August Post

I have talked a couple of times with Brett Johnston, who is going to be the "general" manager of the Cascades property from now on, and I have been impressed with what he is trying to do, and his commitment to his work here. There won't be a full time, all time manager but with Kenny heading up the golf, Larry heading up the hospitality and Joseph running the food and drink aspects, we should have all of the overhead there we can stand!

One thing Brett is a fanatic about is that people get the food and drink experience they want. He is adamant in his advice that if your food isn't cooked properly, send it back right now, don't eat it and then complain next week! The staff needs immediate feedback and with the quality of people we have, they welcome it.

We also talked about the Homeowners' Association, and I couldn't give him enough specifics about it to be useful. But he wants to make this a viable and helpful organization, and needs to know the history and then how to get us all on board and working! (He reported that a couple who had been to Cascades last weekend and who was interested in buying a lot, had talked with another resident, and this resident was so negative about the past ownership that the couple decided not to buy! I don't think we can afford that sort of thing!)

Anyway, I encourage any and all to go talk to Brett and let's get this club comfortable and workable for all of us!

Rick

Cascades as a active adult community

There is a very interesting article in today's Sunday Dallas Morning News (July 26, 2009) about several developments in the Dallas and Denton markets (Robson Ranch, Frisco Lakes were two of them), where the emphasis was on having a resort/retirement lifestyle before people were retired, and how fun and neighborly these places were.

Seems to me that this model would be something very interesting and workable for us, here at Cascades. While still encouraging greater golf membership within the community, the idea of developing more of the community feel with neighborhood parties and get togethers makes an great sense. Why don't you read the article at http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/denton/flowermound/stories/072609dnbusactiveadults.3ffb253.html

Thanks for reading!

Rick

The Idea of shrinking services

Seth Godin is a business writer and thinker, and he writes a daily blog. I would encourage everyone to subscribe to it, it is just a kick in the pants much of the time. Here is what he wrote today:

Death spiral!

You've probably seen it. The fish monger sees a decline in business, so they have less money to spend on upkeep and inventory, so they keep the fish a bit longer and don't clean up as often, so of course, business declines and then they have even less money... Eventually, you have an empty, smelly fish store that's out of business.

The doctor has fewer patients so he doesn't invest as much in training or staff and so some other patients choose to leave which means that there are even fewer patients...

The newspaper has fewer advertisers, so they can't invest as much in running stories, so people stop reading it, which means advertisers have less reason to advertise which leaves less money for stories...

As Tom Peters says, "You can't shrink your way to greatness," and yet that's what so many dying businesses try to do. They hunker down and wait for things to get better, but they don't. This isn't a dip, it's a cul de sac. It's over.

Right this minute, you still have some cash, some customers, some momentum... Instead of squandering it in a long, slow, death spiral, do something else. Buy a new platform. Move. Find new products for the customers that still trust you.

Change is a bear, but it's better than death.
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Don't you think this is applicable to our situation at Cascades? We need to help Bill see that we can't shrink our way to success as a development or a country club!

Rick

Rush Weekend!

Been thinking about how to encourage interest in joining our club, and even becoming a homeowner out here.

Probably the most effective "salesmanship" any of us have experienced was the "rush" during college or even in some social organizations, where there is a concerted effort to bring more friends into a particular circle. Why shouldn't we do the same thing at Cascades?

Why not designate a "Rush weekend" for us to try to encourage new members? We could have golf, beers and a party on a weekend night, have every member invite one or two guests and just have a grand old time. And I am not thinking this should be a Cascades sponsored and paid for thing, but for a reasonable price, everybody but Buddy Miller would probably invite a friend or two to something like this. We all benefit when Cascades prospers, don't we?

Why not try some low cost and high fun events like this?

What do you think?

Rick

Issues at Cascades

Hey gang, we really need to be talking together to address some of the issues we seem to be having out here at Cascades, and while a blog seems pretty high tech, it can help us to stay in touch and learn what is going on in  the community, and with our neighbors.

Last night's Fourth of July celebration went very well, I thought. Food was good and it mainly was just good to see everybody there at the club. That's what it is there for!

I was thinking of some issues that I heard about last night, and thought we might want to address these in some way.

Let's start here:

1. Property tax valuations- My understanding is that several people have been fighting this battle with the city, since there really appears to be little rationale for the high valuations most of the Cascades property has been given.  I don't have any direct knowledge here, so I would appreciate an update- and anybody can do that on this blog! (In other words, this isn't a Rick Coker blog, it is merely a bulletin board that anyone can post upon!)

2. Traffic aspects- Jerry Irwin was telling me about the problems he is having with traffic going by his house, much like the complaints that the Embry's have made before. What can be done here? Is a gate the only answer, or is there something else that can make it ? What would need to happen to enable gating? We just don't see that so much here at my house. 

3. The status of the club and its operation. Since all of us are members as well as homeowners, we really have a stake in the operation of the club. And certainly Bill Cawley gets plenty of advice and plenty of complaints about everything from how the beer tastes to the preparation of somebody's hamburger, so I don't want to make this a gripe thing, but more to the point of making things better.  I have to tip my hat to the Moneta's and Bill Minyard for taking the bull by the horns to try and act as hosts, I know that isn't easy! And I appreciate their work, and know I have left some names out, so sorry!

To me, the lawsuits and  resulting confusion as to what is going on out here have been a real drag on our ability to recruit new members and sell more lots.  And while I sure don't know all the issues involved, all I can say is that it seems like nobody wins if we stay in survival mode or struggle.  We have great people, a great golf course and a very nice clubhouse, why shouldn't this be an attractive and bustling place to live and play?

In any case, I wanted to get the conversation going here. If you read this and can't figure out how to respond, email me at riccoker@gmail.com or phone me at 903-521-7667 and I will walk you through it. When we are all together, there is just so much to talk about, but we can't just talk at parties!

Rick

What's happening at Cascades?

I started this blog a few months ago, and haven't been good about keeping it up, but it really would be a nice way for all of the Cascades folks to keep in touch, to set up social events and just to know what is going on, don't you think?

For one thing, it seems that things are still up in the air about the sale of the club and golf course. As you might know, Jim Lowden is a friend and member who has been really trying hard to get this going,  and it has been slow movement. He is a good guy and someone who wants to keep Cascades as the best place around, but there are seeming delays and bumps in the road all around.

I really don't know of anybody else who is serious at this point, but nobody reports to me!

The dogwoods and azealeas are beautiful right now, aren't they? We all need to enjoy, take pictures and the like.

I understand that Suzanne Snavely and her mom have opened up a Hamburger place, but we haven't been there yet.  Any reviews in yet? Good luck with that!

Any news or opinions, just post them right here!

Rick