The popular new HGTV series, “My Yard Goes Disney” is back for another year. This season, the show will air 11 makeovers, which means 11 lucky families will get a chance to bring amazing Disney magic to their home’s landscape.

Here’s how the show works:

Families that love Disney, feel a special connection with all things Disney, and would like to feel a little more Disney magic in their lives can apply for a backyard transformation.

For this season’s selections, applicants must live in the Orlando, Florida area.

Applying is as easy as completing this application; including a photo of your family and a wide photo of your backyard. But if you really want a Disney-fied landscape, you must act soon. All applications are due by January 30, 2012.

But what about everyone who doesn’t own their own home, get selected for the show, live in Orlando, or for whatever reason, does not make the cut at the My Yard Goes Disney casting call?

You can still have plenty of Disney magic in your “backyard” with a Disney Vacation Club timeshare. When you buy or rent Disney Vacation Club timeshares, you can enjoy the grandest Disney backyard ever, and best of all, it’s one really big, really fun backyard, but you’ll never have to mow the grass there yourself.

Disney Vacation Club Timeshare for a Really Big Disney Backyard

Disney Vacation Club offers some of the most popular timeshares available today. A Disney timeshare means you own (or rent) your own little piece of Disney.

DVC is a points-based vacation ownership program through which Disney DVC Points can be redeemed at many different Disney resort destinations. As a Disney Vacation Club member, you can choose the destination and resort, how long to stay and the size of your accommodations. Disney timeshare owners are never locked-in at one resort or one scheduled week; it’s Disney park vacationing at its best.

And after all,  who wouldn’t like to claim a little bit of Disney’s backyard as their very own?

Last June, Bluegreen timeshare rolled out its new Owner Update website. This is a WordPress platform website (meaning it is built on the highly versatile WordPress blogging platform) that offers Bluegreen timeshare owners an easy-to-navigate, highly user-friendly way to stay current on the news, updates and offerings of Bluegreen Resorts.

Now to expand the functionality of its Owner Update website, Bluegreen is also offering the Owner Update in a format specifically designed  for web tablets.

Izzy Pycher, vice president, Creative Services  at Bluegreen says, “This web tablet is a leading edge timeshare innovation that gives owners access to the Owner Update site from anywhere they take their tablet.”

What Timeshare Owners Want and Where the Timeshare Industry Ought to Be

The business model of expecting consumers to adapt to a business or industry’s marketing style, (simply because the industry has always done it that way) is outmoded in any industry. To be competitive, businesses must now go to consumers in the ways and places consumers prefer to find them.

It is no longer optional to have a strong, active presence where your clients and future clients already hang out: on the web, on Twitter, on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media venues. Successful businesses and thriving industries are delivering information via all the types of technology consumers are using in their daily lives.

As Wendy Poe, Chief Customer Officer for Bluegreen Corporation explains, “I really think that future communications and reservations activities for our owners will be heavily transacted on mobile applications and especially tablets. As the costs for smart phones, IPADS, digital readers and tablets become more affordable, and we all get more comfortable living in a “highly connected” world, it will no longer be necessary to plan your vacations over the phone or even on a computer – you will be able to do it “on the go” from one vacation to the next!”

Great comment and great vision from Bluegreen Corporation, and a very positive step forward in serving the vacation ownership needs of today’s (and tomorrow’s) consumer.

Each year the women of WIN sponsor a very important charity auction. WIN is a non-profit organization within ARDA whose membership includes women, and those who mentor, inspire and support women, in the vacation and timeshare industry.

WIN auctions provide a time to support charities that benefit the health, education and welfare of women and children in need, but also to take advantage of great deals on that include travel, sports, jewelry, golf gear and much more.

You can get involved in the auction by visiting WIN’s Bidding for Good webpages and registering to be part of this important cause. But you have to hurry!

Not only are the bids racking up fast for many items, but at 10 PM, December 11, 2011, all bidding stops.

For 2012, WIN’s 3rd  Annual Auction supports: Girls, Inc.; Christel House; Send Me On Vacation; Quest To Walk; Deliver The Dream; The Children’s TherAplay Foundation; and The Children’s TherAplay Foundation.

Click here to learn more about WIN, and to visit their website and here to visit the ARDA website.

This week, we announced that at Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services, we are hosting a Holiday Food Drive for the New Hampshire Food Bank. Our partner in this food drive is Cocheco PrintWorks.

Although this food drive is targeting the Dover, New Hampshire area for drop offs of canned goods and non-perishable foods, you can also get involved in other ways. Here are some facts about the food drive and about NH Food Bank that will tell you more about this effort and about why it is so needed:

• New Hampshire has one of the lowest poverty levels in the US but ranks #7 in the number of homeless children
• New Hampshire Food Bank is a program of New Hampshire Catholic Charities. So far this year, it has distributed more than 7 million pounds of food through a statewide network of approved agencies. Distribution is made to over 400 New Hampshire senior citizen homes, food pantries, shelters, day care centers and soup kitchens and more than 130,000 adults and children have been served.
• Checks are also accepted. Please make them payable to: NH Food Bank.
• You can make your donations through Thursday, December 22, 2011.
• Our drop-off location is 383 Central Avenue, Suite 260, Dover, NH 03820, which are the offices of Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services. We are located on the second floor of the Cochero Falls Millworks and you may park on the street or in the guest parking spaces in front of the building and use the entrance facing TD Bank.

