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...