Apartment Blog

How often do you have the opportunity to #SaveonRENT, especially RENT: The Broadway Tour? Now you do, thanks to a special partnership between RENT and ForRent.com®.  This exclusive discount allows you to see Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, in the roles they made famous, for $10 less than everyone else! Share with your friends (Retweet) and be a part of the group that gets “A Tweet Deal.”

Attention: RENT Enthusiasts
Tweet for a chance to win RENT: The Broadway Tour memorabilia and remember you get $10 off on tickets when you enter the code ANGEL.

Step 1:
Follow us on Twitter @AptsForRent and @rentthebwaytour

Step 2:
Copy and paste the entire text below into one of your tweets:

@AptsForRent has the code 2 save $10 on @rentthebwaytour tix! RT msg 4 chance 2 win prize pack: http://tinyurl.com/yftof3h  #SaveonRENT

Step 3:
A randomly selected winner will be chosen from all tweeted entries on October 30^th, 2009; November 30^th, 2009; December 30^th, 2009 and January 13^th, 2010.

View the tour schdeule here: http://siteforrent.com/tourschedule 

Rules to play:
What?  A Tweet-to-Win sweepstakes.
Who?  You can enter if you are a consumer. Please no multi-family housing industry professionals or employees of For Rent Media Solutions, Dominion Enterprises and/or RENT: The Broadway Tour.
Why?  To win RENT: The Broadway Tour memorabilia & ForRent.com schwag and get $10 off ticket prices.
Where? Go to Twitter @AptsForRent and @rentthebwaytour to begin following.
How? Copy and paste the entire text below into one of your tweets:

@AptsForRent has the code 2 save $10 on @rentthebwaytour tix! RT msg 4 chance 2 win prize pack: http://tinyurl.com/yftof3h  #SaveonRENT  

When? A randomly selected winner will be chosen from all tweeted entries on October 30^th, 2009; November 30^th, 2009; December 30^th, 2009 and January 13^th, 2010. 

 All of the submissions for the ‘Ready2Move?’ video contest are in! Thank you to all who entered, the videos are amazing. But it’s not over yet! The voting phase is OPEN and ForRent.com needs everyone’s help in choosing the $10,000 grand prize winner.

Go to http://contest.forrent.com/ and register to become a voter. You can vote once per 24 hours on multiple videos until June 24^th. The voter selected at random will win $1,500 just for voting on their favorite video!

If you’ve submitted a video, be sure to tell all your friends and family to visit the site, http://contest.forrent.com/, for their chance to win! Don’t forget to ask them to vote on your video as votes you receive on your video submission(s) are a part of the judging criteria!

So what are you waiting for?? Let the voting begin…..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                           
Contact:
Meredith Mobley
Marketing Communications Coordinator
meredith.mobley@forrent.com
Phone: 757-351-7366
Fax: 757-961-4827

Contest began April 1

NORFOLK, Va.-(April 2, 2009)-Tired of those obnoxious neighbors? Loud music keeping you up at night? Fed up with your less than compatible roommate? At some point, everyone has that “ah-ha” moment when they realize it is time to move. Tell ForRent.com why you are “Ready2Move” by entering their video contest for your chance to win $10,000 cash at Contest.ForRent.com or access it through Facebook. The contest kicked off April 1.

Haven’t quite reached your boiling point? Visit the ForRent.com “Ready2Move?” video contest site to watch and vote for your favorite videos for the chance to win $1,500 cash.

What You Need to Submit

Show ForRent.com your creativity and let them know why you desperately need new digs. Grab your video camera and create a 1-minute or shorter original video. Acceptable video formats include MPEG, QuickTime and Real Media, among many others. Maximum file size is 100 MB. Turn your video into a mini commercial by adding a black and white ForRent.com “Ready2Move?” closing billboard to the end of your creation. The billboard is provided for you at contest.forrent.com.

Then, log on to http://contest.forrent.com/ between April 1 and May 27 to submit your video. Entrants can submit up to five videos. 

