Author Archives: Chris Stock

Sharing Information: Yes we can

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It seems like every day I have a conversation with at least one customer about whether or not they should post some type of information online – such as their neighborhood’s financial reports, bylaws, or meeting minutes. My answer is always absolutely yes, 100% without a doubt.

I’m always puzzled as to why this is even a hesitation, but I’m now convinced, given the breadth of the concern, that many, if not most people feel fear about sharing information on the web.

Here are some of the better “reasons” for NOT sharing information. (The quotes are paraphrased.)

  1. “If we publish our financial reports, our vendors will see what we pay and offer us less competitive rates.” Well, maybe. First, let me explain that if you use eNeighbors, only residents have access to your neighborhood website. So, unless your vendors are also residents, you don’t have to worry about this. However, why would you assume that the rates would be less competitive? You might find that they are more competitive and try to undercut your current rates. At the end of the day, you have to negotiate your rates, or allow your property manager to get you the best rate. This has nothing to do with what you’re currently paying. It has everything to do with what you’re willing to pay and what they’re willing to sell it for.
  2. “We have a resident that is filing a lawsuit against us and we don’t want him to have this information”. Sorry, but you can’t hold the information back from him anyway. You are making it a little harder on him to access it, but if he’s filing a lawsuit, it won’t really matter. One thing to consider: If you had made this type of information available in the first place, would there be a lawsuit at all? Boards that share information and operate transparently instill trust with their residents.

Here are my reasons for sharing information:

  1. Sharing information online instills trust with residents
  2. Sharing information online holds board members accountable
  3. Sharing information online provides a repository of historical knowledge for future boards to reference
  4. Sharing information online is convenient for board members, property managers, realtors, renters, and residents
  5. Sharing information online leads to unexpected results that will improve your community

As a board member you don’t really have a right to hold back information. Most of the information is publicly available (such as your HOA bylaws) and it is certainly the right of due’s paying members to have access to it.

And finally, I’ll leave you with a video of Sir Tim Berners-Lee (father of the Internet) and his perspective on sharing data. He’s way beyond sharing documents, he wants your raw data now.

Off topic: Google April Fool’s Joke

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This is a bit off topic for this blog, but I love April Fool’s jokes. The first joke played on me today was from Google Mobile. Apparently, Google can now search your Brain with “Google Brain Search”. Just hold your phone up to your head while Google indexes your brain. Screen shots from my iPhone are below:

 

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Why do neighborhoods switch to eNeighbors?

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We’ve seen an increase in the number of clients switching from other website providers to eNeighbors. During the sales cycle, I’ve had the opportunity to ask them why they are considering switching to us. I have complied the responses in my own words below.

  1. “I’m leaving the board, and I want a website that will work without me”– This is by far the most common reason that I hear. It seems that many board members realize that their website won’t work without them managing, updating, and supporting it. eNeighbors is attractive because we manage your website for you and we offer support to each and every resident. Most importantly, every resident can contribute their own news, events, groups or classifieds, so information flow is not dependent on a single board member posting information. In other words, we have no “board dependencies” and will work as board members come and go.
  2. “No one has registered on our current website”– This is the most important reason to switch in my mind. Many website providers simply build a website and walk away. They have no process for getting the majority of your residents registered. eNeighbors has a proven registration process in place that will get at least 50% of your community registered. One community got 98% of their community registered. Vist our website for more information on our registration process.
  3. “No one visits our current website” – Actually, this may be the most important reason to switch. After you get people registered on the website, how do you get them to keep coming back? eNeighbors is the only website provider with automatic email newsletters that compile all the information that was contributed to your neighborhood website and sends it out in a weekly email to all registered residents. This keeps people tuned in and actively participating.
  4. “We are getting nickel and dimed”– Many website providers have complex pricing models that charge for storage space, domain name registration, setup fees, email accounts, support calls, so and and so forth. eNeighbors is simple, you get everything we have to offer for one price and no other fees.
  5. “Our ‘guy’ won’t return our calls or emails”– There is nothing more frustrating than this. You’re trying to update your website, ask a question or just get some help and your website provider is no where to be found. eNeighbors is committed to responding to every request from you within 48 hours.
  6. “A resident posted offensive information on the website and we can’t take it down”– This one  happened last week. I received a phone call from a property manager who was in a panic because she had a neighborhood who was using a different website provider. Apparently, one of their residents had posted some nasty (and untrue) information about a board member and they were not able to remove the information. As a result, they decided to switch to eNeighbors for greater control over the information that was posted.

