The Timeshare Beat: Jerry Sikes; With Regard to Time

“Time goes, you say? Ah no!
Alas, Time stays, we go.
- Austin Dobson -

By the time you read this 2002 will be history and we will be several days into 2003. Almost a million will have crowded into Times Square to watch the ball drop or some other venue where the masses venerate the passing of the old year and hail the beginning of the new. Mrs. Gerry and I chose not to go out on the town and join in traditional festive activities. We could have joined the over 100,000 who gathered in Tempe for the Fiesta Bowl Block Party which is ranked as one of the Top 10 places in the country for such merriment. Other options would have been Symphony Hall for the New Year’s Eve Concert by the Phoenix Symphony or we could have tried to ‘Twist Again’ with Chubby Checker at Harrah’s. Alas, we chose instead to allow that moment to pass in the comfort and security of our own home. It’s one of those ‘been there, done that’ things.

In our youth we found many reasons to rejoice the passage of time. The two-hour trip to gram's house often required the ‘are we there yet?’ question to be asked at least 10 times and the years prior to becoming a teenager not only seemed endless but also were somewhat painful. Time itself was measured as the downtime between events and others (such as parents) were often responsible for the necessary reminders such as: ‘It’s time to get up!’, ‘it’s bed time’ and later ‘you will have her home by 10:00.’

For each of us there are times that remain forever part of who we are. Some of those defining moments occurred ‘across a crowded room’, ‘may I introduce for the first time Mr. & Mrs.’, or ‘Ask not what your country can do for...’. Many others are marked by specific locations, dates and this question: ‘Where were you when?’ Pearl Harbor/December 7, Dealey Plaza/November 22, World Trade Center/September 11. Country singer Allan Jackson received almost every major musical award with his song, which asked that question in its first line - ‘Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September morning?’

It seems that the best of times and the worst of times were often spent with family, loved ones and/or good friends and the ‘remember when?’ conversation’s always occur at some point when you get together again. First times are often remembered fondly. Quite often those revolve around interaction with another such as the first date, first kiss and first sexual encounter. For most men there are many first’s that are involved with sports or cars. I will forever remember my first visit to see the Arizona Diamondbacks play baseball at Bank One Ballpark (BOB) and that first ever homer by Travis Lee. Growing up in Kentucky basketball was KING and I clearly remember the time that I dribbled a basketball onto the court at Rupp Arena and looked up to those 23,000 seats. That was big time for a kid who played most of his ball where 1600 would overflow the gym.

My brother-in-law Ed Rogers Lyles served in Korea and while he was waiting for his discharge to come through, he and my sister lived in California. Just prior to his discharge they purchased a used car to drive from Southern California to home. It was a cherry 12 year old four door roadster and when they finally made it to Kentucky, Ed Rogers pitched me the keys and said: “It’s Yours!”

One often-used statement with respect to time is ‘next time’. This use of words is most often directly related to some shortcoming and the promise to do better, that is assuming a next time will come around. Most of the things that we regret are things that we didn’t do or get done the last time we had the opportunity.

There are but three categories that mark time: Past – Current - Future. You may call them yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It was once said that ‘we live in the present, we dream of the future, but we learn eternal truths from the past’. From is the starting place, In is the position and Of is finish line.

As individuals we mark time by segments. They are: You did - You are - You will. What you did cannot be undone. You can sometimes make amends, but you cannot erase. If you did good you will be lauded and if you did bad retribution is at hand. What you are is what you chose to be or settled for. You can blame others or circumstances and/or you can be thankful and proud, however, what you are, you are! What you will remains unfinished, for until that will stops being a desire and becomes reality, it remains an illusion.

Assume that there are two individuals, one purchased a lottery ticket and the other didn’t. Now the odds for winning the lottery are very slim, however, they are hundreds of times better for the individual who did purchase the ticket because the other one has no chance at all. But that was yesterday, today, moments before the balls drop revealing the numbers, one wished that he had purchased more tickets, the other is wishing he had bought at least one. What ever happens in the next few moments will not change who they are. Yet, clearly what they did or didn’t do may have some influence on what they will become. One did, and holding the winning ticket could assist in changing some of his ‘I will’s’ to ‘I did’s’. The one who didn’t play the lottery can, in fact, change some ‘I did’s’ without the windfall of a lottery winning ticket, however, that won’t happen if he wastes his today wishing he had, bemoaning circumstances, and expressing envy of the one who did.

Final Thoughts

At SCR early July is the time when we start planning next year’s operating budget. We fully expect to spend the better part of 4 months on that process before the approved budget and Allocable Share per Interval Interest is presented to the owners (No later than Nov. 1^ST).

Some 20 days after the SCR budget was in the hands of our owners, the leaders of ARDA gathered in Washington, DC to consider ‘The New Rules’. In effect the summit was an attempt to point out the urgency of the changes that must be forthcoming within our industry in a very short time. On Thursday January 2nd the SCR comptroller transferred the collected 2003 assessment from the trust account into our operating account. We were a day late because of the holiday. Within the next 60 days we will have collected almost 90% of those assessments and started the legal processes necessary to collect the remaining 7.8% to achieve a total of 97.8% or .3% over our budget.

January 17th of 2003 will be the cut off date for Early Bird Registration for the ARDA conference that takes Center Stage in Orlando on April 4th. Many in the industry will be unable to make the necessary determination about attendance by that time and will assume that they will pay the additional $200 when they register prior to the next cutoff time of March 14th. By that time the assessment collection for SCR will be approaching 94% with the assistance of Meridian Financial Services. The reality is that many of our industries finest will not have registered by the March date and will fork over another $300 when they register at the convention. In all facets of the industry there are those that bemoan the high marketing costs which have plagued the industry for many years. Given this historical performance are any of you surprised that they are unable to make a decision about the conference and save the 42% on the registration costs?

By the time I return from the ARDA conference it will be mid April and about 75 days before we, at SCR, must begin the planning for 2004. That’s about 6 months from the actual starting date of that years budget and 6 months is about the time between the ARDA Leadership Summit in DC and the end of the Annual ARDA Conference in Orlando. In all that time how many of our industry leaders and/or their firms do you think have spent serious time addressing the changes in sales and marketing programs which must occur sooner or later? I challenge the Industry Leadership to respond to the following questions:

Is time running out?

Isn’t it about time to start?

Are you going to have a next time?

You did not act. - You are in trouble. - You will regret and wish you had purchased that lottery ticket?