Apartment Blog

Viva La Vie Boheme in Your Apartment and win tickets to RENT: The Broadway Tour!

THE BOHEMIAN LIFE - WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? Whether it’s you and your friends hanging out in your apartment, playing air guitar, cooking a gourmet meal, hosting a wine party or poetry slam, you know you live “La Vie Boheme” in your apartment. Send us a photo of your bohemian lifestyle and you could win a trip to see RENT.

It’s easy to enter! Just take a photo showing us your most “bohemian” moment in your apartment and follow the instructions below.

ForRent.com and RENT: The Broadway Tour will fly the winner and a friend to Sacramento to attend the final performance of RENT: The Broadway Tour in February. This will be your LAST chance to see Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp in the roles they made famous.

So take a minute, take a photo and show us your Vie Boheme! And if you don’t have the perfect apartment for living La Vie Boheme, you can find one at ForRent.com-check it out today.

First, go to the ForRent.com Facebook page at www.facebook.com/aptsforrent and become a fan.

Second, on the left side of the ForRent.com Facebook page is the option to add photos to the Fan Photos section.

Third, after clicking on the link, add your living “La Vie Boheme” photo from your photo albums to the ForRent.com Facebook Fan Photos section. Be sure to include a title and tags!

Fourth, send a confirmation email to contest@forrent.com alerting us to the submission.

Fifth, tell all your friends and family to ‘vote’ for you by liking your photo-the five photos with the most ‘likes’ will be submitted to the cast of RENT, who will pick the winner!

See below for the complete contest rules….

OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE ODDS OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

CONTEST DATES. ForRent.com’s and RENT-The Broadway Tour’s ‘La Vie Boheme’ Photo Contest (the “Promotion”) begins at 12:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time (”ET”) on November 9, 2009 and ends at 11:59:59 a.m. Eastern Time (”ET”) on December 15  (the “Promotion Period). The Promotion Period consists of three (3) phases as set forth in the chart below.
Phase Starts at 12:00 p.m. ET Ends at 11:59 a.m. ET
Submission Only Phase I November 9, 2009- December 15, 2009
Voting Only Phase II- December 16, 2009-January 4, 2010
Judging Phase III- January 5, 2010-January 8, 2010

For the purpose of this Promotion, each phase will begin at 12:00:00p.m. Eastern Time (”ET”) and will end at 11:59:59 a.m. Eastern Time (”ET”).

PROMOTION ELIGIBILITY. The ForRent.com’s and RENT-The Broadway Tour’s ‘La Vie Boheme’ Photo Contest  (the “Promotion”) is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia who are age eighteen (18) or older as of November 9, 2009. A person who complies with all the eligibility rules shall be referred to as “Entrant.” Employees and their immediate family (parent, child, sibling and spouse of each) and individuals residing in the same household (whether or not related) of ForRent.com (”Sponsor”), For Rent Media Solutions^TM, United Advertising Publications, Inc., or Dominion Enterprises, RENT-The Broadway Tour and any of their affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and all other entities or individuals associated with the development, administration, or fulfillment of the Promotion (collectively, the “Entities”) are not eligible to participate in this Promotion. All applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. The Promotion consists of a contest of skill (the “Contest”).

AGREEMENT TO OFFICIAL RULES. By participating in the Promotion, Entrant fully and unconditionally agrees to and accepts these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor and/or Administrator, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. The award of a prize is contingent upon Entrant complying with all conditions and fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

HOW TO ENTER:

THE CONTEST OF SKILL. A substantial degree of skill is required to win. During the Contest Period phase visit the website, www.facebook.com/aptsforrent (the “Website”) and follow the instructions to submit an original photo which creatively shows ForRent.com how you are living “La Boheme”. The photo must comply with the following requirements to be eligible:

