Apartment Blog

 Dear Mom,

Through our many years together I have come to the understanding that Halloween is a holiday that humans like to celebrate. However, I have a few bones to pick with you regarding my treatment during your festive celebrations.

First off, you enjoying baking fabulous treats for you and your guests and yet you are all selfish enough not to share with me. Why? Does my overly practiced cute face no longer have an effect on you?

Second, you begin dressing up and behaving in crazy ways that makes it hard for me to recognize you. And yet I get yelled at for barking. Am I not taught to bark at strangers or weird looking people to keep you safe?

Thirdly, while I understand your guests for these events need to have proper seating, I do not feel that ‘my chair’ is an acceptable place for their behinds. I have sniffed many of butts and can tell you there are very few I want in my space. Please direct them elsewhere for seating options.

And finally, these celebrations are about you and your friends having a good time with one another. I see no point in bringing me into the equation. That means that unnecessary outfits or costumes for me only serve to humiliate me and assist in making me the laughing stock of the entire neighborhood. Would you please cease this useless exercise?

In conclusion, I would like to be righted for all the wrong doings. I will accept five of your home baked treats, unlimited barking rights to those who look funny to me, my chair to be left for ME and of course no costumes/outfits of any kind (unless of course it’s very cold outside and I require a jacket to prevent shaking). Your cooperation on this matter is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Your son aka Bailey Bear

p.s. Happy Halloween everybody!

                                  Pic by opiummuseum

Do you ever wonder why we celebrate the holidays we celebrate? Do you ever look beyond the festivities, gifts, and laughter to understand the roots of the occasion.  Maybe you have and maybe you haven’t, but Halloween has a unique history.  History.com says that when Europeans came to America they brought their varied Halloween traditions with them.  It wasn’t as prevalent in the rigid protestant north as it was in southern colonies like Maryland.  Different European ethnic groups and American Indian traditions meshed to form the American version of Halloween.

The first festivities included “Play Parties” that celebrated harvest and people came together to dance, sing, tell stories about the dead, and tell each other’s fortunes.  Telling Ghost stories was common as well. History.com also notes that in the second half of the 19^th century America was flood with immigrants especially from Ireland, whom helped popularize Halloween nationally.

The Trick or Treat Tradition came from English and Irish Traditions, and Americans began to go from house to house asking for money or food. In the late 1800s though, there was a movement to take the witchcraft out of Halloween and make the holiday more about community get-togethers and games.  Halloween eventually lost its religious and superstitious overtones. Trick or Treating evolved over time to be an inexpensive way for the community to share the celebration. Also, in theory giving kids treats prevented them from being the victim of tricks.

Halloween is now the second biggest commercial Holiday, where Americans an estimated spend 6.9 billion dollars.  Knowing the history may just be of trivial consequence, but it will help you understand the dynamics behind such a popular holiday!

There are many reasons to love Halloween.  Here are 5:

• 1. It means that Fall is really here. You get to enjoy the beautiful colors of fall and even enjoy the cool weather before the fresh winds of November roll through.
• 2. Candy is in abundance and you don’t have to feel guilty about purchasing lots and lots of it. People will automatically assume that you are buying candy for the neighborhood kids, but you may just be buying it for yourself! Enjoy it, it will be your last candy binge before Christmas!
• 3. Potential to meet new neighbors. Halloween gives you a reason to interact with neighbors that you may have been shy to meet in the past. It may also help your kids meet good friends in the neighborhood
• 4. Kids! Well, you may not be a fan of kids but you won’t be able to turn them down in their cute costumes. Even if you don’t have your own, you can spoil other people’s kids, see their smiles, and then see them leave. This might be the ideal interaction with kids.
• 5. Another excuse to have a party. The last quarter of the year can be extremely stressful and any occasion to have a party is a good occasion. Don’t miss out this year.

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Some years you have everything planned out well in advance. Some years, you don’t. This may be one of those Halloweens where you can’t think of the right costume, you forget, or you are invited to a costume party at the last minute! No worries, here are  3 last minute “Costumes” you can throw together to still show up to the party in style:

• 1. BodyGuard (Men) - all you need is a shirt that is three times too small for you and you might be able to look somewhat buff. Combine that with a pair of “Men in Black” sunglasses and blue jeans and you can arrive to the party in style. You might be able to partner up with someone at the party who dressed up as a movie or sports star and make it seem like you came together.
• 2. Librarian (Woman)- Everyone loves a librarian. Get some dark rimmed glasses (I hear the dollar store has a good selection), your most boring outfit, and some books and head out of the door to the party. You may look like a geek but you will fit in with all of the other costumes at the party.
• 3. Ghost (Generic)- All you need to become a Ghost is a blanket and an imagination. People may suspect that you forgot to get costume, but at least you will get a few laughs out of it. You can also have fun all night creeping up on people and scaring them, while wrapped up in a blanket.

