Topic: How do you guys get your residents to participate in resident events?

We have had 3 this months and barely anyone participated.

FREE FOOD

We have done that we did it all last week to support breast cancer and get residents in to pick up a ribbon and a hot dog lunch... pumpkin carving contest and a prize for the winners nothing...

Have you tried finding out what kind of functions your residents would like to do? When I was managing a property in Galveston we had event after event that no one showed up to. Than we had a community garage sale - a few signed up but when everyone saw how much money each table made for selling their items they started participating. We also did movie nights at the pool that always turned out well!

Shayne Will that’s a good idea maybe do a resident survey to see what things they would like to do. We do a resident pool party BBQ every summer and that’s a good turn out.

Hailey Roberts it's hard to get them to participate. People are busy now days, and tired. Especially if you have kids, sport events, laundry, errands. Not enough time in the day. I have had very successful parties in the past, and then there are those residents that grab food and go home to eat. Try different times for the parties. You could try a football party on a Sunday, or something just for the women, like a jewelry party or a make up instruction, and then something just for the men.

Add a raffle to it.

That’s a good one!

Hailey Roberts I’ve done it several times. Have a raffle that ha a few items. Announce some winners in the middle and the grand prize at the end. Get your vendors to donate some gift cards or services such as carpet cleans. Make the grand prize a rent concession.

Norman JF Liverpool thank you!! I will bring this up to my property manager and see what she thinks!

Hailey Roberts another thing you can do if you have multiple events in a month. Give raffle tickets at each event and then that will encourage participation in all events

Find the times that better for their schedules, communicate multiple times using different methods leading up to the event, personalized thank you note for everyone who attends including a request to join the next event

It really is about finding what works for your community. Ours is all about grab n go dinners!

We have done breakfast grab and goes. Stop by grab lunch or donuts nothing.....

I agree with most of what everyone else has said, agree the most important part was getting feedback from your residents. We found out that doing events before the office closes at 5 pm were not well attended, started doing things after 6 and got much better attendance. It may mean working after hours though...

Reduce the number of events - 3 per month with no turnout is a sign. I would reduce the number of events to quarterly so they have something to look forward to.

We have a great resident event turn out. Park120 Oak Hills.. Wine and paint night, Super Bowl Party, cinco de Mayo, huge Christmas party, etc.. free food and drink.. always have at least something for them to do I’m learning...Throw one killer event and they will come after that. Pics on social media and just building community feel... I talk about events during my tour and get them excited for them.. it’s like leasing, paint it as part of your picture.

Agreed! It totally starts with the tour and selling them on having that sense of community! Ask them to follow your social media pages and promoting that. Having a connection with my residents has always helped in the past. They WANT to come bc they like the staff so much!! Obviously some music, games and FUN are a good way to get them coming. Anyway- so many factors!! but if you plan ahead and "sell" them on coming to your event- it will work! Good luck!

We found that we had more participation after we got our texting ability set up and running.

If no one shows either A) The events are not the ones they want or 2) No one knows about them.

I’ve heard good things about Modern Message!

The days and hours really. We find that more residents will participate on a Saturday than a week day, provided your property works on a Saturday otherwise you spend way more in OT for your employees to help host.

As a renter I loved the community events and they were always well attended.
- Ladies Wine Night, even unit #s brought a bottle to share and odd unit #s brought an appetizer to share
- Progressive Dinner, I lived in a community that had 3 phase. Phase 1 did appetizers from 4-5p, Phase 2 did main course items 5-6p, and Phase 3 did dessert 6-7p

Most of the time they brought in local businesses (pet grooming, salon services, men’s tailoring services, local restaurants) or even residents with special talents. One event was with a resident who was a Magician.

In Modern Message you can award points towards gift cards for attendance at events.

Have you tried events that include kids?

it's all a matter of what type of residents you have. Also, it helps to talk to them about the events one on one

Pet events are very popular.

Include free alcohol

Our company says alcohol is too much of a liability so our parties are dry....any issues from serving alcohol?

We have it in our wow fridge and the last event, we hired a licensed bartender.

We had one BYOB event and now all our residents just assume they need to bring alcohol to all the events.

Send a poll to find out what they want to do. Give them a few options that are feasible. Communication is key!

Do grab and go style events like a candy bar where people can just get the goods and leave. Those types of events were the only ones I personally attended when I rented along with dog events. Not all people want to know their neighbors.

Are you focusing more on the children? More games prizes and school supplies. It really don’t cost much if you go to the 99 cent store.

Also for the parents (residents) a chance to win a dinner for two. One Christmas I went to Sam’s Club and bought gift cards for everyone it was pretty cheap. And it gave my adult children a date night with loved one.

Cooking classes, murder mysteries and canvas and cocktails! My proprties most popular events. All events sold out with too many RSVPs and a waitlist! Or do a survey and ask what they would want.

I have found that Thursdays are generally best evening to do it for best turn out and we start with flyers at amenities, email reminder week before and day of and a recorded call the morning of. I have worked at all types of properties and have experimented with every day... And as long as I provide food of some kind I get 20-60 people (more at pool parties)

I have the best participation at my current property than most but we promote like crazy .. dry erase boards at gates blast portal n facebook

Have you surveyed your residents and asked them?

