Assisted Living Executive

needed service, while also taking the opportunity to refer seniors to the Maristone Web site for links and more information on the topics she has covered.

“We’re really, really about community involvement,” she says.

Shayne landed the opportunity at Channel 4 by turning down an invitation to advertise. She instead proposed producing a short segment on senior-related issues, and the station took her up on the idea. It helped that Shayne had prior experience in entertainment and is comfortable in front of a camera, and that the station was seeking ways to build an audience among seniors. Soon the one-time gig turned into a longer partnership, and recently moved to the 6 o’clock news.

Once the time slot changed to 6 o’clock, Maristone’s phone started ringing “like crazy,” says Shayne, and so the company’s back-door marketing has started to pay off. “People feel like you genuinely care, and they call you,” says Shayne. “We haven’t even opened but we got our first two reservations from ‘On Modern Age.’”

Winner: castle country Assisted Living castle Rock, cO strategic Planning Process

Once upon a time, Castle Country Assisted Living was struggling ED800_ALE_May-Jun09:Assist Liv Exec 3/25/09 1: 21 PM Page 1

in the Colorado market that it served. Two years later, the small nonprofit operator went from a zero cash reserve to having $500,000 in the bank. Census rose from 76 percent in 2006 to 100 percent last summer, with a waiting list for all three communities. Most importantly, its leaders, employees, and residents now share a clear vision of what Castle is all about, and of where it is headed—thanks to a map measuring four by eight feet, and the creative strategic planning process that brought it about.

Unlike some strategy sessions, in which hours of facilitated brainstorming can lead to a document written after the fact and stored in a file, Castle relied on an outside-the-box facilitator to draw out the board of directors’ vision for the company and inscribe it on the wall. The board’s vision literally took shape before members’ eyes in a way that has kept the elements of their business plan clear, focused, and sorted into their proper places. Elements range from practical to-do lists for improving operations and visibility, to inspirational drawings and motivational phrases that get at the more intangible goals of defining culture.

“This was not your everyday boring strategic planning,” says Barbara dice, executive director. “You aren’t looking at a Power-Point presentation. You aren’t writing notes. You can be totally engaged. You’re watching your ideas come alive.”

Once the board members’ ideas were thus posted, the mural was laminated to serve double-duty as a historical reference and as an inspiration for ongoing planning, work development, and

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