Recurring Events

As with any resident event, the key to a great party is knowing your residents. And if you know that they love to cook and hone their chef skills, this is a great event for your community! Although we mention “Gumbo”, it really can be any sort of food, such as burger, steak, pasta, etc. For the event, you will need to recruit resident judges who do a blind taste test in order to pick the winner. Of course, there is a big difference between simply naming a winner and making this an epic event. For example, if you have a kitchen in your community clubhouse, the winner most definitely needs their picture framed and hanging up until they are “dethroned”. If they are willing, their recipe should be included in the community newsletter. And if you are particularly gutsy,...

Establishing an off-site monthly dinner group is a great way to offer a value-added event for your residents with absolutely no cash outlay. I’m a big fan of resident-led events, with the office only helping to facilitate and get the word out, so here are a few strategies to get residents involved: As you set up the group, ask if any residents would like to take the lead. If it works out, you will get one person, or a few people to act as hosts at the dinner parties, helping with introductions. Once the dinner group gets started, try having a new co-host for every upcoming event. This co-host gets the privilege of selecting the next location for the group. This helps get attendees to be a part of the planning stage, and also ensures that they show up...

This idea originally was brought to our attention by the illustrious Kate Good, and we think it is an absolutely fantastic program for residents, as well as an outreach program for the surrounding community! The basic idea is to take an area that is currently overgrown in the local community, and bring it back to life! Similar to the “adopt a block” program, this can cover all sorts of random areas, and would be fantastic for land directly adjacent to the community! If you have a problem area next to the community, why suffer through it every day when you can beautify it with residents' help? As you will see in the pictures from Los Angeles Guerrilla Gardening, this team put up a sign in their newly beautified area. We can’t say what problems this may cause with local municipalities if it...

Inspiration and focus: This event is held on a weekday morning and will primarily attract retired residents or stay-at-home moms. It provides an intimate setting for them to engage in a topic of interest, get to know each other, and feel part of a niche in the community. You can try 1 per quarter, each with a different theme for the discussion and potentially a giveaway. • 1st Quarter Idea: "Bookworm's Coffee Talk" or "Learner's Coffee Talk" Invite someone who works in publishing or at a local "mom and pop" bookstore to give their insight on great books! Ask them to bring samples, and ask if they would be willing to allow you to raffle off a book. If you don't have luck with this, you can use budget money to buy a best-seller for the drawing, and you can research and create a...

Water for workouts is a great idea that can be a low pressure, low preparation, and low cost recurring event in your community. Choose a date that is easy for people to remember like the first Saturday of every month to hold this event. This is a great opportunity for property managers to get to know the residents on a personal level with one on one interaction. Ice down water bottles to be handed out during the designated times. Fill a cooler full of ordinary 16 ounce water bottles or dress the bottles up with patterned and colored duct tape wrapped around the bottle labels to match the color theme of the community. A custom message label can easily be attached to the duct tape with a word of encouragement for the resident. This is a small thing that can set your community apart....