It’s no secret that COVID-19 left us all craving human interaction and connection. As a property management company that values community and retention, we completely had to change our resident event strategy. How do you build community in a no-touch, isolated world? We came up with a few ideas!

Virtual Events:

• Cooking Class: With more time than ever before spent at home, Indigo Living decided to partner with Cooking with Alessandra to offer virtual cooking classes for our residents. It was a great way to support local, but also offer an at-home activity that proved crucial during this past year of restaurants being closed. Residents were able to learn new cooking skills and recipes, all while virtually hanging out with their neighbors.

• Bingo: Bingo night but make it virtual. Residents RSVP’d for their cards beforehand, and the leasing team delivered bingo cards to all interested residents. This fostered community engagement by making it easy to participate remotely while also building up some healthy rivalry between neighbors who competed against one another via Facebook live. This event was a hit because everyone enjoys winning prizes without having to leave their couch!

• Trivia Night: After realizing how much our residents love a little friendly competition, we decided to host trivia nights via Facebook live. To keep things interesting and engaging, each trivia night was themed differently-from breakfast cereals to geography to The Office, we truly did it all. We kept the rules simple- the first resident to live comment the correct answer to a question won a gift card prize to a local restaurant. This event was a great opportunity to have fun with roommates and neighbors, commune over social media, and win gift card prizes! Check out the weekly trivia nights Scott from VUE hosted for his residents- it was a blast!

Drop-off Kits:

• Painting Class: A virtual painting class was the perfect activity to enjoy a date night or family time at-home while getting to express your creative side! We teamed up with a local studio, Painting with a Twist, to offer our residents a virtual painting class. Residents were asked to RSVP for this event and our leasing teams delivered kits (which include all the necessary materials) to each door. From there, residents could watch the pre-recorded tutorial on their own time and let their creativity flow!

• Cookie Decorating Kits: Cookie kits are a great event to implement any time of year- Valentine’s Day, Halloween, or even the holiday season. We worked with Echo’s Cookies, a local cookie shop, to create various cookie decorating kits for our residents. Depending on what month it was we would have different cookie shapes as well as frosting colors and sprinkles reflecting that theme. Not only did residents come home excited about this fun project but they were also excited to enjoy the tasty treats. It’s the little things that bring the biggest smile to residents faces and we’re here for it!

• Caramel Apples: Caramel apple bars are an event our communities do every year to welcome the Fall season and we wanted to keep that tradition going, so we had to get creative! Our leasing teams delivered DIY caramel apple kits to residents’ doors- full of plenty of toppings & lots of fun! This event was budget-friendly, festive for the fall season, and tasty—doesn’t get much better than this!

Socially-Distanced Events:

• Live Music: Music is one of the most fulfilling and universal human experiences, and after a year without either, we decided to bring the community together through music. We had local artists come out to our communities and play music in an outdoor area where residents could listen from their patios and decks or tune in via Facebook for a live streamed performance. The whole community was buzzing with singing, laughing, and dancing during the event. Click here to check out Denise Forney jamming with us at Cityville on 9th.

• Food Trucks: Food trucks are a great way to support local and bring food right to residents’ doorsteps! Residents were glad they got an evening off from cooking at home for themselves and to try different types of cuisine. If you are busy or short on time to plan resident events, food trucks are a great idea because the event pretty much runs itself- all you have to do is supply them with space and customers!

• Breakfast on-the-go: It’s always a nice treat when you don’t have to make your own breakfast! We set up breakfast buffets (all treats individually wrapped) for residents to come and enjoy as they please. Although we couldn’t mingle and hang out with residents, they still appreciated the effort and convenience of the breakfast on-the-go. This event is great to set up any day of the week (especially since more people are telecommuting these days) and fairly inexpensive—try it out and let us know how it goes at your community!

This past year was a whirlwind and required a lot of adapting, but we made it work! Although we wish that we could have hosted more community events in our beautiful amenity spaces, we’re grateful for the opportunity to help our residents feel at home through these virtual, socially distanced events.