April 01, 2009 Progress Report
Well, it’s official – we made a good decision.
A little over a week ago, we had our first follow-up meeting with our marketing team, InterCommunications. We were all curious to find out whether they were up to the challenge we had presented to them at the first meeting: Make people feel the emotion and excitement of Bear Dance before they even see it.
“Where’s the Wow??” Now that light fixtures are in, Ron’s trademark question is easy to answer as you walk into Boulder’s foyer and look up.
We knew there was a better-than-average chance they could pull it off. This is what they do. They have the experience. And we were making their job reasonably feasible because of the product they had to work with. We wanted people to have that emotional string tugged so they would schedule their trip to see it in person.
What we hadn’t expected was how much they would exceed our expectations. Sure, they came up with some great material. They found the right words to capture the character of Bear Dance. They picked the right photographs to generate the excitement. But the step beyond was in the way they went beyond the property boundaries of Bear Dance. They created a scenario where one could realize that Bear Dance was only a part of what they were getting. They were getting the opportunity to join a community that is just as special as it is rare. The success of the InterCom material was captured in the first response of Dee Incoronato: “You’ve made me realize again why I love to live in Bigfork.”
All of a sudden, it was very clear. Their tactic was to not only generate excitement about Bear Dance, but to also convey the most basic tenet of real estate and marketing: Location, Location, Location. In describing the proximity to Bigfork’s Village, the protected access to Flathead Lake, and the unspeakable beauty of Glacier National Park, InterCom was conveying to people that they wouldn’t just be buying into a beautifully crafted enclave with European Flair. They would be getting a piece of one of the great hidden secrets of the United States, a lifestyle and environment that is closely cherished by those who realize how fortunate they are to live here.
And with that, InterCom had exceeded our expectations. The question of “If we build it, will they come?” is largely now answered. We’re confident people will show up.
The question is, can we fill the role they’ve created for us? Part of that is easy; it’s already done: the surroundings are set. The other part is not as easy, but certainly we feel up to the challenge: Getting Bear Dance ready to show off once people start showing up. We feel comfortable about meeting that goal because we’re being pushed in the more immediate future by the Sundowner on May 14th. As mentioned last month, we’ll be hosting the Bigfork Chamber of Commerce monthly event at Bear Dance. We’re working to be as far along as possible for the Sundowner event, which means we’re getting a huge head start on being ready for our July 1st real estate opening.
As we mentioned last month, the Sundowner is an exciting opportunity for us because of the local interest in Bear Dance. These participating Chamber of Commerce businesses will be crucial partners throughout the summer sales season, speaking fondly of what they’ll see on that evening. So what will they see?
We’ll host the event in the Boulder Unit, the residence that is farthest along and closest to completion. The only thing missing will be carpet in the bedrooms – everything else will be finished. The past month has seen us finish the cabinets, painting and trim carpentry. We’ve installed the light fixtures, plumbing fixtures and the garage door. We only lack the appliances and a thorough cleaning to be ready for Sundowner.
But we won’t limit the crowd to Boulder. Yellowstone will also be ready for mini-tours, although there will be a little more work left to do than Boulder. Nonetheless, there has been incredible excitement around this one, potentially even exceeding that of Boulder. The first step through the front door creates so much more than the “Wow” effect we’ve always sought to achieve. At the smallest square footage of any residence in Bear Dance, and with the lowest ceiling clearance of all the residences, Yellowstone seems to be at a disadvantage. But with the now-installed kitchen cabinets, the completed flagstone floor, and finished trim and doors (combined with the beams and steel hub on the ceiling, installed several months ago), there is simply so much character to take in. One person after another seems to pick this smallest residence as their favorite.
The structural stone arch above “The Biggest Barrel Vault in Montana” (so named by our electrical inspector) is now finished, and with the plaster ceiling not far behind, this will make for a fantastic greeting for visitors and owners alike.
With so much action happening in Boulder and Yellowstone, The Swan has quietly continued to move forward. The heavy, three-inch-thick planks were installed in an old, craftsman-style spline construction to complete the upstairs catwalk. More recently, the crew from Smith Painting finished the flooring on the topside and underside, while also adding a glaze to all the exposed timbers. This new darker finish is a perfect complement to the softer tones of the cherry cabinets throughout. We’ve installed plumbing fixtures, more granite tops, tile backsplashes, and outdoor touches.
Speaking of outdoor touches, the exterior of the five-plex continues to move forward towards our goal of giving a completed outer façade for the real estate season. We’ve conducted meetings with engineers to finalize plans for our storm water runoff system. We accomplished a huge cleanup, opening up the center area in a way that hasn’t been seen in two years! The massive structural stone arch was completed and unveiled, and we cleaned up all our stacked stone walls on the upper portion of the property. In the coming weeks, we’ll install the upper garage doors on the five-plex, and the first-impression view will – dare we say it – reach an even more impressive level!
Yes, things are moving right along, but yes also, we still have much to do. Our work is cut out for us in the months of May and June, but we’re looking forward to it. Keep track of our website, because in the coming weeks, it will be linked to the new Bear Dance website, courtesy of the creative and talented folks at InterCommunications. They have fit right into the mold of creativity we’ve established over the past two years, which makes it easy to be excited, knowing without a doubt that we made the right decision!
Remember the young, creative kid who was willing to think outside the box and install our cedar shakes? Sam? He’s now taking care of our copper gutters and downspouts. Here they are on Madison’s front porch, still awaiting their patina finish.