Announcement from Darrell Wade, Co-founder & CEO of Intrepid Travel -

INTREPID AWARDS 2009

On Friday night (Feb. 26, 2010) we had a fantastic celebration of the work of many outstanding individuals, departments and Intrepid companies. This year we got more international nominations and winners than ever before - as we should with so many of our best people located overseas.

And so on to the awards

The first 10 awards presented are based on the nominations received from staff around the globe. We received hundreds of nominations, recognising that so many of our staff are fantastic role models of Intrepid Values and incredibly supportive to their colleagues.

Unfortunately time does not allow us to read out the names of every single person nominated but we will make mention the top 5 nominees. The full list of the top nominees will be published in the next OneIntrepid newsletter.

We will start with the awards for representing the Core Values:

1. We act with integrity
Nominees are:

• Bruce McPhie - Vietnam
• Caroline Fitzgerald - ITPL
• Chimene Barrett - ITPL
• Pravin Tamang - India
• Tara Kennaway - Beijing

And the winner is BRUCE MCPHIE - Vietnam
Some quotes from those who nominated him:

• The most honest and diligent person I have ever met at Intrepid. He is totally devoted to Intrepid and is a fantastic ambassador.
• He is the man. Really honest in every thing. He is there for the group and the benefits come to the company, charities, and his pax.
• Bruce acts with Integrity in his work and in his normal life

2. We are passionate about what we do (this award had a huge number of nominees)
Nominees are:

• Anya Basic - ITPL
• Dyan McKie - Boulder
• Karyn Carne - Retail Carlton
• Sean Ryan - Bundu
• Katie Olssen - Canada

And the winner is SEAN RYAN - Bundu
Some quotes from those who nominated him:

• Sean is so passionate about all things South Africa, Johannesburg and Intrepid Bundu. Faced with some really tough times this year he has stayed positive and passionate through out.
• Sean is passionate about South Africa, its people and beauty. He instills this passion in everyone in our office.
• He is the most passionate person I know and he is living the dream! (no, Merle did not write this)

3. We encourage personal growth
Nominees are:

• Christian Wolters - Canada
• Dean McLachlan - Cambodia
• Dyan McKie - Boulder
• Marina Mildenhall - ITPL
• Vicky Herd - Westbury

And the winner is VICKY HERD - Westbury
Some quotes from those who nominated her:

• Vicky is always good at making sure the team is fully trained, or if there is anything else you would like to learn, and loves to see people grow.
• I feel like she is proud to watch us grow and develop. Her kind words and constant evaluations help everyone to feel more confident in considering other options within Intrepid. Any suggestion for further training is not only often asked for, but seriously considered.
• She is always encouraging all members of the team and always wants us to do well.

4. We have fun
Nominees are:

• David Curry - ITPL
• Hung Pham - Vietnam
• Jeremy Bookman - Boulder
• Meg Koffel - ITPL
• Amy Lewis - ITPL

And the winner is MEG KOFFEL - ITPL
Some quotes from those who nominated her:

• The sheer joy this woman brings from the moment she walks through the door in the morning till she leaves at night, makes her an absolute pleasure to work with.
• She introduced Whacky Hat Day and then got it published in a travel trade newsletter; she has a wicked laugh that resonates throughout the office; she engages with people outside our team on a personal level, always with the view to making them laugh; in a tough year she's been instrumental in raising people's spirits; we all miss her when she's not here - there's an obvious hole in the office.
• For just being Meg every day. There was crazy hat day, amongst other quirky ideas to keep us all in stitches.

5. We are creative and innovative
Nominees are:

• Eliza Anderson - ITPL
• Tan Vo - Vietnam
• Gina Kelly - Boulder
• Maria Korneeva - Russia (Intrepid Beijing)
• Mel McKean - Retail Carlton

And the winner is TAN VO - Vietnam
Some quotes from those who nominated him:

• He is sometimes like a pathfinder
• Apart from his job as a leader he always tries to discover new services that he not only organises for his passenger but also share with other leaders
• He never stops learning things to share with others and to improve his level of service

6. We believe in sustainability and responsible travel
Nominees are:

• Aarti Bhalla - India
• Anna Harvie - Marrakech
• Caroline Titt - Westbury
• Summer Davis - Andes
• Yvette Thompson - ITPL

And the winner is SUMMER DAVIS - Andes
Some quotes from those who nominated her:

• Summer has dedicated her own time to developing 'Pub Quizzes' in Lima to raise donations for the Intrepid Foundation.
• She is sharing with people the importance to recycling
• She has an endless energy and knows how to encourage people to support our projects in Peru.

The next 2 awards are for those who provide a high level of support to their colleagues

7. Best support role to group leaders
Nominees are:

• David Rousseau - Andes
• Dean McLachlan - Cambodia (Intrepid Thailand)
• Hung Nguyen - Vietnam
• Long Nguyen - Vietnam
• Tan Vo - Vietnam

And the winner is HUNG NGUYEN - Vietnam
Some quotes from those who nominated him:

• Hung is decisive, knowledgeable, understanding and operates with empathy towards leaders. A highly valuable member of the team.
• The most support and guidance for me, if I have something which I do not know, I call him and he gives me the best solution.

