Happy valentines day to our residents

Hey, did you know it’s Valentine’s Day in a week or so? 

Seriously, I’m really asking. Personally, I could have sworn Thanksgiving was coming up, but then I checked my calendar. I’m just trying to help you all.

So, obviously Valentine’s Day at your apartment community is going to look a little different. There are still ways to celebrate with your residents. I ranked some options—for your convenience—starting with the worst option to the best, awarding each a certain number of apartments. And don’t forget to document all your activities and events on your social media channels and use them in your marketing efforts!

11 Community Valentine’s Day Suggestions

11. Have a kissing booth in the lobby. Hmm, maybe not this year. It’s a pandemic, after all. Actually, don’t do this at your community. Ever. 
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10. Make a Valentine’s Day post on your social media channels with puns such as “We LOVE our residents.” This is fine, but a little groan-worthy. 
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9. Make a Valentine’s Day post on your social media channels that says “Happy Valentine’s Day!” Not much better than the last one. You’ll hopefully get a few likes and some comments on both types of posts, which is great for engagement, but at least this one doesn’t have puns. I heart that.
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8. Make a “guess how many conversation hearts are in this jar” game. You can fill a class jar with candy conversation hearts and leave it at the front desk in the lobby, in the mailroom, or somewhere with a lot of traffic. You’ll get residents to interact, but they’ll only be there for a few minutes to write down their guess, so you shouldn’t get a crowd of people at once. Give whoever has the closest guess the candy or some other prize.
Rating: ?? (This was docked a point because conversation hearts taste like chalk.)

7. Have a Valentine’s Day referral program. Does your community offer bonuses to residents who refer other people to the community? If so, why not incentive it even more. If your renters can show people how much they love their community (jeez, now I’m doing unironic puns. Thanks a lot) and get people to sign up on Valentine’s Day, give them a bigger bonus (or rent reduction, or an extra month rent free, or whatever you use for referrals).
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6. Give out treats for pets. (Only if you’re in a pet friendly building, of course.) A lot of pet owners adore spoiling their pets, so they’ll definitely love you for this. But, when you give out the treats, make sure they look like bones or pet food, and not those fancy treats that look like cupcakes. I learned that the hard way.
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5. Set up tables for making cards. If you have the space in a common area, you can set up a table with some card stock, markers, glue, sparkles, etc., and have several tables spaced out around the room to allow for some social distancing where residents or kids can sit and make Valentine’s Day Cards. 
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4. Raffle a romantic dinner from a local restaurant. This year, have the dinner be carry out or delivered. You can work with local restaurants, which we all know have been struggling this last year. 
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3. Set up a photo area. You can have balloons that spell out “love,” or just a ton of balloons. Maybe paper party hats (get a bunch so people can get their own), and other festive things. This year I’d stay away from giant sunglasses, or other shared items that people may be leery of using right now. Encourage residents to take photos for your Instagram page—and theirs. 
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2. Collect new teddy bears or bags of candy for kids in the hospital. Check with your local hospital to see if they have any restrictions because of COVID (or in general) first, and then ask your residents to donate. Maybe some would even want to help you deliver it on Valentine’s Day. 
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1. Give out individually wrapped chocolates. Either do little gift bags for each apartment, or have bowls of wrapped candy in the common areas. Bonus points if you give king-sized (we’re going Halloween rules here).
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What are you doing for Valentine’s Day at your community? Do you agree with my ranking? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Post your comments on our Facebook page or send a tweet to @MHNOnline or @jfiur. 

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