What Does 2020 Hold for the AAFW-NEI?
What Does 2020 Hold for the AAFW-NEI?
This coming year is going to be full of changes, moving leaps ahead but also going to back basics! 2020 is going to be one of the most exciting years for the Association, and we look forward to making our 42nd year one of our best for all of our members!
One of our biggest changes will be our office! We are looking forward to starting 2020 in our new space. By moving our offices to a more compact space, we will reduce our overhead costs which were getting to be more and more expensive with the costs of heating, cooling and maintaining an older building. We will still have the opportunity to hold smaller classes for members; however, we will be utilizing spaces that our members have generously donated for our use. We hope that you stop in and see us, but give us a few days to unpack! The moving truck will pack us up on Thursday, December 12th, and Hope and I plan on being back completely ready for members on Monday, December 16th. With any move, anything can happen, so watch your email and we will keep you updated if our plans change. We do know that we will be closed on December 12th and 13th.
Another change for 2020 is that the Apartment Guide will be printed for the last time in January 2020. Our first issue was produced in 1984. That’s over 140 issues, and I’ve done 96! Over the past 35 years, the Guide has helped members reach potential residents through a compact, concise and informative printed booklet. As we all know times change and many consumers are now only looking online for their next apartment home, and we are ready to dive fully into the online pool and reach more potential residents for our members!
We will begin offering listings for ALL member apartment communities and independent owners beginning May 1st. The listing will include all of your contact information and basic information about your apartment community or single family homes that you manage as an Independent Owner. Management Companies and Independent Owners will then have the opportunity to enhance their listing to include floor plans, features and additional pictures for their communities/homes that they manage. The investment to enhance communities will be reasonable - even less than what was previously being charged for the printed Guide. The Board of Directors have made a commitment to take our website to the next level and that means investing not only the time but money in online advertising on Google, Instagram &/or Facebook. We are busy getting our team together that knows online marketing! This is a niche that we know that we need help in, and we are going to have an outstanding team that will advise us and promote the Association on the web. We are so excited for this opportunity to bring our ALL of our members more exposures and in the end more potential residents!
That’s all good for our members that manager or own properties, but what can you expect as an Associate Member? Don’t worry; we are working on enhancing the website for you too! Maybe even more importantly, we are going back to basics and helping our Associates get the most of our YOUR membership. We want to hear from you - now is not the time to be shy. If we are not meeting your expectations - we want to know. We are ready to listen and take action! You can call me or any of the Board Members to tell us how we can improve your membership. Will we be able to make all of your membership dreams come true? You won’t know unless you ask!
There may be benefits that you don’t know about ... Did you know that as an Associate Member that you can get an excel document of all members that include their complete contact information? This is FREE of charge! Where else can you get that information and for FREE? Nowhere! If you aren’t computer savvy and need some help with email merge or merging a letter - just ask! We are here to help you reach members and will help you in any way - well, almost any way. Need advice on a flyer or wonder how you can ramp up your social media - we can help with that too. Back to basics ... It’s simple; we are here to serve our members.
Change is just an opportunity for us to be a better Association for our members. Although we will be experiencing so many changes, we are excited to see all of the opportunities that it will bring our members in the new decade! The Association is only as strong as our members, and we look forward to not only becoming a stronger Association, but also learning how we can benefit our members moving forward into the coming years.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and I look forward to working with you all in 2020.