Archive for March, 2008

Sundance is full of activity these days. We are gearing up for a busy spring, and an even busier summer. The company has recently signed numerous contracts to sponsor huge spring/summer events including: three major league baseball teams, a major theme park, and a well-known Midwest zoo.

We hit a home run, by signing THREE of major league baseballs finest teams. The company has recently signed with the Chicago Cubs for their 2008 season, the Milwaukee Brewers for 2008/09 seasons, AND the Philadelphia Phillies for their 2008 season. Ironically, the Brewers play the Cubs on March 31^st. This will be a great rival game, so place your bet on who will win!!

The company will sponsor Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Jackson, New Jersey, from May-September 2008. You will be able to find Sundance near the water park or animal safari. Our logo and a web-banner will be seen on the Hurricane Harbor homepage, so make sure you check it out when you order your tickets!!

Sundance Vacations will also sponsor the Milwaukee County Zoo for their Stingray and Shark Reef Exhibit from May-September 2008. The shark and stingray exhibit is one of the main interactive highlights at the zoo. This exhibit is a touching and petting exhibit, and it will be the last year running, so make sure you get a chance to see what the craze is all about!!

What do you think of the sponsorships, any suggestions? Do you have any ideas for other sponsorships? Don’t forget to place your bets on who will win the Cubs/Brewers game. It’s a fun way of starting off the season!!

-Amanda

Tina Dowd has developed yet another innovation at Sundance. While Chuck Reaves presented the idea, Tina decided to implement an e-newsletter. The e-newsletter was sent to employees to gather their ideas regarding different aspects of the company. The first e-newsletter was sent out on March 5^th. Troy Long a PM events manager was the first one to open the e-mail at 11:11pm, ironically it happened immediately after Tina Dowd had sent it. Tina decided to award him with 1250 V-points for being so work oriented during after work hours. Tina held a random drawing using the ideas that were submitted and Candy Bednar, Tri-State Manager was the lucky winner. It didn’t hurt that Candy had submitted more than one idea either!! Candy was awarded with a four-night stay in Daytona Beach, Florida at Sierra Suites, a new home property. My advice would be to keep sending in ideas; you never know when Tina may surprise you with something!!

How does everyone like the newsletter? Make a guess on how much more revenue the company will generate or save because of this new and improved way of sharing ideas?

-Amanda-

We discussed Las Vegas dining on my last post. There are so many phenomenal restaurant choices that it is impossible to cover them in one post.  If you are planning a trip to Vegas anytime in the future, you’ll want to refer to these posts for can’t go wrong dining choices.

Let me say that we are “food people”. We enjoy dining out and often plan vacations around restaurants that we want to visit. We spend a lot on dining because it’s important to our experience.  Check out the restaurants for pricing before you go.

A very expensive restaurant that we did not particularly enjoy was Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand.  http://www.mgmgrand.com/dining/joel-robuchon-at-the-mansion-french-restaurant.aspx Joe Robuchon is considered “the chef of the century” and the restaurant was given five stars by Mobil.

We ordered the 16 course tasting menu and were disappointed in several ways.  We totally understood that 16 courses was going to take a long time. We did not have any other plans for the evening. In my opinion, the time between courses needs to be minimized when serving 16 courses. It was long and drawn out because of the excessive time between courses.

We also asked about wine pairing. I understand 16 glasses of wine is not an option but we’ve had experiences that included small 1-2 oz pours or fewer glasses that complement several courses.  Perhaps had it been an option we may not have minded or noticed the time between courses.

I’m no chef unless you consider peanut butter and jelly sandwiches an art form. But I was also disappointed with the food. I  happen to love truffles but the use of this highly sought after underground “fungus” was overdone. Each subsequent course contained more truffles including julienne truffles, truffled lobster, truffle stew, and on and on and on. I’ve ruined my appetite for truffles for a long time.

I absolutely hate it when customers bash us unfairly online. So I want to add that this is just one experience at Joel Robuchon. Many, many people love this restaurant. The Mobil critics gave it the highest five star rating. If you are searching for high end French dining, check it out for yourself and form your own opinion. 

Tina

Las Vegas is a popular destination among travelers.  Although TAN hosts a home property on South Las Vegas Boulevard many travelers also visit Vegas on business.  I consider myself a Las Vegas dining expert.  In fact, Mobil should hire me to rate their restaurants.

The amazing thing about Vegas is that the best chefs in the world are all competing for my business.  This type of competition creates amazing culinary experiences around every corner.

On my most recent trip, we visited Aureole at Mandalay Bay. http://www.aureolelv.com/

The staff was so warm, friendly and fun.  The sommelier brings a flat laptop type computer to the table for wine selection.  I had as much fun applying the filters to the wine list as my kids have playing Wii.  First I choose red, then Italy, then a region.  Then the wine steward helped us make a final selection- a 2001 Barbaresco. 

If that wasn’t a hoot.  The next step is even better.  A skinny girl in black pants (“a wine angel”) is attached to a harness and hoisted into the air to retrieve my chosen bottle from the 4 story high glass walled temperature controlled wine skyscraper which contains 9865 bottles.

The wine service is top notch.  Our sommelier was knowledgeable but still very approachable; a definite must if you feel timid about selecting a wine.  The pairing was perfect with the chef’s special of the evening; filet topped with foie gras and surrounded with truffles.

If you are visiting Vegas, I highly recommend Aureole.

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?

If you have ever been in a hurry in catch your flight only to be held up at airport security by a family of five with a stroller, car seat, numerous carry ons and liquids totaling more than 3 oz.  Read on, you may approve of the TSA’s latest initiative to speed up airport security lines. 

Denver and Salt Lake City are testing a segregated security line system.  New signs at the security entrance describe three groups of travelers; expert, casual and family.  Travelers are expected to group themselves into three separate lines.

I’ve been behind the family I described above, why would I want to put myself in a line filled with such chaos?  I guess my problem is that I don’t see my own family in such poor light.  My family is the perfect security line family (Or so I think.)

I think we fall in the expert AND family categories.  Each child, (even 4 year old Bridget) carries their own boarding pass through security.  Each person brings one backpack or carry on.  All lip-gloss and other liquids and gels are confiscated during the drive to the airport.  There are no bottles or sip cups, no strollers or car seats.  We don’t smoke so there are no contraband lighters.  The ever-sinister terrorist favorite toenail clipper has long been discarded. We try to select security friendly shoes but fashion does come first, so we’re not always successful in that endeavor.  Our biggest sin is that three of us carry laptops that need to be put in separate bins. 

So what do you think?  The next time I’m approaching the security line which segregated group should I choose?  Eh, don’t answer that.  I’m picking the shortest line and so would you.