You will hear it again and again in 2010 – what started out as a simple and subtle tap on the window has become a crashing of such proportions that you can not ignore it anymore. Business as we know it has changed and like it or not social mediums are here to stay. The question for the coming year is, will you embrace change [embrace engagement] or will you be comfortable with irrelevance? Harvard Business Publishing posted a story titled: The Uber-Connected Organization: A Mandate for 2010 In it, Jeanne C Meister and Karie Willyerd bring notice to a number of companies embracing business as it relates to social media. They really drill home the point of access and I would like to expand on that in the context of the apartment industry.

Apartment employees access to social media

We have all heard of NetNanny and other Internet site blocking technologies used to cut off access. Meister and Willyerd suggest that, “Firms spend millions on software to block their employees from watching videos on YouTube, using social networking sites like Facebook or shopping online under the pretense that it costs millions in lost productivity, however that’s not always the case.” I suggest, in lieu of the monies dedicated to blocking initiatives, it might be time to re-imagine your culture and spend some of those monies enhancing your employees experiences.

One inexpensive example, image turning your employees loose to use Multifamily Insiders – a social media mecca for great ideas relative to our industry. Imagine your employees trading best practices with some of the industries best and brightest visionaries, consultants, practitioners and idea generators. The site includes people that dream stuff up, people who devise strategies about those dreams, people who get out and try things, fail, fix and try again and their are others who give opinions on it all. And, still more that just quietly observe. Point is that there is a mountain of information out there free of charge and ready to use but not if you block access.

Gen Y apartment talent expects access

The article speaks to the fact that by 2014 1/2 of the workforce will be comprised of Gen Y. Much has been written about the idea of this generation growing up digital. The term, social media, is not used to frame conversations like it is with older generations. It is just what they do. It’s the way they communicate. It makes up, to some degree, who they are. Think about it in terms of the multifamily demand boom coming our way.

We have all either written about or read about the coming [it is here] boom in demand created by Gen Y. Much has been made about the idea of Gen Y propping up the profits of the multifamily market for some time to come, especially in light of the stall in supply. Now if the lion’s share of occupancy is going to come in the way of Gen Y residents and 1/2 of the workforce is going to be Gen Y and Gen Y communicates via social media then why would you block access? Facebook is just what they do – Twitter [not as much] is just what they do – Text messaging is just what they do. Communicating experiences is just what they do. Cut it off and they just won’t work for you. Rather they will work for your competitor who is embracing business are it relates to today’s workforce.

If you don’t embrace change – I encourage you to get comfortable with irrelevance

Why would you not allow access? Why would you cut off the very essence of what defines Gen Y? I’ve tried to think through the downfalls and, there are some that have merit. But there are zero that would keep me up at night – that is provided our organizations guide the conversation. Will there be hiccups? Yes. We have already seen a few in this space. As the article implies in this quote, “Has blocking Facebook today become the equivalent of denying an employee access to a phone at work 40 years ago or email 20 years ago?” I have to believe there were hiccups when we finally gave up control of these communication mediums – I bet we could site some as recent as yesterday.

[Update] Found this over at The Marketing Spot – speaks to the point and could just as easily been social media holding up the productivity [in this case customer service]:

“When we landed in Dallas after an 11 hour flight from Tokyo, and I wanted some coffee. I was expecting the same type of customer service I received at Starbucks in Seoul (they are everywhere in Seoul too). The lone employee on duty at the Starbucks in DFW Terminal B was having a personal conversation on the store phone. Two people were in line. After she leisurely finished her conversation, she took one person’s order, then begin to make his drink, leaving me and the other customer in line waiting, not even acknowledging us. I left without ordering. You’re not in Seoul anymore, Dorothy.”

To sum up – can you really afford not to re-imagine your organization in 2010 as it relates to the use of social media? Can you really afford to cut off access to a 24/7 connected generation? Remember they are/will be the front line serving your target 24/7 connected generation. Remember there are trailblazers out there that are willing to give them what they want. My speculation is those organizations will love being relevant.

