December is a magical time of year where everything at the mall is glittery, there are new cookie recipes galore and you are practically required to cozy up on the couch with the fluffiest blanket available and watch your favorite holiday movie. (And, yes, Die Hard counts. It's 2024, and we're not going to have that debate anymore. It's not even that great. Give me Home Alone any day.)It's also a great time to ramp up your marketing and let ...

 Resident events are a great way to build community, encourage retention and spur new renters. But putting one on isn't as simple as putting out a bowl of Snickers and calling it a Halloween party. (Though, admittedly, I've been to worse.) Just because you build it doesn't mean they'll come.It actually takes a lot of work to make a successful event feel effortless. Putting on a resident event requires a lot of "invisible" labor that the resi ...

 Doesn't the Covid-19 pandemic seem like it happened a lifetime ago?I remember at the very beginning of the pandemic, when no one had any information and everyone was freaked out, my husband went out in the early morning (to avoid crowds) to go grocery shopping. He was of course wearing rubber kitchen gloves but no mask, because at the time everyone thought Covid might be spread by touch. He got a huge haul, because who knew if the grocery s ...

The highlight of this year's Oscar ceremony? (Besides for gorgeous fashions, Da'Vine Joy Randolph's powerful acceptance speech and a naked John Cena?) It was obviously Ryan Gosling's live version of "I'm Just Ken."There was a sparkly pink suit and cowboy hats!Slash!A singalong with Margot Robbie, Greta Gerwig, America Ferrera and Emma Stone!Slash!A tribute to Marilyn Monroe!Did I mention that Slash was there?In short, it was sublime!There was mor ...

It's almost Valentine's Day! Whether you're married, dating, single and ready to mingle, or single and hating everything and anything referring to romance, you gotta appreciate a holiday that centers around chocolate.It's also a great time to "show your residents some love" (and, I suppose, lean in to using puns) by planning holiday-related activities. After all, resident events can increase the probability that your renters will renew their leas ...

Happy New Year! Who else is ready for a fresh start?Lots of people are here to tell us what we should be doing in the new year. (According to my TikTok For You page, I should be eating more protein, drinking my body weight in water and adding cottage cheese to all recipes, which, gross, not going to happen. It's like the algorithm doesn't know me at all!) I'm not into it. We all know what we should be doing. But what should we stop doing? Well, t ...

"No."For such a simple word, it sure is hard to say sometimes.It's something I personally struggle with—between being a people pleaser and not wanting to appear mean, it's sometimes difficult to say no. (And as a female professional, I especially struggle to not be perceived as the "B" word that's far too often said about assertive women in the workplace.)I've been working on it, though. Because, sometimes, that's what the answer is. You know wha ...

It's October, which means it's officially spooky season! (But it's not holiday season yet. Are you listening, my neighbors who just put up your Christmas lights?) This also means that it's the perfect time to start planning some Halloween events for your residents. And, sure, you could just put out a bowl of Reese's peanut butter cups and call it a day, and everyone would be happy. Ecstatic, even. But why no ...

Hey! Did you know that Travis Kelce (who is a Tight End for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League) and Taylor Swift (who is Taylor Swift) are potentially dating? Or, if not dating, at least hanging out a lot? Swift even went to watch him play football the other day!Of course you know that. Everyone with a pulse in this country and probably other countries knows that. The news is everywhere! The NFL even reported about Swift atten ...

Remember in the '90s and early '00s when it was fashionable for women to have pencil-thin, overplucked eyebrows?What were we thinking? (I'm still paying for that one, by the way.)Trends come and go. Sometimes it's because things go out of style, sometimes it's because we learn new information (or look in the mirror). Same goes with marketing trends. Some things we saw as a necessity to market apartments deca ...

Barbie or Oppenheimer?Oppenheimer or Barbie?Which are you seeing this weekend? The candy-colored film directed by Greta Gerwig, or the dark (with literally black-and-white scenes) film directed by Christopher Nolan? Both have amazing casts. (Margot Robbie! Ryan Gosling! Kate McKinnon! vs. Cillian Murphy! Robert Downey Jr.! Emily Blunt!, respectively.) Both got great reviews. Both sound interesting.And that's why many are planning on doing a doubl ...

Another day, another social media network.Threads, Meta's new social media platform (and Twitter rival), launched on July 5th. It already has more than 100 million subscribers, and according to Forbes it is the "fastest growing app in history."And it's easy to join! Threads is linked to Instagram, so if you have an Instagram account you can just use that account to log in, and it will pull all your information, bio, etc. and create your Threads a ...

Look out your window right now.If you're in New England, Northeast and even some parts of the South, it might look like a post-apocalypse dystopia. It's oddly quiet, and everything is cast in a bleak sepia tone. If you date to crack that window, you might smell burnt toast.Turns out, this is all being caused by Canadian wildfires. The New York Times is reporting that there are health alerts in many areas of the country warning people of poor air ...

COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency. And that means the pandemic is officially over.But of course, some things have been forever changed. Teleconferences—and even telehealth appointments—are now the norm. Many restaurants have given up paper menus and have moved fully to QR codes. And, I don't know about all of you, but I will now always keep an emergency supply of toilet paper, just in case.One big thing that has changed is that more ...

There are some really cool amenities at apartments now.There are soundproof rooms to record podcasts and Tiktoks.Speakeasies.Gyms with Pelotons, Pilates classes and professional-level machines.Pools with cabanas, grills and fire pits.Pet spas. (And some even spas for people.)These are sure to attract residents—how could they not? But it's hard to win the amenities arms race. Can you even compete for ren ...