Your "Key" to the Wyndham Championship

GREENSBORO, NC, Aug 15, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –
Wyndham Worldwide


/quotes/zigman/426560/quotes/nls/wyn WYN
+1.22%



, one of the world’s largest
hospitality companies, in conjunction with the Wyndham Championship,
through on course venues and social media platforms, is offering fans
a week filled with amazing vacation packages, prize giveaways and the
opportunity to raise funds that will be donated to charities whose
focus is about bettering the lives of children.

Spectators will have plenty to keep busy with during the week of the
Wyndham Championship. The “Key to Wyn” outdoor tent, designed to
resemble a hotel lobby, where guests will be awarded thousands of
prizes including access to Wyndham’s famous private beach located
across the lake from the 15th and 16th greens at Sedgefield Country
Club, home of the Wyndham Championship, and Facebook
Places/Foursquare elements that will give spectators chances to
unlock deals and discounts when checking in at designated locations
throughout the course, are just a few of the innovative ideas present
at this year’s event. Opportunities to win and give back are nonstop
through the entire week.

Wyndham Worldwide has incorporated its service oriented culture
throughout the course at its “Count on Me!” concierge stations. Tiki
huts, located in high traffic areas on course, will be staffed with
Count on Me! representatives ready to assist patrons with information
and directions.

Fans will have several opportunities to win prizes at this year’s
“Key to Wyn” tent by registering for the daily grand prize giveaways
of incredible vacation packages, and will receive a key card to swipe
and have the chance to unlock a door and win instant prizes; or,
trying their luck in The Key to Wyn Putting Challenge, a putting
contest to win more great prizes. Fans who make a hole in one will
receive instant access to Wyndham’s private beach and will be entered
for a chance to win a vacation for life. If any pro makes a hole in
one at the 16th hole, all fan(s) who made a hole in one at the
putting challenge will win — it’s that easy.

Touch screen kiosks will be displayed throughout the Key to Wyn tent
with a Vacation Personality quiz for fans to find out their travel
style. Each fan will answer a series of questions, and then receive
destination ideas and discounts at properties within Wyndham
Worldwide’s premier portfolio of brands. Also available on the touch
screen kiosk is the opportunity to vote for a favorite local charity
to receive $100,000, courtesy of Wishes by Wyndham, the official
charity of the Wyndham Championship. All votes will be tallied at
3p.m. on Sunday and the winning organization will be announced at a
check presentation ceremony after the trophy presentation.

Check in with location-based social networking at the tournament to
unlock great tips and discounts at various locations on course
through Facebook Places or Foursquare. In addition to specials and
deals, Wyndham Worldwide is also giving back to the community through
“check-ins.” As a way to say “thank you” for checking-in through
Foursqaure and/or Facebook Places at the Wishes by Wyndham Sunbrella
Kid Zone, Wyndham Worldwide will donate to its Wishes by Wyndham
signature charities.

Sand sculpting clinics geared towards kids will be held four times
each day of the tournament. Kids are encouraged to have fun learning
tips, tricks and simple techniques of sand sculpting, while building
their own sand masterpieces. Those who participate in the clinic will
receive sand toys to take with them on their next trip.

The action doesn’t end here. Wyndham is offering spectators the
chance to enhance their on course enjoyment by entering to win access
to the Wyndham beach viewing platform, designed as a private oasis
with snacks and frozen drinks to cool off, through a “Text to Wyn”
sweepstakes. To enter, simply text the word “WYN” to 37706 for a
chance to win. Winners will be contacted via text message. The only
way onto this exclusive beach is to win your way on it.

About Wyndham Worldwide Corporation

As one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, Wyndham
Worldwide offers individual consumers and business-to-business
customers a broad suite of hospitality services and products across
various accommodation alternatives and price ranges through its
premier portfolio of world-renowned brands. Wyndham Worldwide
encompasses approximately 7,380 franchised hotels and vacation
ownership resorts with approximately 633,700 rooms worldwide. Wyndham
Exchange Rentals offers leisure travelers, including its 3.8
million members, access to approximately 97,000 vacation properties
located in approximately 100 countries. Wyndham Vacation Ownership
develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides
consumer financing to owners through its network of vacation
ownership resorts serving nearly 815,000 owners throughout North
America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Wyndham Worldwide,
headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., employs approximately 26,000
employees globally.

For more information about Wyndham Worldwide, please visit the
Company’s website at
www.wyndhamworldwide.com .

About the Wyndham Championship

Contested annually on the Donald Ross-designed course at Sedgefield
Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., the Wyndham Championship was
founded in 1938 and is the seventh oldest event on the PGA TOUR.
Additional tournament information is available at

www.wyndhamchampionship.com or through the tournament office at (336)
379-1570.

Image Available:

http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1701396

Image Available:

http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1701402

        
        CONTACT:
        
        Alyson Johnson
        Vice President, Corporate Communications
        Wyndham Worldwide
        Office: (973) 753.6759
        Alyson.Johnson@wyn.com
        
        Rob Goodman
        Wyndham Championship Director of Media
        (336) 299-4321
        rob@3-gsports.com
        
        
        

SOURCE: Wyndham Worldwide

        mailto:Alyson.Johnson@wyn.com
        mailto:rob@3-gsports.com
        

Copyright 2011 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.

/quotes/zigman/426560/quotes/nls/wyn

Add WYN to portfolio

WYN

Share and Enjoy

Facebook Messenger adds to RIM’s headaches

As though RIM did not have enough problems already, now it has Facebook to contend with. The social networking giant has unveiled Facebook Messenger, a dedicated mobile messaging application targeted squarely at one of RIM’s crown jewels, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).

BBM has been one of the main reasons for RIM’s unexpected success among teenagers, especially in western Europe, and such apps are shifting some usage away from SMS. Facebook’s challenger will also compete with over-the-top offerings like WhatsApp, differentiating itself with full integration with the handset’s address book. This should make it popular with carriers, as BBM is, especially as it generates responses via text, creating SMS revenue for operators, even while representing a step forward from texting for end users.

The product is the fruit of Facebook’s acquisition of Beluga earlier this year, and integrates with Facebook Messages. This is part of the broader strategy by the social firm – whose dominance in its space is under some pressure from newer offerings – to create a full mobile apps platform which could rival Google’s or Apple’s. Recent moves in mobile commerce, new APIs and location awareness all sound warning bells for Google, which has recently responded with its own social network, Google+, which has a heavy mobile focus.

Facebook’s advantage lies in its huge user base – on mobile devices, this totals about 250m active customers, it claims, and these are twice as active as non-mobile users of the service. The company has alliances with 200 cellcos in 60 countries, and several partnerships with handset makers to pre-integrated its app on their devices, or even create full ‘Facebook phones’ like those from INQ.

Controlling all types of messaging from directly within the Facebook user interface will be appealing to many users, and a cause for concern at RIM, whose recent OS upgrade featured better social network integration. But all the major mobile software players will be mounting their own bids to be the default app for messaging, still the most important driver of wireless usage. Apple will soon release iMessage, though like BBM, this is of course confined to one platform, while Facebook will work across iPhone, Android and others (though not yet BlackBerry), and will have a featurephone option based on SMS.

“Assuming that Facebook Messenger provides a compelling messaging experience, it has the potential to achieve a greater reach than BBM, WhatsApp, KakaoTalk or the as-yet unlaunched iMessage,” Pamela Clark-Dickson, senior analyst at Informa, told Telecoms.com. “Facebook Messenger’s integration with the phone address book may also be a key factor in inducing either churn among the existing users of other, similar applications, or in encouraging adoption by new users.”

Share and Enjoy