Bluegreen Annual Meeting Notice - Sept 25, 2007

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

NOTICE is hereby given that the Annual Meeting of the Bluegreen Vacation Club, Inc. will be held at the following date, place, and time:

DATE: Tuesday, September 25, 2007

HOUR: 10:00 am, EDT. Immediately following the Annual Meeting will be an organizational meeting of the Board of Directors of Bluegreen Vacation Club, Inc.

PLACE: Bluegreen Corporate Offices, 4960 Conference Way North, Boca Raton, Florida

AGENDA

Call to Order
Confirm Proper Notice
Confirm Presence of Quorum
Approval of Minutes from Last Meeting (2004)
Election of one Class A Director – 3-year term expiring 2010

New Business:

Review and discuss additions of BVC Component Sites
Discuss the implementation of a $125 fee for the modification of an anniversary date
Discuss the inventory utilization policy
Discuss the extension of the RCI agreement
Discuss the exchange affiliation with Select Connections
Discuss possible revisions to the management contract
Any other items properly brought before the Association/ Board for consideration

Informational Items:

Sales Tax Audit
Discuss the modifications to the Preferred Program
Discuss the exclusivity of certain benefits when a purchase is made from an authorized selling agent

Financial Business:
Discussion of annual Operating (Club Dues) Budget
Discussion of annual Trust Fund (Common Assessment) Budgets

Adjournment

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I just received the above agenda and annual meeting notice from Bluegreen. I plan on attending and taking notes.

There are some interesting items on the agenda:

1) It looks like Bluegreen may be adding some additional component sites. We may get a preview of upcoming and/or new resorts.

2) It looks like Bluegreen wants to standardize the fee for changing your anniversary date to $125. We'll have to see what the rules are for being able to change it. Up to now, you've had to do some type of upgrade to change your anniversary date. I don't know if that rule will still apply.

3) It appears Bluegreen will be adding an exchange affiliation with Select Connections. I don't know who they are, but I just googled them and only found an operator of tours to the Indian subcontinent. It would be surprising if that were it. It could mean someone else. Hopefully, it will mean some additional resorts in the West.

4) They indicate changes to the preferred program. I wonder if they will be introducing Bronze and Platinum levels and/or changing levels of participation. We will soon see.

[charlestonboy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close charlestonboy]

thanks for the information Jim. Any idea what this means:

"Discuss the exclusivity of certain benefits when a purchase is made from an authorized selling agent".

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

thanks for the information Jim. Any idea what this means:

"Discuss the exclusivity of certain benefits when a purchase is made from an authorized selling agent".

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that it is just a reiteration of the current policy which is that "certain" benefits transfer when purchasing from an authorized selling agent. "Certain" probably means the key developer benefits.

Notice that this was placed in the informational section. That means that there isn't any policy decisions to be made. The decision has already been made. They are just communicating the policy and clarifying it through discussion. We will see if this means any changes to current policy first implemented in February.

[Bill927 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bill927]

RCI vs II

It would be nice if Bluegreen switched to Interval International. Most of the high end resort chains, Hyatt, DVC, Marriott, Four Seasons, and Westin are all associated with II, not with RCI. Since BGVC is trying to upgrade its resorts and its image, a switch of exchange companies from RCI to II would be a step in the right direction.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

It would be nice if Bluegreen switched to Interval International. Most of the high end resort chains, Hyatt, DVC, Marriott, Four Seasons, and Westin are all associated with II, not with RCI. Since BGVC is trying to upgrade its resorts and its image, a switch of exchange companies from RCI to II would be a step in the right direction.

I completely agree. If given an opportunity to express that opinion, I'll be doing it. Bluegreen has some very nice resorts that should compare favorably to the Hotel Chains.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Many years ago, Bluegreen was affiliated with II rather than RCI. It would certainly benefit their members to at least dual affiliate. And shouldn't they be informing their members of the ability to use independents? Hopefully someone will bring that up at the meeting as well!

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Many Bluegreen Resorts are already dually affiliated with II and RCI. It's just that the new resorts are all RCI resorts. And, the RCI membership fee is built into the Bluegreen annual dues.

If Bluegreen were to affiliate with II, it may end up having a points interface into II like WorldMark and Sunterra have. That is what I would want as a Bluegreen owner.

[RedMan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RedMan]

If Bluegreen were to affiliate with II, it may end up having a points interface into II like WorldMark and Sunterra have. That is what I would want as a Bluegreen owner.

Can you explain the points interface? I'm not familiar with WorldMark or Sunterra. Would this be like trading for II points?

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

I thought that II only accepted certain resort weeks from Bluegreen, while RCI will take anything. For that reason, I don't think we could go Only II.

BG documentation usually says something like "for deposit to an exchange company, such as RCI" so they don't say you can ONLY use RCI, but, they don't go out of their way to mention any other exchange cos.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Can you explain the points interface? I'm not familiar with WorldMark or Sunterra. Would this be like trading for II points?

WorldMark and Club Sunterra have a fantastic interface to Interval International. It is a search first model where you can check for availability online and simply exchange for the right size unit. Then, a week gets deposited on your behalf into the exchange company to secure you week. This is great because you do not need to deposit a week before you find something you want. Trading power is very good on these interfaces, so you can see almost everything available and you get to use discounted points for Flexchange period which is 59-days or less from check in. It's fantastic and something I wish that Bluegreen would add. Note that WorldMark credit values are roughly equivalent to Bluegreen point values. So, the point values for WorldMark would be about the same for Bluegreen.

Here is what the WorldMark interface looks like:



Here are the point values that are automatically deducted from your account once you make an exchange:

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

If Bluegreen were to negotiate such an interface to II, this would probably be to the dismay of Carolinian since it is the equivalent of a generic crossover grid into II.

Also, today, Bluegreen gives it customers direct access into Interval International Getaway Vacations through Traveler Plus. You can rent II weeks without having to be a member of II.

[Bill927 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bill927]

[QUOTE=BoardGirl;165617]I thought that II only accepted certain resort weeks from Bluegreen, while RCI will take anything. For that reason, I don't think we could go Only II.

QUOTE]

Do you mean that II will only accept certain resorts all year round (i.e. they will accept weeks from resort A but not B) or that they would only accept certain resorts during certain parts of the year (resort A, but only May thru October)?

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

The latter.

There are only certain resorts, certain units at certain times.

I admit to enjoying trade-ups in RCI. Allows me to extend my points farther than I could in II. But, for those concerned with top quality, it could be worth it to spend more BG points.

[Bill927 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bill927]

I guess I am in the group desiring top quality.

One of the funtamental problems with Bluegreen is that it has too large of spread in its quality. It has world class resorts as well as converted motels. Bluegreen appears to be trying to get more into the high end market with their latest resorts, but the low point resorts (6000-7000 points/red week) will continue to weigh down the corporation's value and perceived quality. These low end condos also bring down the resale values of the BGVC points.

I would like to see them continue to build for quality and slowly start shedding these lower end resorts.