• 1) Go to the ForRent.com Facebook page at www.facebook.com/aptsforrent and become a fan
• 2) On the left hand side of the ForRent.com Facebook page there is the option to add photos to the Fan Photos section
• 3) After clicking on the link add your living “La Boheme” photo from your photo albums to the ForRent.com Facebook Fan Photos sections. Be sure to include a title and tags! And don’t forget to tell your family & friends to come vote for you!
• 4) Send a confirmation email to contest@forrent.com alerting us to the submission in order to be considered eligible
• 5) The photo must be the original work of the Entrant
• 6) In accordance with the website’s supported images, the photo must be submitted in one of the following formats: JPEG, GIF, JPG, PNG, PSD, TIFF, JP2, IFF, WBMP, XBM
• 7) The file size must be no larger than 604 pixels
• The photo may not have won previous awards
• 9) The photo may not have been published previously
• 10) The photo must not infringe upon the rights of any third-party, including, without limitation, copyright, trademark, and rights of publicity and/or privacy
• 11) The photo must be suitable for publication and may not be violent, immoral, offensive, illegal, pornographic, obscene, indecent or similarly inappropriate as deemed solely by Sponsor
• 12) The photo may not contain any content that is or may be perceived to be defamatory or that represents the Entities in a negative way or in any manner not consistent with Entities’ brand and/or reputation as deemed solely by Sponsor
• 13) The photo may not contain any mention, discussion, logo, trademark, service mark, storefront, trade dress, mascot, photograph, or other image of any business or company, other than ForRent.com and/or For Rent Magazine and RENT: The Broadway Tour. The photo may not have property names or physically identify a property by filming their front sign or some other unique feature or distinguishable architecture
• 14) The photo may not include the likenesses of any identifiable persons other than the Entrant, unless written permission is obtained by the Entrant
• 15) The photo cannot be dangerous or unsafe to make or produce, or include activities that are dangerous, unsafe, or present unreasonable risk of harm to person or property, or suggest or imply to any person to undertake any dangerous, unsafe or unduly risky activity as deemed solely by Sponsor
• 16) The photo may not in any other way violate applicable laws and regulations. Any photo in violation of any of the above requirements and restrictions will be deemed void. By submitting a photo in the Contest, each Entrant represents and warrants that these requirements have been met. Failure to satisfy these requirements, as determined in Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion, may result in ineligibility with respect to all photos submitted by or on behalf of that Entrant.

ENTRANT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR OBTAINING PERMISSION TO USE THE PICTURE, IMAGE, AND/OR LIKENESS OF ANY THIRD PARTIES SHOWN IN THE VIDEO. Sponsor may request that any such third parties sign a waiver and release prior to the posting of the photo on the Website or the granting of any prize.

USE OF FORRENT.COM TRADEMARKS AND SLOGANS. For the sole purpose of participation and entry in this Promotion, Sponsor hereby grants each Entrant a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use the trademarks and copyrights owned by Sponsor in the creation of the Entrant’s video, subject to the entry restrictions and guidelines contained in these Official Rules. This license extends only to videos submitted to Sponsor in accordance with these Official Rules. This license does not extend to videos created in connection with the Promotion, but not submitted to Sponsor in accordance with these Official Rules. Use of trademarks, copyrights, and other intellectual property owned by Sponsor in videos or in any other form or media not submitted to Sponsor in connection with this Promotion and in accordance with these Official Rules constitutes an unauthorized use and infringement of the intellectual property rights of Sponsor. Sponsor hereby reserves all rights and remedies available to Sponsor at law or in equity to enforce these Official Rules, including, but not limited to, the enforcement of any trademark, copyright, and other intellectual property rights owned by Sponsor. 

SELECTION OF FINALISTS AND WINNERS. At the conclusion of the Promotion Period, Sponsor will post the finalists and grand prize winner in compliance with the Official Rules on Facebook on or around January 9, 2010. All photos will be reviewed for content before being posted on the ForRent.com Facebook Fan Page. Photos submitted may or may not be posted on the site, in the sole and absolute discretion of Sponsor. Sponsor shall have absolutely no obligation to give feedback or reasoning for why any photo is not posted on the site. Sponsor shall have the sole right to reject or remove a photo from the site at any time.

From 12:00:00 p.m. ET on December 16 2009 to 12:00 am January 4, 2010, the public may vote on those photos posted on the site by visiting the ForRent.com Facebook Fan Page and following the voting instructions. On or about January 8,. 2010 Sponsor’s internal review panel will choose one (1) Grand Prize Winner and three (3) Finalists.

CONTEST: Contest winners will be selected according to the following judging criteria:

• 25% Creativity and originality
• 15% Overall quality and appearance of photo
• 25% Relevance to contest theme of how you live the life of ‘La Vie Boheme’ in your apartment
• 14% Promotion of ForRent.comand RENT- The Broadway Tourand the usage ofphoto captions and tags
• 21% The total number of user generated Facebook “like’s” received

In the unlikely event of a tie, the photo with the earliest upload date will be deemed the winner.

PRIZES.
a) Contest Prizes: ONE (1) GRAND PRIZE: One winner will receive two tickets to the last RENT- The Broadway Tour final performance in Sacramento, CA on February 7, 2010, two back stage passes to the final performance, two person airfare to and from Sacramento and a one night hotel accommodations for two in Sacramento. Approximate Retail Value (”ARV”): Hotel $150/night; tickets $75.00 each; backstage tour has no retail value and airfare $1,400.

