1st Annual RAD

Summer is coming to a close, and we’ve had a very good year. With the support of all our great residents, we’ve turned Madison Woods in a safe, quiet, and desirable community. We decided to throw a thank you party, so we held our first annual resident appreciation day BBQ. We served up burgers, wings, and dogs. A volunteer DJ selected a medley of classic tunes that had the gown folks bobbing in their chairs and the young kids dancing on the field. That is, when they weren’t ruckusing in the pool. The teenagers played volley ball. We raffled off prizes and gift cards from Wal-Mart. Almost all the residents turned out, and the weather cooperated until it was almost over. We had the rare opportunity to meet people informally and further develop relationships. Our total cost for the event was around $400. But it was priceless in terms of how it helped foster camaraderie among residents with other residents and with staff.

We decided that we will find an excuse to throw a party 3-4x per year. The next one will be a Christmas celebration in conjunction with a competition for the home with the best Christmas decorations. We’re not just doing this for the fun of it. Being a tight knit community where residents know their neighbors and are actively engaged with the community is one of the key selling points for us. This is a distinct competitive advantage Madison Woods has over the transience of apartment complexes. We are also a lot harder to get into. Next time we’ll discuss our resident selection process.

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