Latest Events

No matter how much we wish it was the case, when an apartment community is first finding its way in creating a sense of community, most of the residents won’t know anybody else at a community event. And unlike many multifamily professionals who are unbelievable social butterflies, events like these can be an awkward mess for those that are not as socially adept. Part of the problem is that many people’s lives are fairly mundane – they work in an office job, for example, come home, watch some TV, etc. So until people find those critical commonalities, like they both love crocheting, for example, this event gives them temporary new lives to play with for the night! Basically, when someone comes to the event, you introduce that person to someone already at the event, but rather than, “This is Randy. He’s lived...

The traditional symbols of the Easter holiday — fluffy bunnies, baby chicks, brightly decorated eggs and Easter baskets — make for great decorations for your Easter party. Fill pastel-colored baskets with artificial grass and chocolate eggs to make colorful centerpieces, and put out bowls of dyed hard-boiled eggs to liven up both the buffet table and the décor. If you're planning a child's Easter party, use plush stuffed rabbits and chicks to serve as both decorations and party favors, and go to a party-supply store for bunny-shaped helium balloons to decorate your mailbox or add to the festivities. The spring season means that there are lots of natural decorations available, so pick some flowers from your garden or the nearest flower shop and put them in pastel-colored vases. Look for tulips and daffodils, which are in season around this time, but any spring flowers in...

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,...

Last week, we were brainstorming our latest event idea, a balcony decorating contest. And as we were thinking about creating a giant armada of pirate ships floating on the walls of our communities, we realized that pirate ships need one more vital element: Cannons! So our imagination went wild thinking of these new pirate ships engaging in a giant balcony against balcony battle with water balloons flung against other buildings, or even traitorously attacking their own. Of course, a community wide balloon fight doesn't need to be tied in with the balcony decorating contest, so it is an event all its own. Some things to keep in mind: Provide plenty of warnings to the community about the upcoming balloon war. It would be quite bad if someone did not hear about the battle and got drenched as they...

I believe we have talked about decorating balconies before for different holidays, such as Christmas or Halloween, but we ran across a picture that made us realize there was opportunities throughout the year! We put this into the "student housing events" category because for some reason, the pirate ship screamed student housing. But it does show a fun opportunity! You can run with this idea in one of two ways: Leave it up to their imagination to think up any type of decorating idea they like. For example, one apartment could decorate like the pirate ship, while another could decorate theirs like the inside of the bottle on I Dream of Jeannie. (Wow, that was an obscure reference...) Give a theme to the decorating contest. Wouldn't be great if you gave a pirate theme and suddenly there...

We hosted a winter weather party that we termed "S'mores Indoors". We had platters chocolate, graham crackers. Baskets of marshmallows on skewers and small dishes with sternos (canned fire that you use under buffet dishes)and decorative rocks to keep them from sliding. Residents would roast their marshmallows over the indoor flame and then build their s'mores. We also set up a hot chocolate bar with crushed peppermint, Bailey's Irish Cream, whipped cream, and flavored syrup. The event was a huge hit.

This event would be hosted by your maintenance team as a way of getting to know your residents a little better. Simply have a mix and mingle with your maintenance team. You can have this event in your community center, in your pool area, or anywhere where you can serve drinks and finger foods. Have your maintenance team all attend so that the residents can have an opportunity to talk to them, ask them questions, and have a booth set up to take any service requests. You maintenance team is the glue that holds your community together and helps keep everything running smoothing, your residents need to know them! Customize this event to your community and its culture. Do they participate more when there are games and activities? Food is always a big draw. Hopefully you will open up...

The key to most apartment parties is simply providing something special to the residents, even if it still means they are spending money. And in this case, that “something special” can be deals, deals, and more deals. About a year ago, we went on a shopping trip with my brother-in-law, hoping to update wardrobes. He showed us there is a big difference between just going shopping and truly being prepared. When we met up, he had researched all the stores in the area and had found online coupons and special deals for many. Using that, we developed a plan of attack and were able to get double the amount of clothes than we would have normally! This is what I mean when I say you can add value to your residents even though they are still spending their own money. ...

Every year, we slowly come out of our winter hibernation and step out into the fresh air. And when we do, many people feel a very strong urge to get their house in order. Whether it is cleaning the apartment or refreshing their decorating. The Spring Cleaning Party isn’t a party in that it combines residents together, but rather is a sense of rejuvenation for the apartment community. There are two ways that the leasing office can jumpstart this process: 1) Community Garage Sale: There are all sorts of apartment community garage sales ideas out there, such as the “Swap and Shop”. This gives your residents an outlet for all the junk they want to get out of their apartment. Of course, this also possibly creates problems of more junk coming into their apartments, so maybe instead… ...

If you watched our webinar on leveraging your amenities, you are probably trying to come up with ideas on how to maximize the use of your clubhouse. Fortunately, many clubhouses have theater rooms or big screen TVs that you can work with! (Although many more people now have big screen TVs, so simply having a big TV won’t sell this all the way). And this means you now have several strategies available to you! Before I get into the strategies, it’s important this is not simply turning on the TV and hoping people show up and watch. These are events, so they need to be properly promoted/shared with your residents, and once they come, consider all the different ways to make it a success, such as popcorn and sodas, movie trivia, and give-aways. Note: Many of the examples I gave...