THREE (3) FINALISTS: Three finalists will each receive RENT- The Broadway Tour memorabilia. Approximate Retail Value (”ARV”): $100 each

Total ARV for all Contest Prizes $1,800: Limit: One (1) Contest Prize per person.

For All Prizes:
All federal and state taxes on prizes are the sole responsibility of the winners. No transfer, assignment, cash redemption, or substitution of a prize is permitted except that Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to substitute a prize (or portion of a prize) with a prize of comparable or greater value or cash value. In the event that a prize cannot be awarded for any reason or a winner is not capable of redeeming a prize for any reason, Sponsor shall not be obligated to award any prize. If, for any reason, more than the stated number of prizes are available and/or claimed, Sponsor reserves the right to award the prizes in such category by random drawing from among eligible prize claimants in such prize category or in a manner to be determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion.

RIGHTS IN THE PHOTOS. All photos (including all material embodied therein) submitted to Sponsor shall automatically become the sole and exclusive property of Sponsor immediately upon submission. Once a photo has been submitted pursuant to the Promotion, the Entrant may not distribute, disseminate, sell, use, license, or post the photo or any copies thereof in any medium (including other Internet sites) without the prior express written consent of Sponsor. Each Entrant, as a condition of participation in the Promotion, hereby grants Sponsor the exclusive, perpetual, worldwide right to edit, adapt, modify, reproduce, publish, distribute, and otherwise use (unless prohibited by applicable law) the photo (including all material embodied therein) in any way or in any media now or hereafter known for trade, advertising, promotional, or other purposes as Sponsor determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, without further notice or compensation to the Entrant or any other third parties. Nothing herein shall be construed to require Sponsor to publish, distribute or in any way use the photo (or any of the material embodied therein) should Sponsor in its sole discretion decline to do so.

Do you ever wonder what your high school sweetheart, quarterback, class clown, cheerleading captain, class nerd, and valedictorian are up to these days? You may have lost touch with these people over the years but all is not lost. Baby boomers and beyond are finding social networking sites appealing for the same reasons most people do - to stay in touch with people. They are interested in reconnecting with old friends and classmates whom they haven’t talked to in more than 30 years.Currently, 16.5 million adults age 55 and older engage in social networking, according to Internet monitoring site comScore. A consumer survey of U.S. consumers from the NPD group, Inc., a leading provider of reliable consumer research, shows that 61% of baby boomer Internet users (age 44 to 61) had visited sites that offer streaming or downloadable video, while 41% had visited social networks.

There are helpful, even enjoyable and easy-to-use, Web sites that offer social benefits such as networking opportunities, research tools, and helpful articles on everything from retirement to long term care. These sites allow you to sign up and join, meet others, post articles etc, while others provide access to useful information regarding life after 55. The industry experts at After 55™ Housing and Resource Guide and SeniorOutlook.com continue to stay abreast of new media trends and want to provide you with a list of social networking sites that can benefit you.

Facebook

Facebook is a place to connect online with your friends and family to share updates, photos, videos, articles, polls and games.  According to Facebook, their fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older. According to iStrategyLabs, Facebook has a user base of 18.1 million users, and the number of users age 55 and over has grown from a negligible 950,000 to 5.9 million in a mere six months, which equates to a 513.7% increase.

Once connected with friends, family and employees, you will receive notification as they update their Facebook “status” and upload photos, which enables you to maintain an online relationship and stay connected with them. In addition to the social features like sharing photos and looking for old friends, there are plenty of ways to also tap into the professional community.

LinkedIn®

LinkedIn is an online network of more than 40 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing multiple industries. According to Quantcast, users age 35-49 make up 49% of LinkedIn’s traffic, while users age 50+ make up 31%. When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. The site is a great professional networking resource that allows you to connect with other people looking to explore potential business opportunities.

Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you. LinkedIn allows a person to find jobs and business opportunities. Employers can list jobs and search for potential candidates. Job seekers can review the profiles of hiring managers and discover which of their existing contacts can introduce them.

Twitter™

This real-time micro-blogging site allows you to follow and connect with interesting people and can become a very good source of information. It can be used much like Facebook to keep up with your friends and family, but you can also get breaking news updates from sites such as the New York Times, CNN and Fox News, or follow your favorite celebrities like Oprah. Stay up to date on health care, retirement, housing solutions and more by following sites like AARP. Twitter is also appealing to business professionals seeking to expand their network and share information with colleagues.  

