina Dowd. Without these people, we wouldn’t be operating, and I certainly wouldn’t be writing this blog! Please salute IT and their helpers as they completed an almost impossible mission!

Tell us about your first day at the new office? What were your malfunctions?

-Amanda Miller

Sundance Vacations will hold their annual company picnic on Sunday June 8^th. Hundereds of employees have been competing to claim a prize during the annual event. The picnic will be held at Dorney Park; in Allentown Pa. Sundance Vacations is expected to have a large attendance topping 800 people. The park opens at 10am, and closes at 10pm. Food will be available from noon until 5pm, remember to come back to the pavilion at 3pm for the prize drawing. There are tons of great prizes to be given away. Good Luck!  Make sure to bring your bathing suit and beach towel, as the temperature should reach a sweltering 90 degrees for the day.  Hope to see you there and don’t forget to wear your SUNDANCE VACATIONS T-SHIRT!!!

We would love to know what your favorite company event was. Where have you had the most fun with Sundance Vacations?

Sundance Vacations has been selected as a Finalist in the 2008 American Business Awards. Companies as diverse as Accenture, Acxiom Corporation, Harrah’s Entertainment, KV Pharmaceutical, and Teamwork Athletic Apparel are among those vying for a Stevie Award.  More than 2,600 entries were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories.

Sundance Vacations received two out of three nominations that were submitted to the awards judges. The two entries that were chosen for national recognition are Best Sales Team, and Best New Product. The company was selected because of the high average scores received during more than a month of preliminary judging. The next step is the Stevie Awards ceremony that will be held in New York City on June 12^th. Mike and Barbara Kasper will represent the sales team and Christina Allen and guest will represent the company for the VIP Program. This is an exciting time for everyone at Sundance Vacations, and we can’t wait to see the results!!

How do you feel about Sundance Vacations being recognized for this outstanding achievement? What do you think about the finalists? Make sure you wish them luck!

In just a few short weeks, you will notice a brand new website for Sundance Vacations. Solid Cactus, a local website design company has been working on the new site since the beginning of January. The new and improved website will be geared toward lead generation. The site will be welcoming with bright company colors, and of course the Sundance Vacations logo. In our research we found that a “fun” website was more attractive than a “corporate” stuffy site. Also with a “fun” site, users are more likely to navigate through the whole site rather than get frustrated on the first page. The site will include a company history, corporate bios, job opportunities, all sponsorships and partners, giveaways, past sweepstakes winners, and so much more!! WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!!

Do you have any ideas for the new website? What would you like to see on the new site?

Sundance Vacations donated a free trip from the excess inventory list to St. Aloysius Elementary school in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The school sold over 500 tickets and raised over $2,000. The money raised will help the school with expensive necessities, such as repairs.

Tina Dowd had the honor of picking the lucky winner. Gloria Sadowski of Hunlock Creek, Pa was the winner of the free trip. Her grandson Matthew Sipski a student at St. Aloysius sold her the ticket. “I forgot I even bought a ticket, and when my grandson called and told me I won, I was very shocked. I can’t wait to go somewhere warm,” said Gloria Sadowski.

Sundance has donated to numerous charities and organizations throughout the years. Do you have any favorite charity stories to share? 

-Amanda

Every once in a while Tina Dowd likes to stir things up a bit. While on a drive to Harrisburg, Tina had this wicked epiphany. She decided that many employees’ needed a better appreciation for one another. Then came the “aha” moment. Her idea was to execute a day in the life of someone else, i.e. a shadowing day. Tina paired people together whom she thought needed a taste of a part of the company they weren’t familiar with. The shadowing day had some whiners, but overall was deemed to be successful, and was!! For the most part employees took the day very seriously. Jeff Warchal was overheard saying, “I’m going to have to walk you through this procedure very carefully.” We all thought he was performing surgery but he wasn’t. He was just teaching Nicole Risboskin about P&L’s. One great thing about Sundance Vacations is that we all have team spirit, so much that V.P of Sales Mike Milillo even participated in the program. The program was a success, and many employees have said they can’t wait to do it again.

Did you enjoy the shadowing program? What do you think should be done differently next time? Do you have a higher appreciation for your co-workers?

Our society is depending more and more on technology and the Internet to find what they want.  Whether it’s information, goods or services, people are looking to the net to fulfill their needs. As an innovative and progressive company, Sundance Vacations wants to keep up with the times.  So, we have decided to re-vamp our website while keeping our target users in mind.  What kind of changes would you like to see on our website? What would you like to see stay the same?  Whether you are an employee, a client, or just browsing, we are really interested in your thoughts and ideas.

Kathy O’Mara                                                                                               Communications Director                                                                               komara@vacmail.com

It’s that time of year again…for some of us, it’s a time for self analysis and reflection.  Many of us have resolutions and will work hard to fulfill them.  It’s also time for gathering together and spending time with family, friends and co-workers.  For those of us who are lucky enough to work here, our co-workers are our friends and Sundance itself is like our family.

This past weekend, Sundance Vacations held their annual Christmas parties;   marketing on Saturday evening, sales and administrative on Sunday evening.  Braving snow and ice, our intrepid employees put on their party clothes and boogied the night away. The sales party this year was very special.  In the past, our Wisconsin and Illinois offices have had their own Christmas parties because of their location; but this year, for the first time ever, all of the sales offices were together when our Midwest sales teams joined the East coast sales and administrative teams for an amazing gala at the Trump Marina in Atlantic City.  We ate and we danced.  Some of us even tried our luck in the casino before retiring to our rooms.

On Monday morning, the staff was invited to attend a presentation with the motivational speaker, Chuck Reaves.  It was a great presentation and Chuck had some really innovative ideas, ideas that could be used as part of a New Year resolution for your life and your work…What did you learn from Chuck Reaves?  Is there anything you heard that you plan to implement this year?  Please send in your comments.

To All, a Very Merry Christmas, a Peaceful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!!

Kathy O’Mara

Communications Director

komara@vacmail.com