Mind you, these are last minute costumes.   They are cost effective and a life saver.  Don’t laugh, they could come in handy this year!!!

You know that iconic phrase “Houston, we have a problem” from the Apollo 13 movie? Here at For Rent Media Solutions, we prefer to think we have the solutions. We have the resources and the answers to your apartment searching needs.  Not only do we provide you with a moving center and a getting settled center on our Relocation Page, we also provide you with decorating and entertaining tips and apartment living ideas on our Apartment Blog.

So if you’re looking for apartments in and around the Houston area, we are your one stop shop! Check out our newest apartment community videos for Houston apartments:

Hartford Park Apartments

Canfield Lakes Apartments

Briar Park Apartments

Lantern Village Apartments

Steepleway Downs Apartments

Huntington at Stonefield Apartments

The Steeples Apartments

Meadow Ridge Apartments

and Bristol Apartments

When you got ready to leave home today, you knew there was the possibility that someone could wrongly come into your home to steal things, so you probably locked your door, and perhaps set an alarm.  Then, when you got behind the wheel of your car, you knew there could be an accident, so you buckled your seat belt.  No one is telling you not to leave home or not to drive, but both of these activities pose risks.  Everyday we take risks, and the better informed we can be about risks, the smarter and safer we are. 

The same is true for advertisers as they embrace social media to promote their apartment communities.  Social media is a great innovation, but it does have its risks, and the better informed advertisers can be about those risks, the smarter and safer they are.

Remember that a website is a form of advertising.  As a practical matter it is no different than any form of traditional advertising, and the same rules apply.  The things you say must be true, because if they are not, it is libel; you have to be aware of consumer laws (watch out for sweepstakes that are really illegal lotteries); and, you have to honor the trademarks and copyrights of others.

And of course, don’t forget about fair housing considerations.  The point of a website is to advertise the community; what is posted on a website (and that means both words and pictures) must therefore be fair housing compliant.   Quite simply, that means that a “reasonable person” looking at the website cannot see anything that would suggest “any preference, limitation or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin.”  Therefore, the words that are used, the directions that are given, the symbols that are depicted, and the photos and pictures that are shown cannot indicate that type of preference, limitation or discrimination. 

The bottom line is that if there are fair housing issues with a basic website, the apartment community will be liable, since this is essentially an “ad,” and the community (its owner or PMC) is the “publisher.”

But what about a website where others are able to post information or are invited to blog?  Who is liable for what others post?  The answer is “it depends.”  It depends upon how much control the owner of the website (the “Publisher”) is exerting over the external posting by others.  It’s all about control.  The more the message is controlled, the more likely the accountability. 

Now, what about Facebook®, Twitter™, YouTube™ or a blog?  Are these a form of advertising?  The answer to that question is “it depends.” It depends on what a judge or jury might say about this.  The folks in the apartment industry who are using a fan page on Facebook or who are sending “Tweets” would ultimately have to admit that the ultimate goal is effective marketing of a community or PMC, and that sounds like advertising.

Social media can be a brilliant form of marketing, but people need to make informed business decisions.  They need to know what questions they should be asking before they take the leap into social media, questions like:

1. Who at the community/with the PMC will be its “voice”?
2. Where will this “voice” be heard?  On your own website or blog?  Or will this “voice” speak through posts at the websites and blogs of others?
3. If you will have your own website/blog, how much time will be committed to monitoring and promptly responding?
4. If you will have your own website/blog, how much control do you plan to exert regarding what is posted by others?
5. What will you do if someone says something bad about you or the community?
6. What will you do if someone says something bad about their neighbors or prospects–a lie, a slur, even an over-the-top compliment?
7. When is your employee your employee?  Are you responsible for their on-line actions?
8. When is your employee “on their own time”?  Are you responsible for their on-line actions?
9. Are you going to provide training for your employees on the proper use of social media as it relates to your website/blog?
10. Are you going to provide training for your employees on the proper use of social media as it relates to the websites and blogs of others?

Lock your house?  A good idea.  Seatbelts–ditto.  And take advantage of the wonders of social media and advertising, but do that with an understanding of the risks and a plan to address them.

REQUIRED LANGUAGE FOR ALL REPRINTING OF THIS ARTICLE: “Social Media- Don’t Take Risks” is written by Nadeen Green, Senior Counsel with For Rent Media Solutions. The information contained in this article is not to be considered legal advice, and the authors and their companies strongly suggest that you consult with your own counsel as to any fair housing questions or problems you may have.