You can learn more about this important effort at:

http://www.sellmytimesharenow.com/media/2011-holiday-food-drive/

We also invite you to read our most recent media release here:

http://news.hospitality-1st.com/SellMyTimeshareNOW-120811.html

The needs are great and the stories are endless.

This is a tough year for many people. Families—right here in our own communities—are dealing with hunger. Mothers and fathers are putting their children to bed at night knowing that those children have not eaten adequate or nutritious food. Senior citizens are choosing whether to buy medication they need or put groceries in their pantry. And countless others are making painful decisions in which housing, food, electricity and other basic needs compete for the same limited dollars.

Almost everyone has been challenged by the tight economy in recent years. But if you can share, even just a little, we invite you to help us support the New Hampshire Food Bank. Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services, along with Cocheco PrintWorks, are hosting a 2011 Holiday Food Drive.

Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services Food Drive

Now through Thursday, December 22, 2011, we’re collecting donations of canned goods and other non-perishable food items at our Dover, NH offices at: 383 Central Avenue, Suite 260 in downtown Dover.

You can learn more about this food drive by visiting our website at: http://www.sellmytimesharenow.com/media/2011-holiday-food-drive/

And you can learn more about the New Hampshire Food Bank at: www.nhfoodbank.org/

Each year the NH Food Bank collects over 7 million pounds of food and facilitates its distribution to more than 400 New Hampshire food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, day care centers and senior citizen homes. By their efforts, some 130,000 adults and children in need are served.

We also encourage you to visit, and “Like” both the NH Food Bank and Sell My Timeshare NOW on Facebook. You’ll find us at:

https://www.facebook.com/SellMyTimeshareNOW

and the NH Food Bank at: https://www.facebook.com/nhfoodbank

The holidays typically leave everyone busy and often overwhelmed, but there are a few smart financial moves that can really benefit you if you find time and take care of them now. And for some timeshare owners, selling your timeshare may be one of them.

Must-Dos before 2012 rolls around:

1. Contribute as much as permitted to your retirement account. You only have until the last day of the year to contribute to your 401(k) through your workplace. Yes, you can add to your IRA or ROTH IRA up until April each year, but for your workplace 401(k), the deadline is December 31. Ask your HR department how much you have already contributed this year. For workers under age 50, the maximum is $16,500 and for those over, it is $22,000. If you are under these caps, try to raise your contributions between now and New Year’s Eve to realize the best tax savings for 2011.

2. Pay in advance. If you have bills that are partially or wholly tax deductible and you can, pay them before December 31 to gain the tax deduction in the current year. Examples of bills that may be tax deductible include the interest portion of your home mortgage, college tuition, or expenses you can claim as business deductions.

3. Consider selling your timeshare. It’s likely that as a timeshare owner, you have recently received the bill for your annual dues on your timeshare or vacation club membership. For most people, this bill averages about $750. But if you are not using your timeshare, this may be one expenditure you can save in the future by selling your timeshare in 2012. No, you won’t make back what you paid for it, but you will eliminate what it costs you going forward. And while not all timeshares are easy to sell, many timeshares resell quite well. Ask the timeshare resale specialists at Timeshare Broker Services to help you. It will cost you nothing upfront, and you’ll be under no obligation. Call 877-884-9577 to learn more.

4. Review your utilities and services. One call to your telephone, cable, satellite or other service provider can save you money every month. Plans and service options change constantly and many companies that provide services you regularly use have ways to save you money you may not be benefitting from now. Ask companies to look at your services and see how they can help you. In some cases this can be in the form of bundling services in order to save money, a loyalty discount or credit, adding features at no cost to you, discontinuing features for which you are paying but not using, or even a free home energy audit that puts you in a better position to save.

5. Share. Now is the ideal time to make charitable donations. Studies show that sharing generously with others increases your personal feelings of contentment and satisfaction, activating the same “happiness” areas of the brain as is triggered by eating a good meal. Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations described in Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, provides you the full list of charities to which your donations are tax deductible.

And always, when exploring ways to save on your state or federal income taxes, be sure to consult you CPA, tax attorney or other tax expert.

The American Resort Development Association (ARDA) created its VacationBetter.org website for the purpose of providing information about timeshare and vacation ownership, the value of vacationing in general and insights on why a timeshare vacation is so appealing to the world’s 8 million timeshare owners. Among the many effective ways VacationBetter.org accomplishes these objectives is to turn the messaging over to timeshare owners themselves.

This month, in VacationBetter.org’s timeshare owners spotlight, you’ll find Ohioans, Bill and Phyllis Hopkins, sharing their enthusiasm for their membership in Hilton Grand Vacations Club. As the Hopkins’ explain, for them, “…membership resolved the potential “beach house dilemma” of vacationing in the same place year after year. Our passion, after all, was to explore new places and discover new cultures.”

