When graduate student Margy Parker discovered she was to receive the Mahalo Award, one of the biggest awards given in Hawaii’s tourism industry, she mentioned it to one of her University professors whose class she would have to miss.
“I asked him, ‘You’d kill me if I went,’” Parker said, “and he replied, ‘Right,’ figuratively speaking, of course.”
So instead of flying to Honolulu for the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau 103rd Annual Luncheon to accept the prestigious award, Parker had a friend receive the award so she would not miss any mandatory presentations.
“I was sorry to miss the ceremony,” Parker said. “I’m on a mission to get a master’s, and I knew that rushing to Hawaii and back would be a glitch in my plan.”
Parker, 58, was praised for her 23 years as executive director of the Poipu Beach Resort Association on the island of Kauai, a position she held from the time she founded the organization until she retired in July 2005 with ambitions to earn a master’s degree in communication and society at the University.
The Mahalo Award recognized Parker, who has been at the University since the beginning of fall term, for her long-lasting impact on Hawaii’s visitor industry and the surrounding communities. Parker was one of only three to receive the award this year when she got it in early November.
Parker said she was “basically astounded” when she first heard she had won the award.
“I was shocked, especially because there were only three given out,” she added.
The Poipu Beach Resort Association started when Parker recognized the need to form a nonprofit corporation on Kauai, she said.
“I convinced five principle companies to hire me, and they did,” she said. Over the years, the organization grew to include 160 different contributors.
“A lot of work that we did has had a permanent and lasting effect in the community,” Parker said.
An example of Parker’s accomplishments is the Koloa Heritage Trail – a 10-mile walk, bike ride or drive that follows a series of lava rock monuments and historical sites that include a bronze plaque at each place with interpretive information.
“I had the idea too that local residents and visitors need something interpretive for the region I was in,” Parker said. “It certainly was not just me. There were several committees and a task force that worked hard to complete the trail.”
The trail won a couple of big awards, including a Kahili award from the visitors and convention bureau.
“It’s so cool to do something that has a long-lasting benefit to community,” she said. “It’s a real sense of accomplishment.”
Through her career at Poipu Beach, Parker witnessed the devastation of two hurricanes and the rise of an entity that changed how the industry operates – the Internet.
But eventually, Parker felt it was time to move on.
“I found that working in one industry for a long time, and becoming competent and confident in that industry, I felt like I was missing the global perspective,” Parker said. “I felt there is a lot to learn out there in what I enjoy doing, beyond my experiences, beyond one industry.”
Parker received a 15-credit graduate certificate in telecommunications at the University of Hawaii in 1999. She is working on her master’s degree from the School of Journalism and Communication.
“I decided if I want to go on in my field, I really need to buckle down and get a master’s degree,” she said. “What I’m learning is awesome. I just love communications. I’m able to see things from a completely different point of view.
“I really feel privileged to be doing this.”
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