Twitter allows users to send “tweets,” or text-based messages up to 140 characters long answering the simple question of “What are you doing now?” People do everything from sharing monotonous and routine details of every day life to alerting people to breaking news or consumer product launches. These “tweets” are then displayed on your profile page and delivered to other users who are “following” you (essentially, subscribing to receive your tweets). Also, you can follow (subscribe) to the tweets of anyone you want, from family and friends, to Oprah, major Web sites, big brands and more.

Confused yet? It’s ok. Basically, Twitter is like an online cocktail party, a text message or like a Facebook status update, with which you can keep people up-to date with your life.

AARP Online Community

The AARP.org Online Community offers users an exciting environment where users can easily connect with AARP members age 50+. AARP’s ever-growing Online Community encourages users to meet new adult friends and socialize with one another by sharing photos and videos, playing online games, seeking advice, writing in a journal, and much more. The Online Community is a great place to meet new people, share experiences, and opinions, and talk about what they’re going through, whether it’s a single’s perspective later in life, dealing with adult children, or health-care issues. Registration is free and AARP membership is not required.  58% of AARP members age 50 and older access to their Online Community daily or several times a day, compared to 47 % of members younger than 20, according to an AARP/Center for the Digital Future 2008 study.

Eons

This site offers many similar features and functionalities as Facebook; however Eons.com is boomer-specific just like the AARP Online Community. The site allows users to express themselves through their social profile and share different aspects of their life, while also having control over of the privacy settings. In addition, Eons.com enables users to partake in group discussions, maintain and read blogs, share photos and videos, and even play games. Another great feature of Eons.com is that members can sign up to receive alerts when someone from a particular area passes away or in response to pre-defined keywords such as a company or school name.

There are also a few boomer specific tools like LifePath and the Eons Longevity & Life Expectancy Calculator. The Longevity Calculator asks 40 quick questions related to your health, lifestyle and family history and allows users to discover how many years they still have to achieve their dreams. Once the questionnaire is completed, Eons will send you your average life expectancy along with personalized advice to living longer and healthier.

Whether it’s re-connecting with old high school friends or staying in touch with children and grandchildren on Facebook, or maybe it’s empty-nesters planning events or perhaps reading helpful articles from everything from retirement to long term care, these social networking sites are here to assist you with the changes in your life. Online relationships become very beneficial, especially when it comes to retirement, health and family members moving away. The social media adoption rate is going up for  all generations and is expected to have high growth in the coming years, so get connected and start networking online today! 

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.

We have added an additional social media component to the ForRent.com Web site. Go to ForRent.com and you will notice the new “share” box in the top right hand corner. Hover over the box and it expands to display the various options you can use to “share” the ForRent.com site with others. The “share” box is visible on every page within the site.

Through the share tool, end-users can share apartment listings with others via the various social media sites including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. With this feature, the end-user has more than 150 ways to bookmark or share apartment listings of their choice!

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is more than just the name of a walk; it describes the progress we’re making in the fight against breast cancer. Nothing can describe the hope that is inspired by walking with others who share a passion for ending this disease.

Because nearly everyone has been touched by breast cancer in some way (we have 3 survivors in our office alone), hope for a world without the disease starts with us. For Rent Media Solutions in Atlanta has decided to show our support and make a difference by walking as a team in the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer on October 24^th.

Hope starts with one walker and one dollar at a time. Hope starts with our team.

To follow our progress and see updated photos of the walk, Follow Atlanta Apartments For Rent Magazine on Facebook.

On Wednesday, August 19^th, For Rent Media Solutions launched a Twitter sweepstakes for multifamily industry professionals. Multifamily professionals had an opportunity to win an iPod Touch® if they logged on to Twitter and sent @AptsForRent a tweet. To be eligible for the sweepstake, multifamily professionals had to enter a tweet that included the ‘Yeah We’ve Got That’ hashtag. This hashtag symbolizes our solutions network to help clients reach renters any time, any place, driving more LEADS for them.

On Monday, August 24^th, we announced Jessica Whitney as the randomly selected winner for the iPod Touch. Whitney works with Resort at Forbes Creek apartment community.  This community has had their Twitter account for a little over a month and loves using the microbloging site for ‘real time’ updates to inform residents of specials, events, etc. In addition to Twitter, we also learned that this community has a robust Facebook page set up displaying updates regarding events in the apartment community.

As a result of this campaign, For Rent Media Solutions saw an increase of followers to our Twitter profile and numerous retweets with our brand message all in less than three days! We also generated a couple thousand page views to our Apartment Blog and had many interactions with multifamily industry professionals.

We want to congratulate Jessica Whitney for winning the iPod touch. We would also like to thank all multifamily professionals who participated. We’re looking forward to running another sweepstakes soon!