September 2009 Developments - 20

Member Tribute The Power of One In celebration of ARDA-ROC’s 20-year anniversary, ARDA would like to recognize the impact of Lynn Weas, RPP, president/CEO and owner of Resort Advisory Group, Inc. ver the past 20 years, ARDA’s Resort Owners Coalition (ARDA-ROC) has grown substantially, thanks in part to the leadership, sustained vision, commitment, and ﬁnancial due diligence of Chairman Lynn Weas. In 1991, ROC collections were in the neighborhood of $320,000. Today, there are over 1 million individual timeshare owners, and collections have reached the $5 million-dollar mark. Weas has played an integral role in helping to shape the state and federal legislative agenda—leading to ﬁnely honed strategies for interacting with legislators and regulators all across the country to advance policies that strengthen the industry and protect and preserve the integrity of each individual owner’s purchase. This growth is extremely important and necessary in ARDA’s efforts to ensure that owners are able to engage government ofﬁcials at all levels of government in constructive, ongoing dialogue and to participate in policy decisions affecting their ability to enhance the vision of vacation ownership. With ARDAROC, there really is a collective strength in numbers. “Lynn Weas has been a mentor to me throughout my 10 years here at ARDA,” says Sandra DePoy, RRP, ARDA’s vice president of federal relations, ARDA-ROC/PAC. “It is difﬁcult to put this into words, but for me, the measure of my dear friend Lynn is in his integrity, his character, his optimism, his joy for his wife and family, his courage, his passion for what is true and right, and his love for God, neighbor, and country.” Weas’ background spans more than 35 years of direct involvement with real estate development, property management, banking and ﬁnance, problem asset management, and construction management. The common element among all of these activities is his creative problem-solving style. “I ﬁrst met Lynn at the ARDA convention in 1991—he and I were chosen to speak on a panel together,” says Thorp Thomas, RRP, senior vice president, Starwood Vacation Ownership. “It was my ﬁrst ARDA Convention, and I really didn’t know a lot of people. I went ﬁrst in our presentation, O followed by another speaker and then Lynn. I had a speech prepared and a slide show. After I was ﬁnished and sat back down, and Lynn was waiting his turn, I asked him if he had any slides. He said no; he usually just said what was on his mind. I was terriﬁed for him—no notes, no slides, and a room full of professionals, waiting. Needless to say, he did a great job with the presentation. I think he can talk about any subject for as long as you need him to. Over the years, we became very close friends, and I have served with him on the Resort Management Committee and in ARDA-ROC leadership.” “One of the brightest, capable, yet humble individuals I know, Lynn has taught me to listen well, reﬂect on what I have said, and learn from my past,” says Ken McKelvey, President & CEO, Defender Resorts, Inc. “I am honored to call Lynn my friend.” Weas serves as president and CEO and is the owner of Resort Advisory Group, Inc. The company’s operative premise is simple but effective: “Creative Excellence.” This creative mindset has been the key to the success at The Christie Lodge, which is located in the Vail, Colorado, ski and recreation area. The Christie Lodge is one of the largest single-site, independent timeshare resorts in the country, with 14,500 deeded intervals. The relationship between Resort Advisory Group and The Christie Lodge has produced one of the more signiﬁcant property recoveries to be found in the industry. Today, The Christie Lodge stands as a successful, full service, full amenity resort at the leading edge in operations and ﬁnancial soundness. Weas has been involved in ARDA for more than 17 years. He has served as chairman of ARDA Colorado/ARDA Rocky Mountains since 1991 and chaired ARDA’s Resort Management Committee from 1993 to 1997. He serves as chairman of ARDA-ROC and ARDA Resort Operations Council and is on the ARDA Board of Directors. He is a past member of ARDA’s Executive Committee. ARDA salutes Lynn Weas in this September 2009 Resort Management issue of Developments! D 20 Developments • September 2009

September 2009 Developments

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2009 Developments