“Not in any discernible way,” she replies. “I think the major difference will be that I will be more publicly up front, and we’ll be focusing much more on bettering our connections with the community. We want everyone around us to be thinking of The Emerson as a place to stop, to hold events, and to lend us ideas on things they’d like us to be doing.”
Along those lines, she and Murray, along with Emerson CEO Naomi Umhey, talk about Manuel Pardo, a renowned Cuban artist they’ll be bringing up from New York for a spell early in the new year, and some speakers and tie-ins with local festivals and not-for-profits that are in the works. The soccer fields will continue to host local kids. They’ll be hosting future environmental conferences for Cornell Cooperative Exchange and other entities.
Furthermore, Fisher says on her own behalf, she’s planning to help out the rebuilding of the Phoenicia Library, ravaged by fire in recent years. Details will emerge in the coming weeks…but the implication is that the aid will be substantial. And the start of similar efforts within neighboring communities, spreading the Emerson name.
I ask whether this increased focus on The Emerson means that Fisher’s pulling out, in any way, from her role as a key partner in Crossroads Ventures, the developing partnership behind the Belleayre Resort.
Not at all, she replies matter-of-factly. She remains an investor in the Belleayre Resort.
“But that’s it,” she adds. “I’m also an investor in a great many other things…and I plan to maintain a healthy separation between these two entities.”
Did Fisher rue her investment, or at least the strong opposition and controversy the Belleayre project brought to Shandaken and the area?
“It’s always made me sad,” she replies. “Going forward, I plan to be totally focused on The Emerson, making The Emerson play an important role in the community. We plan to offer The Rotary a chance to meet here. We want to be a resource to the community and I really feel we need the community to now come to us with what they want of us.”
I ask what Fisher’s and The Emerson’s definition of community is, now.
“As broad as you can define it,” she replies, at first, talking about the Catskills and Hudson Valley…even reaching to where she keeps a home in nearby Greene County, as well as her full time home in the Berkshires. “We do things in Woodstock, as well…and sponsored the concerts on the green there this past summer.”
In addition to her work in the Catskills, Fisher says in an aside, she’s head of the board of directors and a key benefactor for Simon’s Rock outside of Great Barrington, one of the nation’s leading young college/high school hybrids, as well as a longstanding board member at Bard College, along with several environmental organizations.
Will there be a shift, now, in The Emerson’s publicity style?
Murray talks about using social media and other means to build up word of mouth. There’s a move away from glossy magazines, she adds, towards more local outlets…including WKZE FM.
I ask if Bill and Hillary Clinton have booked a return visit. Not that they can say, is the quick reply. And the Obamas?
“They can visit anytime,” Emily Fisher said.
“The success of the Emerson is directly tied to the success of local businesses and we are dedicated to working closely with the community,” Murray adds. “The primary strategy is to encourage all visitors to experience attractions, events and local businesses in the area”
“In addition to providing personalized service and reasonably priced rates, we take every opportunity to up-sell our guests on the beauty, culture and vibrancy of the area and the community that supports us,” Fisher notes. “My son and daughter-in-law, Britton and Melina Fisher, have recently joined the team here and are actively involved in planning for the Emerson’s future initiatives and continued growth.”
For more on the Emerson, including any community ideas you might want them to entertain, call 688-2828 or visit www.emersonresort.com.