Visitors have the opportunity to vote from May 6 to June 24. One lucky voter will win $1,500 just for casting their vote. Web site visitors can stay connected to the contest through the new ForRent.com Facebook application. Facebook users can access the “Ready2Move?” video contest to upload their own video entry, view other entries and vote for their favorites without registering for an account on the contest site.  It’s also easy for users to share the contest and specific videos with their Facebook friends.

The winning video and the top three finalists will be announced on or around June 24.

What You Could Win

The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 in cash and three finalists will each win a brand new mobile digital device, iPod Touch^®- perfect for drowning out those strange noises you hear at night. The grand prize and runners-up videos will be posted to Contest.ForRent.com and other social networking sites, including YouTube^TM and MySpace^®.

The first 200 video submission entrants in compliance with all of the official rules won’t go home empty-handed either. They will receive a free ForRent.com “Ready2Move?” T-shirt.

You can also win just for voting. A lucky voter will be randomly selected on or around June 24 and will receive $1,500 just for voicing their opinion. Tell all your friends so they can have a chance to win big! Each registered user can vote one time per day on multiple videos.

Want To Know More?

To learn more about ForRent.com’s “Ready2Move” video contest and to read the official rules, log on to Contest.ForRent.com.

About For Rent Media Solutions^TM

Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., For Rent Media Solutions is a division of Dominion Enterprises. As the multi-family housing solution for apartment seekers, property/apartment managers and owners, For Rent Media Solutions provides superior products, outstanding customer service, and tangible results.  For Rent Media Solutions is a leading resource for choosing your next apartment for rent, townhouse, condo, duplex, efficiency, studio or loft and provides a free customizable apartment search from more than 50,000 apartment listings nationwide.  For Rent Media Solutions operates For Rent Magazine^®, as well as ForRent.com^TM-The Magazine, and publishes 98 magazines covering more than 190 markets nationwide, including After 55^TM Housing & Resource Guide, and Apartamentos Para Rentar^®. For Rent Media Solutions operates four additional Web sites: ForRent.com^®, SeniorOutlook.com^TM, CorporateHousing.com^®, and ParaRentar.com^TM.  For Rent Media Solutions is a company dedicated to the needs of the apartment industry, bringing prospective residents and apartment communities together.

About Dominion Enterprises

Dominion Enterprises is a leading marketing services company serving the automotive, enthusiast and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, and employment industries. The company’s businesses provide a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, Web site design and hosting, and data management services. The company has more than 45 market-leading Web sites reaching more than 16.7 million unique visitors, and more than 450 magazines with a weekly circulation of 4.3 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has 5,400 employees in more than 200 offices nationwide. For more information, visit http://www.dominionenterprises.com/.

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Thinking about throwing a holiday get-together? ‘Tis the season for elusive, ugly and tacky Christmas sweater parties!  Tacky sweater parties are a perfect theme for a fun yet festive party. Follow these tips to throw a successful tacky Christmas sweater party this holiday that is cost effective.

1. Send Invitations: Send out an evite to all of your guests and have the image be a picture of you or your grandparents in their favorite holiday sweater. Be sure to provide all of the details (especially the fun ones like the games and prizes included).

2. Find the Best Tacky Christmas Sweater: The best part of the party is OBVIOUSLY the sweater. Here are some ideas on places to find these fabulous outdated fashion statements: Garage Sales, Family Members (aka. Grandma and Grandpa) and Thrift Stores.

3. Don’t Forget Accessories: Accessories can often times make the tacky sweater that much tackier! Go to your local drug store and look for lighted pins, reindeer antlers, Santa hats, tinsel and more!

4. Make a Centerpiece: Creating a neat centerpiece that can actually be devoured is ideal. Make a ginger bread house with candy and icing to use as a centerpiece for the food table. Something tells me that this will be eaten after tip #9.

5. Provide an Award: Have a trophy personalized that says “Tackiest Sweater Award 2008″. After all of the guests have arrived, simply have them write on a piece of paper who they think should win and then count up the votes.

6. Food: Select a potluck style that will work best for you and your guests. For example: (1) appetizers only, (2) bring your favorite dish, (3) assign each guest to bring an appetizer, main dish, or dessert, or (4) as the host, you will provide the main dish (a turkey, ham, etc.) Try and coordinate this in advance so you don’t have duplicate dishes.