For more information on why people choose eNeighbors, visit http://www.eneighbors.com/overview/why.html.

66224 – Still one of my favorite ZIP codes

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When we first launched eNeighbors, 66224 was the first zip code to have more than one neighborhood in it, so I declared it to be “my new favorite zip code” in the United States.

66224 is now tied with 66062 for 8 neighborhoods in each zip code:

eN-66224

And now for 66062…

eN-66062

Is your neighborhood online? If not, find out more at http://www.eneighbors.com/overview/index.html.

Should you discontinue your neighborhood’s paper newsletter?

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Our customers are considering this question more and more as they look to save money and communicate more efficiently.

 

In an effort to answer this question in her own neighborhood, one savvy board member decided to find out the best course of action and asked residents what they prefer – receiving a printed monthly newsletter in the mail or receiving news via email.

 

I have republished the article below so you can hear from real residents that currently use eNeighbors and also receive a paper newsletter. After reading the comment string, please let us know your thoughts by commenting below.

 

 

March – “Chime In”

This month’s “Chime In” asks:

 

Would you rather get your newsletter via email or do you prefer receiving your printed monthly newsletter in the mail? What do you like, or dislike, about receiving it by email? What do you like, or dislike, about receiving the printed version by mail?

 

Here’s your chance to give us your opinion, so “Chime In”.

 

Submitted by: Deb M. – Communications Manager  Date: 02.26.09 | 10:26 AM

 

 

I like receiving the newsletter in the mail as my preference is to read information in print vs. on the computer.

 

Submitted by: Robert & Michele B. Date: 02.26.09 | 9:13 PM    

 

 

Hands down, getting the newsletter by e-mail is just the best. Receiving notifications weekly, easily being able to contact board members/neighbors, plus the savings in paper waste and postage, makes e-mailing the newsletter the most efficient way of communication. Weekly exposure keeps our neighborhood “tuned in”.

 

Submitted by: Karen and Dale U.  Date: 03.02.09 | 3:30 AM    

 

 

I would rather get the newsletter via email. Saves paper/trees and should save the home association money.

 

Submitted by: Dale R. Date: 03.02.09 | 5:49 AM    

 

 

I would prefer the newsletter via email, but how much revenue would we be losing from the ad space that is sold on the printed version?

 

Submitted by: Dave and Kim C. Date: 03.02.09 | 8:35 AM    

 

 

E-mail. Future is paperless. Money saved in printing & postage can be used in other areas plus you can always go back and retrieve past newsletters if need. Ads could still be sold and be displayed – just in electronic format.

 

Submitted by: Rob and Terrie D.  Date: 03.02.09 | 9:08 AM 

 

 

As a clarification, the advertising in the newsletter pays for all costs associated with the printed version…that includes production, printing & postage. So, in theory, there would be no savings of monies spent or earned that would be available for other expenditures by the homes association. However, several of you have made valid points regarding paper waste and retrieval of past issues. Although we might not be able to completely eliminate the printed version, we are looking at more effective means of delivering its contents. Thanks for the input!

 

Submitted by: Deb M. – Communications Manager  Date: 03.02.09 | 11:57 AM    

 

 

A personal note: I just was thinking about the beginnings of the newsletter. I was on the newsletter committee very early on. There were a few of us who would take turns doing the newsletter – Sometimes a very dreaded task. Different person, different formats. Delivery was by a volunteer on each block and hand delivered personally to each house, there were no addresses on them. It was truly an effort in neighborly-ness. Those on this committee were usually considered the ones to go to for any information, and it was frustrating when people wanted to locate past versions or who to call for renting the clubhouse, yard sale, etc. However, back to “modern times”, I applaud Deb M. with her efforts as the Communications Mgr. I still feel the electronic version is the way to go, but for those who want a printed version, maybe it could be sent on a less frequent schedule.

