ARDY Winners Share Their Stories

What do a housekeeper from Montana, an interior designer from Orlando, an HR professional from California, and two social media mavens all have in common? They were all recognized with ARDY awards during the April 2023 American Resort Development Association convention, Timeshare Together.

Since 1983, the ARDY Award competition has each year recognized the “best of the best” in our industry, and with the notable exception of 2020 when awards were announced online, that recognition has come at the ARDY Awards Gala, an event where attendees don’t have to worry about being overdressed.

But what’s it like to win an award? To find out, Resort Trades checked in with the aforementioned winners who each had their own unique path to the ARDY stage.

Kaitlyn Williams of Meadow Lake Resort by Vacatia

Kaitlyn Williams of Meadow Lake Resort by Vacatia in Columbia Falls, Montana, found out she had been nominated for the Housekeeping Manager award when she went into a regularly scheduled staff meeting. “I had no idea I had been nominated,” she says. “I found out that someone had collected information about me from my peers and submitted the paperwork. It was really special.”

Vacatia hosted her travel to Orlando to attend the ceremony and had a reception beforehand with the company’s other nominees and executive team. “It was great to get to connect with other members of the Vacatia family.”

When her name was called and everyone cheered, Williams says she was flabbergasted. “I felt like I had imposter syndrome; there was a massive room of people clapping for me,” she recalls.

Now that her win has had time to sink in, she says the award shows just how much her department has been able to achieve, and that Vacatia is a company that enables its teams to produce results.

Bryan Boyd of Grand Pacific Resorts

For Bryan Boyd, director of learning and development at Carlsbad, California-based Grand Pacific Resorts, winning the award for Training and Development Professional provided a feeling of validation. “I didn’t need to be recognized, but it was nice to have my work validated,” he says. “Our organization places significant emphasis on engaging our subject matter experts in the enhancement of our leadership training programs for our upcoming leaders. By leveraging the expertise of our talented pool of individuals, we are able to optimize our resources. In addition, we have established partnerships with a community college in San Diego and enlisted the services of adjunct professors to support our ongoing leadership development initiatives.”

Along with other Grand Pacific Resorts finalists, Boyd was treated to a variety of special events including a fun day at Walt Disney World and a relaxing pool day in a hosted cabana at the Hilton Orlando.

“When they called my name at the awards ceremony, I was taken by surprise because I was still clapping for my colleague who had just won an award,” he recalls. “Having a table of my esteemed peers standing up and cheering for me made the experience just surreal. It felt like being at the Oscars and having your name called.”

Social Media Campaign, RCI Insiders Group

Adrienne Callandrello, senior director of social media, and Juliet Rocco, social media manager, at Travel + Leisure Co. are more used to featuring others than being the center of attention. Even in discussing their award in the Social Media Campaign category for RCI Insiders Group, they kept the focus on their pride in the what the private Facebook Group, established in 2021, had achieved.

“It’s really for the members, by the members,” Rocco explains. “It’s a great way for RCI Members to connect with each other. They can answer and ask questions to make the most of their timeshare ownership. We already have over 12,000 in the group, and they’re very active and engaged daily.”

“We’re seeing a big shift towards groups on Facebook, especially since the pandemic,” Callandrello adds. “More than 1.8 billion people are using Facebook Groups monthly and one in five people belong to a Facebook Group, and many belong to more than one. It’s just exploding and we knew it was a great opportunity for RCI Members to connect.”

They wrote the nomination themselves and were thrilled to learn in an email from the company’s president and CEO, Mike Brown, that they had been named finalists. “It was so nice to win, and to receive this recognition from the entire industry,” Callandrello says. “We had been nominated before, but this is our first win, and we’re so happy it was this particular one because our entire team is so passionate about Facebook Groups. Our team is always willing to try and test new things. Facebook Groups is one of the many emerging projects we are working on to meet our members where they are, answer their questions, and help them make the most of their membership. It was wonderful to see everyone in the room, across the entire industry, applauding. We’re all here to elevate timeshare together.”

Sena Hospitality Design interior design award for The Estates at Summer Bay Orlando by Exploria Resorts

For Dawn Sena, founder and president of Sena Hospitality Design Inc., an Orlando-based licensed interior design firm specializing in resorts, winning an ARDY award was important both for her and the project she won the interior design award for, The Estates at Summer Bay Orlando by Exploria Resorts.

“It’s very gratifying for my team to be recognized for the creativity and hard work we put into every one of our projects,” she says. “But it was also great for Exploria Resorts to get this recognition as The Estates at Summer Bay represent an entirely new level of elegance in the Orlando market.”

Sena has won ARDY awards before and has been a finalist every year for the past five years or more. “I know the competition is tough, so it’s really an honor to be named the best of the best,” Sena says. “Seeing your friends in the industry being so genuinely happy for you makes it even more special.”

Judy Kenninger heads Kenninger Communications and has been covering the vacation real estate industry for two decades.