7. Beverages: There are a variety of factors to consider when selecting your beverages for your party. It’s important to have something available for everyone’s likes and dislikes. Be sure to have a variety of mixers on hand as well as non-alcoholic drinks. Having a pre-made themed beverage also saves time and money while still being festive.

8. Keep the Bathroom Line Entertained: All those beverages can certainly call for a long line at the restroom. Decorate your bathroom door with wrapping paper, ribbon and a bow and have people sign the door and write a message on the wrapping paper. The messages are bound to be great conversation starters and ice breakers.

9. Play Games: Set up a scavenger hunt with two teams. Create a checklist of all the items to provide to each team. Each team is then responsible for taking a picture of each checklist item as proof. Here are some checklist ideas: Find a street name that has a Christmas theme, take a picture with your team in your sweaters in a 7-11, sing a Christmas carol to a stranger as team, Find a Santa and sit on his lap, kiss someone under a mistletoe, find something showing one of the 12 days of Christmas etc…) This is absolutely hilarious.

10. Give Prizes: The winning team of the scavenger hunt or games that you play can receive prizes. Some good prize ideas are DVD’s, gift cards, candles, books etc… Wrap them up and put them under your tree. You could always go the gag gift route as well.

Best of luck with planning your next Tacky Christmas Sweater Party. Do you own a festive sweater that makes your friends laugh/cringe? Send it my way, and it may appear on our blog. (Please include your name, city and a brief description of the photo.)  

ForRent.com^®, announced the grand prize winner and the top 10 finalists of its “If Only Your Apartment Furniture Could Talk” video contest.

Drum roll please…………………………………………………….

The grand prize winner is Brendan Walsh of “Furniture Talk.” Brendan is a 20 year-old student from Steubenville, Ohio, majoring in digital media production at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. His video gives viewers a “fly on the wall” point of view of the conversations their apartment furniture has when they’re not around. One couch tells the story of his lazy owners and why they should win $10,000 to add more furniture to their apartment. Watch this video at http://www.winapartmentfurniture.com/video/view/26.

“Social media is my life,” says Walsh. “In fact, I even created a Facebook group for my video submission to gain more views and votes. It’s like a chain reaction. I tell 10 people, they tell 10 people, and it spirals.”

The winning videos on WinApartmentFurniture.com were selected from more than 50 submissions created by ForRent.com enthusiasts from around the country. Each responded to the challenge to create a short video creatively telling ForRent.com, through the eyes and voice of their apartment furniture, why they should win $10,000. In addition to Walsh’s $10,000 grand prize, the top 10 finalists will receive iPod Shuffles. These videos can be viewed at http://www.winapartmentfurniture.com/pages/finalists.

The finalists includes great videos such as ‘Small Apartment Sickness’, submitted by Dane Boedigheimer of Riverside, CA, which was a great parody of Pee Wee Herman’s Play House. The musical melodies of ‘Help Me Out Bro’, submitted by Tyler Poppe & Leland Grant, and British sounding suicidal sofas in ‘Couch Talk’, submitted by Alex Farnham, were among the top ten. Creatively speaking, ‘College Bound’ by Michael Marencik, ‘Mikey’ by Nick Kanellis and ‘Tiffany needs a dream house’ by Jana Dowling really showed off their skills. And who could forget the ForRent.com lovers ‘Me and my mattress’ by Ryder Darcy in San Francisco, CA, ‘I need my own place’, ‘Get Discovered’ and ‘ForRent.com-Redcat Film’. “I love it when a plan comes together.”

“This contest provided a unique way for us to reach out to our brand community, allowing them to express their creativity and appreciation for ForRent.com and For Rent Magazine,” said Terry Slattery, vice president and general manager of For Rent Media Solutions^TM. “We want to thank everyone who participated in the contest, for helping make it such a success.”

‘Super Stoaked’ grand prize winner Brendan Walsh said, when asked what he was going to do with the $10,000, “First I have to pay out to my roommate and 2 friends that helped make it. We are poor hungry college students so we’ll head over to the grocery store so we can eat real food and no more Ramen noodles!” Congratulations to all the winners!