Peer-to-Peer Reviews, Raging Fans, and the Timeshare Story

The travel industry overall has already discovered that peer-to-peer reviews of accommodations, transportation, restaurants, and other travel related goods and services is a powerful communication and marketing tool.

And while the timeshare industry explores new and effective ways to share the truth about timeshares, we may find that the most powerful communication about timeshare is delivered by the owners who use and love the product.

We encourage you to visit www.vacationbetter.org and read the Hopkins’s story along with stories from other timeshare owners. And take 4 minutes and watch the video below … you will never look at timeshare in the same way again.

Learn more about the opportunities of Hilton Grand Vacations Club timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.

All sorts of things seem to interfere with people getting off on vacation but most of us would never expect to be slowed down by a sweater or a pair of blue jeans.

The truth is, the sweater you wear when you travel by plane to your holiday or vacation destination could turn into a TSA checkpoint headache. Not only do holiday sweaters with obvious metallic trim like jingle bells or battery powered mini lights set off security metal detectors, so can all those sparkly tops that contain metallic threads.

You may be unaware of this potential problem if it has never happened to you, but it happens to travelers more and more frequently and it is not limited to holiday-themed clothing nor only a problem for female travelers. Jeans with heavy studding, certain cargo pants or bomber jackets can set off airport security devices if they are heavily embellished with metal buttons or zippers.

Pre-Planning, Timeshares, and Other Ways to Simplify Vacations

While a hand search or pat down by a security agent won’t derail most travelers or ruin your vacation plans, for most of us, getting away for a holiday is challenging enough without adding any extra annoyances at the airport. Avoid hassles with a little pre-travel wardrobe planning. Pack light and try to simplify and streamline what you carry on board.

And for some of the easiest and more affordable vacations ever, we invite you to learn more about timeshares and timeshare resales by visiting our websites at Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services.

Let’s face it; every company in America—perhaps the world—is trying to save money these days. While the days of unbridled corporate travel may be gone, it’s good to learn that  a new American Express Meetings & Events report indicates many companies will book more meetings in 2012.

Although 60 percent of meeting suppliers expect the number of meetings planned to increase and 42 percent of North American meeting planners see increased activity in meeting planning, corporate expenditures and travel budgets are expected to increase little, if any.

Meeting planners will instead be tasked with doing more with less. Look for meetings to last fewer days and be scheduled closer to home, cutting the cost of air travel and the duration employees are absent from the office. Meeting attendees will also see the trend to do more with less reflected in their meeting agendas with daily sessions lasting longer and evenings even becoming prime meeting hours rather than free time.

But many meeting planners, as they strive to save their client’s dollars, are missing the opportunity to spend less and offer more because they fail to consider timeshare resorts and timeshare rentals as meeting venues and meeting accommodations.

Timeshares are a Meeting Planner’s Solution

Business travelers typically hate being booked into a shared hotel room with their colleagues or coworkers. Most of us don’t want to know who among the office crowd snores, watches TV all night, or sleeps with the light on. Sharing a standard hotel room can be painfully close quarters when it comes to business venues, but a timeshare could alleviate that.

For the cost of, or even less than, a hotel room, a company can rent timeshares for business travel. Employees can share timeshare suites or condos while the company saves dollars, and yet both will benefit. Timeshare units are easily available with two, three, and sometimes even four separate and private bedrooms. Typically, each bedroom has its own television and its own bathroom.

Additionally, business meeting scheduling does not follow the same calendar as do family vacations, meaning that at the time a timeshare resort may have the fewest family vacationers and the greatest availability, could be exactly when a business is scheduling its next meeting.

Companies that return to the same location year after year may even realize a savings by buying timeshare resales. The right timeshare can be a great solution for business travel, meeting accommodations, rewarding a client or employee or even hosting guests who visit company headquarters.

Big news yesterday when the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) and the Resort Development Organisation (RDO) announced their new marketing alliance.

Under this new cooperative working alliance, ARDA and RDO will share industry information and will work collectively on issues of common concern for the purpose of advancing the growth of the timeshare industry worldwide, the interests of each of two group’s members and the consumer who are served by the groups.

Howard Nusbaum, president and CEO of ARDA, explains, “Establishing a better exchange of information with RDO will bring value to our members who have resorts around the world and to owners who are increasingly looking to destinations abroad for their timeshare vacations,”

Richard McIntosh, chairman of RDO, says, “The underlying basis for the working relationship between RDO and ARDA is to establish in the eyes of our respective memberships, a stronger partnership between the two organizations, whilst both retain their full autonomy and financial independence.”

ARDA and RDO Will Share with Relevant and Useful Information

As a result of the agreement, ARDA and RDO will:

Explore opportunities for both organizations to share industry information with its respective developer communities and prospective travelers.

Cooperatively identify opportunities at both organizations’ upcoming international-themed conventions—ARDA World and RDO 3—to reach new members and address relevant topics.

Jointly approach jurisdictions that do not yet have timeshare legislation or an effective trade association, and joint marketing opportunities.

To learn more about ARDA, visit www. arda.org and to find out more about the RDO, visit www.rdo.org