Conference

On the weekend of July 23rd through the 25th Scott Brunnenmeyer, Director of Operations, joined the nation in honoring the fallen and wounded soldiers at the Families United National Weekend of  Remembrance as Sundance Vacations sponsored the Weekend event.

The event kicked off on Friday night with the Gold Star Family dinner in Washington DC. Families United invited all families that had lost a soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan, which brought over 500 families throughout the country. They bring these families through various events throughout the year; this being the largest event. This was a formal event that seated families together by state for an evening honoring their Heroes and allowing them to share their stories with each other. Among the families at the dinner were top ranking officials, 3 star Generals, Admirals and a keynote by Vice Joint Chief Of Staff General James E. Cartwright.  Wayne Newton, with the USO, also performed at the dinner for the Fallen Soldiers’ families. The honorable Scooter Libby was also present for the dinner.

Scott, who is also a Captain in the Army, said that, “It is amazing to see such great family oriented organizations like Families United that will continue to support the fallen soldiers’ families. It gives great reassurance that if something ever happened that my family would have great support.” On Saturday, they had a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which Scott said was “the most emotional part of the whole weekend.”

Following the event in the Arlington Cemetery, there was a  “Hero’s Festival” and concert by country singer Aaron Tippin  at Six Flags America. At the festival the families were able spend time with Armed Service members and enjoy a hot and fun-filled day at the amusement park. Throughout the day there were moments of silence and a lunch/picnic for the families.

On Sunday there was a final service at Washington National Cathedral. Many families stayed to attend the nations largest most respected cathedral for a religious service. Throughout the whole weekend across the country many businesses and news stations were taking time to remember our fallen heroes as well. Scott said that “ I am greatly moved that Sundance Vacations decided to sponsor the event and that I was able to be there for it all.”

For more information on Families United check out the website FamiliesUnitedMission.com. The website lists events and ways to get involved. The next event being held is the Pennsylvania Gold Star Family Luncheon, which will be held in Philadelphia on August 14th.

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?

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?

Hello from Chicago!

I must say, this is my second time in Chicago, and my feelings haven’t changed. I am in love with this city!! There is so much to see in my short stay here. But, for those of you who know me, I’m totally a little tourist at heart. I’m staying at the most amazing hotel ever…The Drake on the Magnificent Mile..Courtesy of John and Tina Dowd of course! I almost feel like McCauley Culkin in Home Alone, you know when he was lost in New York!! Although I’m having the greatest time, I am experiencing Sundance withdrawal! I miss my little desk in the middle of the hallway. So,  you’re probably wondering, what the heck is she doing in Chicago? Well, before you get your britches in a bunch…I’m currently attending a Corporate Communications Conference. Some of the seminars I have monitored so far include: Smarter, Faster Communications in the New Millennium, Small photo budget, big image impact, Web 2.0 to keep up with and join the conversation, How to write a big story in a little time, etc. So does that answer your question? Yes..I am working!! While at the conference, I’ve realized that I have a hard time speaking up in a room full of people, especially when there are really important people in the room. It’s kind of like being scared to ask a question in high school, because you think it might be stupid to someone else. I took a chance today, and actually asked some questions. Would you believe that there were people who thanked me, because they were also curious about the same thing. It was a great lesson.. I have learned so many useful communication tools that I can’t wait to bring back to Sundance.. Well, it’s just about dinner time, and some Chicago style deep dish pizza sounds phenomenal! Humm…I wonder how many points this will cost me. Its a good thing I’m skipping weight watchers this week!

Do you have any ideas on what would make the communication better or easier at Sundance Vacations? Why do you think everyone is so afraid to speak up during meetings with the "big" people?

-Amanda