Late spring early summer my company, Glastonbury Home Staging, was contacted by Cathy Kehoe, AVP, Sales, McCue Mortgage out of New Britain, Connecticut to participate in their annual Thank You luncheon for all the realtors they work with throughout the year. Of course I was thrilled at the opportunity. I have been meeting with the planning committee , Gary Kulik, VP Marketing , Kate McCue, Secondary Marketing, Heidi Yanavich, Assistant to the President,and Cathy Kehoe, AVP, Inside Sales, over these past few months. They have been so kind, supportive, interested and collaborative throughout the planning process. They wanted to add something to the program that would be interested and fun for their guests and supportive of their businesses as well, so they thought about Staging! Since this is a thank you event they want to offer meaningful information but they want their guests to relax and enjoy themselves, too.
On Tuesday, November 6th, at the new Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut, McCue Mortgage is hosting a luncheon for approximately 250 agents.
They will have their spokesperson Rebecca Logo, ESPN commentator, former University of Connecticut Women's Basketball team member along with her former team mate, Jennifer Rizzotti, Coach of University of Hartford's Women's Basketball Team. Did I mention that their team at UCONN had an undefeated season and won the National NCAA Championship? If you live in Connecticut or follow women's college basketball, or the WNBA you know about these amazingly talented women.
They also will have a consultant from Washington to discuss the current mortgage issues. I will share that information as well after the event!
And then there's me! I will be there to talk to the agents about staging. I have put together a slide presentation that will run on a loop for everyone to view as they arrive and register. I thought it would be rather dull just to get up and do a slide show so I decided on something more.
I talked to the folks at CORT Furniture with whom I have a wonderful relationship with; (shout out to Michelle Denino, Rachel Vincent, and Renee Fontaine)and I asked if they would be interested in supporting me in setting up "before and after" staging rooms at the event. They enthusiastically said yes. They have been so great about the idea. They are providing me with a complete living room set up for the "after"room and a sofa, cocktail table, floor lamp for the "before" room. I am finishing off the before room with a variety of items that we typically find to be problematic in many homes we see. Having fun with that part.
I am so excited about this, I think it will be a lot of fun and very informative. Having the "before and after "rooms will, I think create great opportunities for candid discussion about staging in a really comfortable environment. I expect that this will allow the agents to engage and talk about their challenges and specific concerns they might have about staging.
The folks at McCue had also asked me to write a column about staging for their quarterly newsletter. The distribution for the newsletter is approximately 11,000! Can you believe it? The newsletter just came out, I can't wait to see it on Tuesday.
These presents a huge opportunity not just for me and my business; but for spreading the word about staging in this marketing place in general.
I hope to present a positive message about our industry and encourage them to develop working relationships with professional stagers.
I will share more information after Tuesday. Wish me luck!!
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