8. Best support role to office staff
Nominees are:

• David Currie - ITPL
• Gina Cacsire - Andes
• Janine Cuthbert - ITPL
• Megan Schulz - ITPL
• Vicky Herd - Westbury

And the winner is DAVID CURRIE - ITPL
Some quotes from those who nominated him:

• Super service and always available. no job too big or too small
• David is just ALWAYS so incredibly helpful and kind and knows how to communicate without talking geek-speak! he rocks! and he gets things done as well!!
• For being conscientious, very helpful, giving good clear explanations without IT geek/speak, for being good humoured, for not treating any Q as stupid, and for gracious follow up.

The next award recognises those who go beyond the boundaries of their job and make a big difference to those who work with them

9. Above and Beyond
Nominees are:

• Katie Olsson - Canada
• Long Nguyen - Vietnam
• Norma Hancco - Andes
• Caroline Fitzgerald - ITPL
• Tara Kennaway - Beijing

And the winner is TARA KENNAWAY - Beijing
Some quotes from those who nominated her:

• Dedication, commitment, work ethic and passion, Tara single handedly managed operations for 2 months (contingency planning days) She's often meeting leaders, Russia suppliers and other contacts after hours and even recently ran a slide show during her holidays in Melbourne.
• Dealing with pretty much every China/Tibet crisis in a professional, efficient and generally excellent manner

10. Sustainability Efforts - recognises those who have made efforts to ensure we operate in a sustainable manner
Nominees are:

• Aarti Bhalla - India
• Amanda Smith - Westbury
• Casie Zalud - Boulder
• Long Nguyen - Vietnam
• Tan Vo - Vietnam

And the winner is CASIE ZALUD - Boulder
Some quotes from those who nominated her:

• Casie got the whole office to 'adopt' a roadway to clean it up twice per year. She also had a representative come in to educate the office staff on how to lead more environmentally friendly lives. She installed several more bins to separate our recycled items.
• Casie is tireless in her efforts to make our office as green as possible!! She makes weekly trips to our local recycling centre to drop off items that cannot be picked up by our normal collection service.

The following awards are based on collection of data to determine the winners. The results for these categories are black and white.

11. Fund Raising Award
The company that raised the most money for the Intrepid Foundation and projects is INTREPID INDOCHINA raising $16,502

12. Best Group Leader: we have many fantastic results in this category ensuring that our customers are having a fabulous trip with Intrepid
Finalists are in no particular order:

• Jamal Ouahi - Morocco
• Hue Tran - Vietnam
• Fernando Rodriguez - Andes
• Dheeraj Bhatt - India
• Giuseppe Cipriani - Italy
• Chaiya Jaisodsai - Thailand

And the winner is FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ - Andes
With an average feedback score of 4.92 across 87 feedbacks and 7 different trips

13. Best Trip - the trip with consistently the best score for Overall Experience
The finalists are (in no particular order):

• Inca Highlands and Beyond
• Mountains & Monasteries
• Vietnam Family Adventure
• Tibet Unplugged
• Comfort Turkey

And the winner is VIETNAM FAMILY ADVENTURE
With an overall enjoyment rating of 4.91 across 143 feedbacks

14. Most Improved Region
Nominees are:

• Tibet
• Southern Africa
• East Africa
• India
• South America

And the winner is EAST AFRICA
With an average overall feedback score of 4.63, up from 4.53 on the previous year.

15. Employer of Choice
This award is based on the results from the individual company staff engagement surveys. This year we are looking at the company with the greatest improvement on the previous year's score
Top companies are:

• Intrepid Boulder
• Intrepid Indochina
• Intrepid Guerba Kenya
• Intrepid Canada - while this was the first year for Canada to participate in the Staff Survey, they deserve a mention due to an excellent first year score.

And the winner is INTREPID GUERBA KENYA, improving their staff survey score to 4.42 over 41 submissions, up from 3.97 on the previous year

16. Top Sales Consultant - Industry/Wholesale (only covers ITPL based Reservations department)
Finalists:

• Andrea Dalton
• Chantal Wynter
• Rebecca Szysz
• Nic Everett

And the winner is REBECCA SZYSZ for taking on additional challenges, such as assisting the res support team, offering excellent support with training and development of new team members and being a great representative of Intrepid values.

17. Top Sales Consultant - Direct
Finalists:

• Jeremy Bookman - Boulder
• Deb Knox - NZ
• Melanie Gauthier - Canada
• Petra Palkovicova - Westbury
• Michelle Trembath - Intrepid Retail (Paddington)

And the winner is JEREMY BOOKMAN . . . .

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees and thanks to everyone for the hard work you all do to make Intrepid the great company it is. . . .

Cheers,

Darrell Wade
Co-founder and CEO
Intrepid Travel