 

Submitted by: Karen and Dale U. Date: 03.03.09 | 1:18 AM    

 

 

Electronic would be great. I end up scanning over the paper one then throwing it in the recycling bin.

 

Submitted by: Brooke and Rich P. Date: 03.03.09 | 2:51 PM    

 

 

Thank you Karen & Dale, for your kind words. We will continue to find better ways and means to communicate…whether that be in print or electronic. Bring on SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Submitted by: Deb M.  – Communications Manager  Date: 03.03.09 | 11:48 PM

Spruce Creek South: Retirement Community for Active Adults

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When evaluating our product, neighborhoods that have an older demographic, like a retirement community, often express concern that their residents don’t have access to the Internet so they won’t use the neighborhood website.

My experience is that the age of a community is not an issue.

Case in point: Spruce Creek South is a retirement community in Florida. They currently have 651 residents that have registered for website access and subscribed to their email newsletter.

I have provided a screen shot of their email newsletter that was sent out today to give you an idea of the participation level in their community. My observation has been that older communities are very active, an in some cases, post more “Events” than any other neighborhoods that we have online.

sps-weekly_email_newsletter

UPDATE: According to the property management company for Spruce Creek South, the average age of a resident is 70 years old.

A new record: Monarch Hills reaches 98% registration rate

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Monarch Hills is a community of 80 homes in Texas – 78 of those homes are now registered online for access to their private neighborhood website.

Registration to the website requires a unique PIN to join. This ensures that only residents are allowed access.

Recently, the Monarch Hills HOA President set a goal to get everyone in her community registered online. She sent me the following email last night:

“That leaves two people on this report. I’m very pleased – everyone is signed up except  these 2 households. [One] family do not speak English and do not wish to be on the system and the [other family] are an elderly couple and do not have a computer.  But all in all it has been great and we have really used eNeighbors alot lately with the conversion to our new gate access system.”

Other neighborhoods are close behind:

  • Wilshire Farms – 90% registered (159 homes )
  • Nottingham Forest South –  85% registered (585 homes)
  • LionsGate –  84% registered (592 homes)

Congratulations to Monarch Hills for reaching this incredible milestone.

More on our registration process is available at http://www.eneighbors.com/overview/how.html.

Product Update: Resources

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Last night we launched new functionality to the Resources page that will allow property managers, board members and other administrators to better organize the documents that are posted online under the “Resources” tab.

This update allows you to rename categories, remove categories that you don’t use, and move the sort order up or down as shown in the screenshot below:

Riss Lake Resources

Riss Lake Resources

The screen shot below shows the add category functionality:

Add New Category

Below is an example of how to rename a category:

Rename

You can also rearrange documents that you have uploaded by using the “Move Up” or “Move Down” links.

Email your suggestions for future product updates to suggestionbox [at] eneighbors [dot] com.

Product Update: News Articles

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I’m excited to announce that we just launched expanded functionality for news articles that allow greater control over how your content is presented.

Before today, you were limited to posting text-based news articles.

The next time that you post a news article you will see our new WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. This editor will allow you to do everything that you would expect including the ability to apply font treatments like bold and italics to your text. You can also align your text to the left, center, or right. Of course, you can adjust the font-size of your text, add bulleted or numbered lists, and insert hyperlinks. Best of all, we also added a spell checker.

In addition to the WYSIWYG editor, you can now upload documents and attach them to your news article. This can be helpful when you need to distribute information that you have in a PDF, DOC, XLS or PUB file. (Other file formats are also supported.) A screenshot of the new editor is below:

 WYSIWYG Editor

I want to give special thanks to a few heros at Level Five Solutions including Jenny Noone, Dustin Engelhaupt, Alex Martens, and Greg Stickley for getting this pushed out the weekend before Christmas.