Property Management

National Multifamily Speakers Alliance

I am excited to see the project take off. Check out their website [here].

And, from the president of the alliance:


We are pleased to present this exciting new alliance of educators, trainers,
professional speakers and consultants to the Multifamily Housing Industry. Our
purpose is to increase the quality and integrity of industry education and establish
a new standard of performance excellence for our members. Please join us as we
network, share, educate, instruct, create and improve multifamily education!
- Toni Blake

ME - Leadership Issue

I will be looking forward to this issue.

WASHINGTON, DC, Aug 15, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) --
MULTIFAMILY EXECUTIVE is excited to announce its First Annual
Leadership Issue, scheduled to hit subscribers' mailboxes in
November. The Leadership Issue will feature interviews with leading
industry execs, commentary from multifamily experts and coverage not
available anywhere else.

Have a great weekend.

M

GIS - Time to get familiar with it

What are you reading about these days is a question I hear often. Anyone who knows me knows that I read non-stop and the topics are all over the board.

As of late I am reading about GIS (geographic information systems).

Here is the Wikipedia definition:

A geographic information system (GIS), also known as a geographical information system,
is an information system for capturing, storing, analyzing, managing
and presenting data which are spatially referenced (linked to location).

I will be sharing some more in depth thought about this topic in the coming months and thought it would be cool if we could start a community discussion on the subject. I think it has far reaching implications for our business and how cool would it be if we were a part of shaping the uses.

Just a thought...

Over One Million Apartment Searches

Found this story on MarketWatch.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug 12, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --

Realty DataTrust, makers of VaultWare(TM), the apartment industry's leading online check-availability and
reservation system, today announced that for the first time the monthly total
for consumers checking specific apartment unit availability online exceeded
the one million mark. The VaultWare reservation system logged the usage from
July 1 - July 31, 2008.

Representing a historic milestone for the multifamily industry, this
volume confirms that providing availability information online is now viewed
as more than just a convenience; consumers today expect to find reliable and
comprehensive information online that helps them make decisions on where to
lease and live.

MapsKrieg

I ran across this listing service this morning; MapsKrieg. Interesting concept. I will be digging in a little more later this week.

PicLens by Cooliris

This is a very cool way to surf the web. I did a quick search of Urbane Apartments and Boom, like a shot our of a cannon, there were tons of colorful pics displayed on my screen.

I am not sure if this will catch on but it certainly does have the cool factor...check it out here.

Go Rambunctious Into That Good Night

The Ruppies are upon us. Arriving at the pace of on every eight seconds, the Baby Boomers are coming and in full force. Armed with $2 trillion in annual income you better believe they mean business. Or, better, they can do business.

Earlier today I posed the question on Twitter, Do you think apartment residents care more about function or style? And, before I go on, I must admit that I don't know the answer. That being said, my gut tells me that style trumps function. I did get a lot of feedback on the question but still am uncertain of the answer.

I did come across an article today in Kitchen and Bath Business that spoke to my gut. Here is the article if you want to read it in full but the line that struck me is as follows:

---

When trying to appeal to ruppies, avoid ageism and labeling them as
"seniors" or "retired individuals." Make sure that your messages speak
the truth and communicate deeper meanings and emotional connections.
This group judges brands, products and services by the value gained and
expects more than just utility and functionality.

The Ruppies want more than utility and function which tells me they want style and cool. They want to be in the middle of it all.

What do you think?

FLIP Video

I picked this up off a tweet from 30lines. Nice find. It's classic marketing in my opinion and spot on!

Boomers and Gen Y Collide

I imagine ... A stream of new products designed for older consumers who seek not to "give in to" the aging process ... but to confront and transcend it. - Tom Peters

As an industry, are we ready for active adults? My prediction - they will want to live where Gen Y lives. Period. End of sentence. They will be right in the face of Gen Y, doing all the things that Gen Y does so be ready!

Park Station Welcome Kit

I signed up for a newsletter this morning and not seconds after I did this email arrived in my inbox:

As lead editor, I'd like to thank you for subscribing to SmartBrief
on Workforce, the daily briefing that delivers bright ideas for
managing people. You'll receive your first newsletter shortly.

In the meantime:

• Get a jump on today's most impactful management stories by visiting (and bookmarking) our Web site: http://www.smartbrief.com/news/workforce
• Show your colleagues how smart you are by introducing them to SmartBrief on Workforce. It's free of charge. http://www.smartbrief.com/news/workforce/passiton.jsp
• To ensure speedy delivery please add workforce@smartbrief.com to your address book and, if needed, white list the smartbrief.com domain.

I am so pleased to welcome you to our SmartBrief on Workforce
community and look forward to answering any questions or comments at workforce@smartbrief.com.

Best,

Megan Conniff

Lead Editor

Made me think: What if we had a (Insert Property Name Here) Welcome Kit? An email version. It would include all the obvious things not to mention a surprise or two. Now maybe this already exist and I just have not seen it yet. If so, pass on some examples for us all to see.

If not, I am giving the charge to one of the talented people I work with. Stay tuned as we will share what we come up with.

M