A big note of congrats to the insanely great team over at ForRent.com The Magazine….You gals/guys ROCK! M

NORFOLK, Va.—(November 19,
2008)—No other Internet listing service
in the multi-housing industry has engaged its audience through social media
quite like ForRent.com.
According to Vitrue, Inc., a social media marketing company, ForRent.com is
dominating the multi-housing sector’s social share of voice. As a product of For
Rent Media Solutions^™, a division of Dominion Enterprises,
ForRent.com, utilizes tools such as Twitter, MySpace^®, Facebook and
YouTube^™, to achieve this accomplishment.

ForRent.com’s ranking was
determined by Vitrue’s Social
Media Index™ (SMI), the recently launched free tool that measures a brand’s
online conversations. Based on patent-pending technology, scores are comprised
of various online conversations ranging from text-dense micro-blogs to
multi-dimensional video sites.

“We are thrilled with the results
found by Vitrue’s Social Media Index,” said Brock MacLean, vice president of
national sales and development, For Rent Media Solutions. “Social media is a
very effective way to communicate with our core demographic of 18-34 year old
adults. For Rent Media Solutions’ involvement in social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and
video sharing sites like YouTube allows us to
participate in a true dialogue with consumers, giving us more insight into our
audience and their needs. We plan on expanding our social media efforts in the
future. The Social Media Index will help us gauge the success of our efforts and
how we are resonating with our consumers.”

Generating more than 83 percent of social media
activity, video sharing makes up the largest portion of ForRent.com’s SMI score.
Apartment property video commercials seen on ForRent.com, called Community
Theater^™, are distributed to an extensive network of channels
including major
search engines like Google^™ and Yahoo!^®, social networking
sites such as MySpace, and video sharing sites including YouTube. During October
alone these videos were viewed more than 17,000 times a day.

Generating more than 12 percent of the SMI score,
communication through social networking makes up the second largest method of
social activity for ForRent.com. MySpace has played a significant role in the
success of For Rent Media Solution’s social networking efforts. More than 40
profile pages have been set up, representing more than 40 markets where the
company’s anchor publication, For Rent
Magazine, can be found. Through these efforts, For Rent Media Solutions
communicates with more than 5,300 consumers. 

The remainder of the score is comprised of blogging and
micro-blogging. This number includes activity from blogs, such as the ForRent.com blog, and key influencers who
chat and push content through micro-blogs, such as Twitter. Twitter is a service that
allows its users to send updates to their “followers” while trailing other
individuals as well. For more details, please
view the full Social Media Index
report.

“The Vitrue Social Media Index provides invaluable
insight for marketers to understand how they are stacking up in the social media
space,” said Reggie Bradford, chief executive officer of Vitrue, Inc. “Brands
are being talked about in social settings and we are providing the ability to
proactively track these conversations. We firmly believe understanding and
measuring your performance in these environments is key.”

ForRent.com The Magazine, Multifmaily Marketing, Apartment Marketing

Not to speak for Eric Brown over at Urbane Apartments but I think he and I agree that it is time for the conversation to start. Let me back up…the conversation has begun and we wonder when the big players will join in. You look around the landscape and missing from the conversation are the likes of Equity Residential, Riverstone Residential, UDR and AIMCO just to name a few.

I know I would enjoy engaging in conversation with some of the leading apartment executives in our industry. And, I am very certain your resident base would enjoy the conversation as well. I mean, imagine unlocking the potential marketing force of two-hundred thousand plus residents? Imagine converting just one percent of that number into evangelists for your brand. Imagine letting the apartment searcher tell you, in public, what makes for a better search experience. Imagine giving them a forum where they give you unadulterated and real time feedback. Imagine being able to respond rather than react to the issues concerns and success stories they would share. Resident portals are a great first step but blogging in the open for all to see is much more authentic and transparent.

For those that have no idea how to get started let me point you to Debbie Weil – She wrote a great book on the subjects called The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right.

In a spirit of competitiveness I look forward seeing who has it in them to be ‘first.’ Let me pre-applaud you for your foresight and courage.

Multifamily Executives, Apartment Marketing Executives, Apartments, Multifamily