American Resort Development Association Celebrates Industry Leaders

ACE Awards Recognize Highest Level of Excellence in Top Individuals, Teams, Resorts and Corporations

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2008—The American Resort Development Association (ARDA) honored the 2008 ARDA Circle of Excellence (ACE) award winners at a gala ceremony and dinner during the Annual ARDA Convention and Exposition in Las Vegas.

“The ACE awards are an honor we bestow as an industry on the highest level of excellence,” said Howard Nusbaum, president and chief executive officer of ARDA. “They have demonstrated a commitment to the improvement and success of the industry as a whole and we are privileged to work beside such professional and corporate colleagues.”

The ACE Lifetime Achievement Award is given to an individual, who possesses an outstanding body of work which positively impacts the standards of the industry with a minimum of fifteen years involvement. Recipients of the award demonstrate leadership, professionalism, creativity, reliability and quality standards and ethics.

This year’s recipient, Rip Gellein, Starwood Resorts, envisioned a resort that was the first to offer vacation ownership in a location without mountains or without an ocean. The company sold over $1 million in the first month. Orlando became the focal point of the industry and is now unquestionably the timeshare capitol of the world.

Gellein would go on to become president of Global Development Group and continued to pioneer as the first major U.S. hotelier to enter Cancun and Los Cabos. He helped direct the introduction of ARDA ROC and co-founded and chaired the Florida Chapter of ARDA for 15 years. He has served on the ARDA Board of Directors for over 25 years and was Chairman from 2005 to 2007.

The ACE Volunteer Award is given to a member of ARDA who consistently gives his or her time, energy, creativity and talents in order to further ARDA’s goals and objectives. A passionate leader and selfless volunteer, this 2008 award recipient is Lani Kane-Hanan, Senior Vice President Feasibility & Business Planning, Inventory & Revenue Optimization and Product Innovation of Marriott Vacation Club International. She serves as ARDA Meetings Committee Chairman, continually seeking new ideas for education sessions and programming. She is founder of the new Women’s Industry Network, and is a key to the success of the Fractional and PRC Forum.

The ACE Community Service Award recognizes outstanding community contributions by an ARDA member individual or organization. This year’s recipient, Architectural Concepts, is recognized for their commitment to restoring the fundamental dream of owning a home. Working hand in hand with Habitat for Humanity, Architectural Concepts hosted the Lemon Drop3 Party in San Diego, raising almost $30,000. The president of the company joined the Board of Directors of the San Diego Habitat for Humanity, and committed the corporation to long-term support of this work and hosts a successful golf tournament fundraiser each year.

The ACE Innovator Award recognizes a company or individual who has successfully implemented a groundbreaking product, service or concept within the last three years. The 2008 recipient, RedWeek.com, introduced a new exchange system that offers exchanges online every minute of the day in an easy to navigate format.

Since the new product came online, the company has registered over 400,000 timeshare owners and 600,000 travelers interested in timeshare. RedWeek.com has become a leader in the virtual side of business by successfully bringing vacation ownership to over 1 million active registrants expressing interest in timeshare use or ownership.

The ACE Employee Award recognizes an outstanding employee who has demonstrated commitment and loyalty, has a history of superior performance and contributions, and has set a positive example for his or her co-workers. Cookie Wright-Bodison, senior manager of Member Services at Celebrity Resorts, received this year’s award in honor of her dedicated commitment of almost 20 years. She demonstrates a keen ability to resolve the most pressing issues facing owners and members as well as holds the Celebrity Resorts’ “G.U.E.S.T.” standard each day. Her charm, wit and decision making skills have become essential to the overall operation of the company.

A company or a division that has demonstrated exceptional commitment to its employees through training, flexibility, professional development, benefits and other unique programs for its staff is given the ACE Employer Award. The winner of this year’s award is Wyndham Vacation Ownership, for their creation of the orientation program iGo. After the company changed its name and merged two brands together, the orientation system was put into place at over 200 locations around the world.

iGo is a game the employees play together and involves each employee receiving a passport and a toy car to travel on a journey through the company’s world. They learn Wyndham’s history, mission and how they fit into the company’s plan for success. The most popular part of the journey is a postcard on which employees draw three things they learned and write down their personal goals for the next 90 days. Employees receive their postcards 90 days later so they can compare to see how they did in relation to their goals.

The ACE Philanthropic Award recognizes an outstanding philanthropic effort for a humanitarian cause by on or more industry individuals or by an industry company. Equiant Financial Services received this year’s award because of the company’s commitment to finding no limitations in giving back to their community. They began by supporting the West Valley Child Crisis Center by donating tennis shoes to outfit all the children for a year and a half. They held a fundraiser that allowed the kids to take pictures on motorcycles and made Christmas dreams come true after elf tags were passed out to the employees. Today there is an organized group of employees volunteering at the Crisis Center.

At the same time, other company employees supported the American Lung Association of Arizona by participating in the Annual Asthma Walk for the American Lung Association. The employees helped fund a golf invitational and fundraising dinner for the Harman Killebrew Foundation and others volunteered to help prepare and serve meals to the homeless at the Andre House.

The ACE Project of Excellence Award is received by a timeshare or mixed-use project that is considered a success by investors, owners and the local community. Projects may be environmentally friendly, provide community educational or recreational facilities, or have a positive impact on the community after months and years of cooperation between all parties involved. This year’s recipient, Old Greenwood – Tahoe Mountain Resorts, has preserved 600 acres of pristine forest just north of Lake Tahoe while building single-family homes and luxury fractional homes.

Rigorous commitment to sustaining the environment involved not using old growth timber, choosing alternative fuels for their vehicles, organic turf management, conservation-oriented architecture and using recycled denim as insulation. As a greater part of their vision, the developer has donated hundreds of acres of their own land for public use as parks, trails, schools, churches and recreation centers and contributed over $10 million to the community organizations that preserve the heritage and integrity of the Tahoe traditions.


The American Resort Development Association is the Washington D.C.-based professional association representing the vacation ownership and resort development industries. Established in 1969, ARDA today has over 1,000 members ranging from privately held firms to publicly traded companies and international corporations with expertise in shared ownership interests in leisure real estate. The membership also includes timeshare owner associations (HOAs), resort management companies, and owners through the ARDA Resort Owners Coalition (ARDA-ROC)