No I just change it up movie night happy hours resident potluck in November brunch always good turnout

Mine have great turnout but we have residents that want the free food.
We do food and door prizes
Trivia is a good one

Free alcohol and free food!

Chili cook off between the residents

What times are you having the events? Maybe find out times and days more convenient for your residents. We had that issue and found it we were having the events too early

We had a party once where nobody was just letting loose and having fun, so we (the office team) all just jumped in the pool with our clothes on to shake things up. Didn't work - all we ended up with was the same boring response and a regretful manager who didn't think about the fact that jumping into the pool with white pants might be a bad idea.

Cater to your demographic. We have found that Tamales at the gate, Tacos at the gate or even pizza in the evening around 6pm or 6:30 works great! Also Saturday morning brunch and mimosa's are always a huge hit at all properties. Game nights, movie on the lawn etc. have been great for me in the past! Good Luck!

Unfortunately we typically have to offer an incentive or prize... like stopping in will auto enter them to win a free Turkey (say for Thanksgiving) . Ice cream social with free ice cream... then it's important to REALLY make it fun so they eventually see its worth coming to even without free stuff. We host a holiday party with raffles for free TVs, electronics, and gift cards that are ALL donated from vendors and we call winners one by one... forcing people to stay the whole time! The staff really gets into it and we clap for each winner and word has spread now how fun it is and we have so many residents who attend now.

Personally invite each resident to the event when they stop by the office. You may even want to have the maintenance techs invite while servicing the apartments. Truly let them know you want them to stop by.

What I have found that works for our property is ideal planning! We also have this renewal wheel of which we add prizes such as free water bill, concessions, and gift certificates provided by vendors! We also offer incentives for residents that RSVP and of course they must be present to win. In my opinion it's better to plan around people's work hrs hosting the party after office hrs or on the wknd!

I would reduce the amount of events and reboot with a resident appreciation event with free food and drinks. You may even be able to get a local restaurant and bottle shop to donate the food and drinks. Our best attended event was our 50th anniversary event, we paid for a pizza truck to come. We had over 200 people show up, out of 500. How are you getting the word out? Are the event times convenient for your residents? There are so many variables that could be keeping people from attending.

Sometimes it's just getting the word out there. We've realized the old-fashioned flyers on main entrances brings them in as does free food. Does anyone use text programs to send out event notifications? The open rate for emails isn't great.

We had a game night the attracted more residents we don't typically see at events. We provided some games and let residents know they could bring their own. Those who came made it a point to let us know how much they loved it!

We also did a "Winter Night In" with a hot chocolate bar, light desserts and puzzles. Very diverse group of people. Again, not our "typical crowd" so many appreciated it.

Wine and paint night is also good!!!! We have a talented LC who can run the paint instructions though.

These three events appealed to those who don't come to the big, crowded parties.

We learned that our "typical crowd" will always show up for food, drink and raffles but NEVER come to anything requiring them to spend money, such as a vendor show with jewelry, crafts, etc.

When we were first in a slump, we hired a licensed bartender - boy that gets people out! But I find the smaller group events are the ones the less vocal residents prefer.

Shayne this is an excellent idea! We use an online tool for this and it works great. We spend money on event production and effort promoting events that we think residents want without better understanding who our residents are and what their preferences may be.

We've done drink tickets that limit the number of drinks a resident can have. We've also hired a bar tender that can keep track of how much is served. We as property staff never even hand a resident a drink so we are not liable for 'serving' someone.

Hi! You know your residents best- so offer resident events that are property specific. If the majority of your residents work a 9-5:00 job, I wouldn't have a resident event at 1:00 PM on a weekday- try your best to schedule events that will allow residents to attend. I feel that making the events as easy and convenient as possible also helps with participation. Example: "breakfast on the go" is a WONDERFUL event for the busy morning commuter... pre-pack some easy breakfast friendly items in brown paper sacks and stand at the entrance of your property. As residents come and go, you simply hand them a breakfast bag and wish them a great day. Advertising is key! Two weeks before the event, send out e-mail reminders, post some flyers around your property and invite residents to the event as they stop in the office, call, or e-mail. Being consistent with advertising is a great reminder of any events coming up!

Not to be too self serving but we know a thing or two about how to get residents out to events.

We like to look at your club-room as an actual comedy club. Or even just a club club.

It's about motivation and repetition. Offer them an event that is unique and stands out. That's the first thing. Food and drinks are always a plus. No matter how funny we are if you could serve alcohol or give away food of some kind that tends to always attract residents.

Some communities can't serve alcohol. No problem. Some offer BYOB and some just provide sodas. Just something would be nice.

Plus, when we book a resident comedy night we provide promo material in the form of a poster that can be place around the community as well as emailed to residents. Also a cool promo video you can email too.

Just like with any event whether at an apartment community or a comedy club you've got to promote, promote, promote.

Honestly, with the promo material provided for free all you'd have to do is blast out once a week. Fyi, you could also promote any event you're doing to your prospect list as well. This will give the potential residents the sense that you guys not only do cool events but you take them seriously.

Oh, and if you can, be there for the event. We have had too many communities where no one from the staff was even there. Just the residents and our comedians. And the residents have more often than not expressed their disappoint in the fact the PM and leasing staff were not at the event.

Just my two cents.