Website Goals
WorldMark has 71 resorts the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Fiji. There are over 6,300 separate units in those 71 resorts. With that variety you would think that WorldMark owners would have no problems finding a place to spend their vacations. However, one of the more common complaints you will hear from WorldMark owners is along the lines of "There is no availability!" or "I can never get the reservation I want!"
There is no question that some resorts are more popular than others and that those popular resorts are harder to book. But that does not mean that you cannot make a reservation there. If no WorldMark owner could make a reservation at a popular resort those resorts would sit empty! It's like the Yogi Bearism about popular places - "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
The proper question is not "Why is there no availability?, it is "How do I get the reservation I want?" That is the number one goal of this site, simply phrased as:
• Primary Goal - To teach owners how to get the reservation they want at the resort they want.
• Secondary Goals
The last two items are more problematic. Owners who don't get their desired reservation tend to complain and talk about changing the system to make reservations easier to obtain. That is not the approach taken here. The approach here is to gain an understanding of both the WorldMark system and the reservation booking rules. With that knowledge you can learn to work within the existing rules to get those desirable reservations.
Getting other owners involved in helping is also a challenge. While the response to this site in terms of the number of people visiting and registering has been about what was expected, the participation by others not directly involved with the site has been minimal to say the least. There are some very knowledgeable WorldMark owners, owners who know how to get reservations. The problem is getting that information out to other owners.
The new format of this site is an attempt to ease that problem and give owners a nudge to get them moving in the right direction. The original wiki format for the site was very easy to set up and maintain but it was not very user friendly in terms of accepting user input. On this site, every page has a comment section at the bottom of the page which is either always visible or can be accessed by clicking on a comment tab at the bottom of the page. User comments and questions are displayed there and new material can be added very easily. Type directly in the comment box or use a word processing program and copy and paste your message in the box. Click on the submit button to send your inputs.
It can't be made much easier than that. No special editing commands for the site, no special formatting needed for submissions. Files and pictures can also be uploaded and shared, there is a special Upload section for that task. No more excuses! Read, ask questions, answer questions others have asked, get involved.
There is no question that some resorts are more popular than others and that those popular resorts are harder to book. But that does not mean that you cannot make a reservation there. If no WorldMark owner could make a reservation at a popular resort those resorts would sit empty! It's like the Yogi Bearism about popular places - "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
The proper question is not "Why is there no availability?, it is "How do I get the reservation I want?" That is the number one goal of this site, simply phrased as:
• Primary Goal - To teach owners how to get the reservation they want at the resort they want.
• Secondary Goals
- Provide information about the WorldMark resorts.
- Provide owner education about the reservation process.
- Get owners involved in learning how to make reservations.
- Get owners involved in helping others learn.
The last two items are more problematic. Owners who don't get their desired reservation tend to complain and talk about changing the system to make reservations easier to obtain. That is not the approach taken here. The approach here is to gain an understanding of both the WorldMark system and the reservation booking rules. With that knowledge you can learn to work within the existing rules to get those desirable reservations.
Getting other owners involved in helping is also a challenge. While the response to this site in terms of the number of people visiting and registering has been about what was expected, the participation by others not directly involved with the site has been minimal to say the least. There are some very knowledgeable WorldMark owners, owners who know how to get reservations. The problem is getting that information out to other owners.
The new format of this site is an attempt to ease that problem and give owners a nudge to get them moving in the right direction. The original wiki format for the site was very easy to set up and maintain but it was not very user friendly in terms of accepting user input. On this site, every page has a comment section at the bottom of the page which is either always visible or can be accessed by clicking on a comment tab at the bottom of the page. User comments and questions are displayed there and new material can be added very easily. Type directly in the comment box or use a word processing program and copy and paste your message in the box. Click on the submit button to send your inputs.
It can't be made much easier than that. No special editing commands for the site, no special formatting needed for submissions. Files and pictures can also be uploaded and shared, there is a special Upload section for that task. No more excuses! Read, ask questions, answer questions others have asked, get involved.
