August 18, 2006
Your Company Was On the News - Huh?
Now and then I send notes to companies noting that their company or personal name had shown up in the news feeds. They are often surprised that I'm reading about it before they are and ask how I do it. Well, it's relatively easy and anyone who owns a company should be doing it. Its always nice to know when you, your company or your clients show up on, or in the news.
E-mail to you:
Go to www.google.com. In the search box, type in the name of your company. When the results come up, click on "News" at the top of the page. When that page comes up, look in the left column for "News Alert" and then follow the instructions. This will send you an e-mail whenever those words you typed into the search box appear in the news. To keep from receiving e-mails with a bunch of similar stuff, go back to the start and put quotes " " around your words. Then it will only pick up those words when they are together in the same order. You can create news alerts for your own name, variations of your company name and client names. You will then receive an e-mail whenever they appear in a news source around the country. Although Google will catch most of the news items, you can do something similar with Yahoo and MSN, ic you want to cover the spectrum.
RSS News Feed
If you have RSS News Feeds coming to your computer or internet browser, this will provide you with the same information, but won't overload your e-mail in-box. Start with Google, and follow the same instructions up to "News Alert". Instead select "RSS" or "Atom" based on the format your news reader uses. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 (now in Beta 3) have built in capabilities to handle news feeds, allowing you to organize them into groups, to set how many will be stored, and how long before they're deleted.
Don't be the last to know that you have an angry owner at a client association. Its your company and its good name. Keep track of how its being used.
Posted by joewest at 11:33 AM
August 11, 2005
Coming Soon To a High-Rise Near You
For those of you who who don't follow the news in other states, there has been a battle going on in South Florida between the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) and The Continental Group, a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation. SEIU is trying to organize the service employees at Continental's condos. So far, Continental is taking all the shots to the head. SEIU has created its own web site, just for this effort, called CleanCondos which takes direct aim at Continental and in the latest PR blitz, has created another web site with a high tech Flash music video, called Screw this Condo.
I really don't know whether Continental has serious internal problems or whether they just can't get their side out, but I do know that the SEIU broke off from the AFL-CIO because they wanted to be more agressive in organizing. What this means is that if you have concentrations of hi-rise condos in your market, you can probably bet that they are scouting out your situation as you are reading this. This is an growing, untapped market that they are not going to pass by. That's the reason for the full-court press in Florida, a win there will make it all that much easier in other markets.
If you manage hi-rises, I would suggest you start brushing up on labor law and locate a good local attorney to advise you when the time comes. Remember, like everything else related to condos, what starts in Florida soon migrates to other states when the snow-birds return home.
Since the original posting of this note, another web site has been added to the battle. Created by SEIU "FirstService Mismanagement" targets the subsidary management companies.
Posted by joewest at 10:43 AM
June 22, 2005
Celebrating 25 Years
Last year was a big one for us: It marked the 25th anniversary of Association Management Inc. (AMI), and we were pleased to have many reasons to celebrate. With around 170 association clients, we believe we’re the largest community management firm in Houston. We also employ around a dozen onsite managers and 24 portfolio managers.
But just as important as our growth in numbers has been our consistent success in promoting community spirit in the associations we manage. (Perhaps that’s one reason we still manage our very first client, who signed with us in July 1979.) To our way of thinking, there’s no reason for an annual meeting to be a dreaded event, or for residents to be unhappy with management. We have the power to create positive experiences, and we’ve tried to do that by embracing the concept of community.
Although we try to give back to the community year-round, we decided to use our anniversary an opportunity to create some large-scale projects. Here are four examples of what we accomplished:
- Through a local charity organization, 112 employees and vendor volunteers built 25 wheelchair ramps for 25 older and disabled residents throughout the Houston area.
- We organized two blood drives giving the “Gift of Life” to the greater Houston community.
- In August, we launched the AMI Scholarship Fund to benefit the communities we manage, and we awarded six scholarships to local community colleges (one of the six we reserved for an AMI employee or relative).
- Each of our 168 residential and commercial communities received a tree along with a plaque to commemorate the plantings.
For any CEO coming up on a company anniversary, we would advise that you do something for your communities to mark the occasion. The personal rewards are incredible. It was a great thrill to see a homeowner—who hadn’t left her home in more than two years because she couldn’t get her wheelchair down the front steps—sit on her porch, starting at her new wheelchair ramp with gratitude and disbelief. And that’s just one of dozens of inspiring moments brought on by our anniversary initiatives.
Here are some tips for preparing your anniversary celebration:
- Widen your circle of input. We brainstormed at the top level, but we also called a company meeting with all employees to discuss our options. You never know who might bring a great idea to the table.
- Incorporate your company vision. Since we started, our goal has been to have a positive impact on the communities we manage, specifically by encouraging community spirit. We felt this would best be reflected by hosting charity-related events.
- Avoid commercialism. Anniversaries are the perfect time to assess where you’ve been and where you’d like to go, as well as to celebrate and give back. Don’t complicate matters by trying to publicize your company or generate more business.
- Hire a consultant. To pull off our projects, we used employees and vendors with whom we have longstanding relationships, but we also found it beneficial to work with an outside consultant who guided us through the events.
Glenda and David Regenbaum are co-founders of Association Management Inc., in Houston, Texas.
Posted by David Regenbaum at 5:30 PM