Apartment Blog

During the holiday season it is always great to find family fun activities. The celebrated city of Los Angeles has many holiday events for you and your family to enjoy. Just take a look at these five attractions….Grinchmas is sure to be a treat for your family! It begins in December at Universal Studios Hollywood and visitors will enjoy wintertime family activities in real snow, meet the Grinch and see Whoville come to life on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood during “Grinchmas.” Areas of the Theme Park and the Studio Tour are transformed to bring to life the settings, the music and, most importantly, many of the wonderful characters created by the beloved Dr. Seuss! This would surely be a must see for my family.

Who wants to join in reindeer games?? From Thanksgiving weekend through the New Year, live reindeer will be paying a visit to the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens at the Reindeer Romp. A flurry of festivities and holiday entertainment will accompany this popular annual event where children can make their own reindeer antlers and join the herd. On weekends, Santa and friends will be available for a photo opportunity!

Los Angeles has a NEW ice skating rink in town! From December 3-31^st  grab your skates and head down to Nokia Plaza at L.A. LIVE for the grand opening of “LA Kings Holiday Ice at L.A. LIVE.” Catch the annual holiday tree lighting celebration the same night. The new skating rink is the first of its kind at L.A. LIVE and will be open for winter fun! For more information on hours, visit Holiday Ice.

Play in the SNOW! Big Bear Mountain Resorts have unmatched snowmaking systems providing quality snow for thousands of skiers and snowboarders in Southern California each season. Big Bear already started snowmaking at Snow Summit with Bear Mountain, Chair 5 and Central Park Run already accessible for downhill fun!

And finally, what good are all of these activities if you don’t have a fabulous apartment to go home to afterwards? ForRent.com has many Los Angeles apartments for you to search based on your selection criteria. They can be close to Universal Studios Hollywood for your family to enjoy Grinchmas each holiday season or next to the Nokia Plaza for amazing ice skating each winter. Whatever your criteria may be, we have apartments to meet your needs! Just check out the newest apartments on ForRent.com with Community Theater, an online video that highlights all the features and benefits of the community.

Renaissance Apartments, Sunset Barrington Gardens, Rancho Los Feliz, Villa Vicente, Broadcast Center-AIMCO and Villas at Park La Brea Apartments.

Hashtags, re-tweets, DMs? What does it all mean? For Rent Media Solutions^TM, a leading apartment resource for searching apartments nationwide, and a division of Dominion Enterprises, will answer these questions as they host the industry’s first Tweet Spot during this year’s Brainstorming Sessions^TM held at the Hyatt Regency in Houston, Texas from November 18-20.

Twitter “newbies” and power users alike in the multi-housing industry are in for the ultimate Twitter experience during this year’s Multifamily Pro Brainstorming Sessions. At the Tweet Spot, attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about leveraging the power of Twitter. Topics discussed include:

• How to create a Twitter profile
• How to perform basic functions within the site
• Twitter terminology
• Tools to enhance user experience
• Why Twitter is beneficial for businesses
• How to cross-link with other social media sites

During the show, attendees can participate in “Tweetups,” meetings organized through Twitter and hosted by For Rent Media Solutions, to network and meet other attendees. These Tweetups help attendees turn their online network into reality, allow them to see who’s “following” who and maximize their social networking by meeting and mingling with the industry’s social media savvy. Take a look at our schedule below for the two “Tweetups” scheduled for Tuesday, November 17^th at 5:30 pm and Thursday, November 19^th at 6:00 pm.

It is publicized all over the nation that unemployment rates are rising, homes are still going into foreclosures and prices are increasing on necessary goods. During these times it really seems hard to find something to be thankful for. Our minds tend to remember the bad things much more easily than the good, but there are many blessings in everyone’s life.

I took a quick poll of a few friends, just to see what others will be giving thanks for this year. The most important thing I can say I am grateful for is family and friends. And I’m not alone. The overall consensus of what to be thankful for this year wasn’t about money. It was about good health for you and your family, pets, friends, community outreach programs as well as giving back to the community.

So while times are tough, it’s important to remember what you are thankful for, especially this year. Take a moment to really think about all the little blessings in your life. It can be something as simple as a child’s smile or a green light when you’re running late. Whatever it is, I hope you take the time to really appreciate it. On behalf of For Rent Media Solutions, I wish you a very happy and appreciative Thanksgiving!

Detroit has been the epicenter of soul music for decades.  Motown got its start in Detroit and signed artists such as s Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and The Jackson 5.  This made Detroit  a place for new sounds and big opportunities. According to VisitDetroit, “Detroit’s public school system, in the early 19th century, also made music accessible to all, hiring some of the best music education professors to cultivate young, artistic minds.” It is no wonder that Detroit is still the same way today.  Many genres find a safe home in Detroit and a place where they can experiment before going mainstream.

Known as the city of rhythm, Detroit keeps on moving along even during the tough time of the recession.  The music coming out of the city is reflective of the adversity they have had to overcome over the years.    You will not have a hard time finding some kind of music that you enjoy and living in Detroit may make your music selection more eclectic.  Detroit has great apartments that give you access to all the music you want.  A few are included here:

River Oaks West Apartments

Briar Cove Apartments

Independence Green Apartments

Get more information and search tips on Detroit Apartments, or view all Apartments for Rent in Detroity, MI.

Sources:

http://www.visitdetroit.com/index.php/music

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.