Not too long ago as a condo board we needed to upgrade our outdated condominium gym. We spent some time trying to figure out what we really needed to replace, to buy, or get rid off. Well, it's really hard to come to a conclusion with only a handful of board members. Especially when we are trying to make 120 condo owners and renters happy. 

So what would a condominium board usually do? Simple. They would assume that their decision is the right one and do what they feel is right. Replace the current equipment and be done with it. Why? Because it would be too hard or time consuming to ask for feedback. How would they do it? Slide surveys under each door?

We are fortunate enough to use GeniePad as our condo website and communication portal. So the task was quite simple. All we had to do was post a question in our message forum and wait for our resident's feeback.

The feedback came instantly. We knew what we had to replace, remove, and add in a matter of few days. It made our job and decision process quite painless, because we knew exactly what our residents wanted and needed.

If you don't have a tool that can help you in making certain decisions it's time you put something in place. Implement a tool that will help your residents communicate with each other, with the board, or the property manager. Make it seamless and make the communication transparent.

From one condo board member to another... 

It's unbelievable how time goes by when you are having fun. This is exactly what is happening here at GeniePad. Every day is like being a kid and going to the playground, eating skittles, and roasting marshmallows. But instead of going to the playground, it's working on something that helps thousands of people on a daily basis.

Recently I was reflecting on why GeniePad started and what it is today. I wanted to see the progress we have made thus far, and well, what better way to show this than a video?

Think of this video as a living organism. Constantly evolving. That is what software development is. We add a little bit of functionality, test it, wait for your feedback, and if everyone is happy we release it to every single condo building using GeniePad. Then the process repeats. 

This timelapse video is of 2 years of GeniePad development compressed into 1 minute and 30 seconds. The little user icons flying around and shooting lasers, lets call them Genies, are software developers, making improvements and additions to the GeniePad source code. The little dots at the end of the branches, or leaves, are various files of the application being added or updated by the Genies. 

You can see how what you use today has grown and evolved from the day it started.

Since we are board members and condo residents ourselves, and use GeniePad on a daily basis, we want to make it the best condo communication website. This is the reason why GeniePad will always be evolving, improving, and providing you the best service.

Many condominium owners do not know where their condo fees are going. They know that they have to make a monthly payment, and that their fees generally increase, but that is about it...

Warren Phipps from Mountain Park Real created a great short video explaining the basics of what condo fees cover. I encourage you to watch it. It is a short 3 minute video that gives you some education that every condo owner should know.

"The first point is that condo fees are like saving for a rainy day. When you own property, things always come up that are unexpected. A pipe bursts. The roof leaks. A portion of your condo fees are saved for surprises just like these. When something unexpected happens, the money is there and there's no big out-of-pocket expense."

You can read the full article here: http://mtnpark.ca/blog.html/calgary-condominium-management-why-you-should-like-condo-fees-1684806

So you have set up your condo / HOA website and communication portal. You have selected a theme and added custom pages with information for your residents and visitors. All is great, you are happy, the condo board is happy, but you feel that something is missing. 

We provide as much as possible from the start, and let you fill in the blanks. Properly selected colors, layouts, and images make a great looking website. The last step you take is adding a photo of your condo. This photo can certainly enhance your site and give users a clear representation of your condominium. Not everyone can be a great photographer, after all, that is a skill and art of its own. 

We have realized this, and to give you the best looking website, we have been offering the services of a professional photographer to condos in the Edmonton area at no charge.  Whenever we have a board member, property manager, or resident create their GeniePad website and communication portal, we ask if they would like us to send our photographer to create a great photo of their condo. 

99% of the time our users take us up on the offer. When they receive their photo they ask us about the photographer, as they would like to thank them personally. Well, I think the time has come to make this public. We have been working with Kinga at Images By Frost. Kinga specializes in Wedding Photography, but we twisted her arm a little and she agreed to help us out.

The majority of times, when taking a photo of a building, can be challenging due to angles, nearby buildings, lighting, locations, etc, but she is doing a fantastic job so far. Thanks a lot  Kinga :)

So, if your condo is in the Edmonton area, and you would like to use this service, let us know :)

If you are a photographer outside of Edmonton, and would like to offer your services, gives us a shout.

We have added a new theme you can use for your GeniePad condominium website. In order to change the look of your website and select this theme, you can simply do so under the administrative section of your GeniePad account. In order to make this change, you must have Administrative access.

Overview

This theme comes with a default image as you see on the screenshot below. If you would like to upload a photo of your building, or an image of your choosing, you can do so after you select your theme on the Website Maintenance page.

There are four easily accessible buttons to the most used features within GeniePad below the images. 

The home page consists of recent public news announcements, classifieds, and any pages you add to your website.  

Screenshot

Responsive layout

Since we have more and more users that use smart phones, like iPhone's, Android's, etc, every new theme will have a responsive design. What does this mean? Well, if you visit your condo website, you will no longer have to scroll, zoom in or out, as the website layout will adapt to your phone. Check the screenshot below!

Enjoy :)

Poor communication, whether it be at home or at the work place, can create an environment of uncertainty and discouragement.  We all have the best intention to communicate effectively on a daily basis, but we are not always given the tools to do so.  Being able to effectively communicate is not a natural ability, and often, we need help in this area.  In today's tech savvy world, there is no reason why an association cannot perform at their best.  Paper based notes, and playing telephone tag are a thing of the past, so why not look to a simpler, yet more powerful communication method?   A web-based communication portal & condominium website can be the missing link that you've been looking for.  The internet is fast, accessible 24/7, and can provide ample information to condo owners at their convenience.  What better way is there to earn your owners trust then to provide them with information in seconds?  By taking the lead in providing information, you are setting the foundation for excellence in leadership, performance and management.  A great corporation will want to exercise detection, action and prevention when dealing with their clients.

You want to be pro-active in detecting any problem areas within the community.  This is sometimes a very difficult area to address as a small group of people are trying to look after the common good of the corporation.  Why not have everyone on board?  There is a high level of motivation for owners to protect their greatest asset, their home.  A great website will not only display static information, but will have a fully interactive portal that continues to grow on a daily basis.  As the site becomes larger and more information is available to owners, you can detect your problem areas sooner.  Owners will also have the ability to contact the board and property manager through the site, and they will receive an automatic notification via email.  This allows the corporation to act as soon as possible, as they are made aware of an issue instantaneously.  Early detection is key to address a problem area, and goes to show your responsiveness to your clients. 

Once you have detected a problem area, you can now address it.  You should be able to create tasks and track the progress of the problem area.  You should also keep the person who addressed the issue in the loop.  By effectively communicating to the concerned, you build a level of trust.  This person knows by visual confirmation that you are addressing his/her concerns.  By indicating the progress online, you do not have to follow up through a telephone conversation, and should you wish, every owner can be made aware of this situation.  We realize that certain issues take some time to address or fix, but there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to keep the concerned in the loop.  Once the issue has been addressed, you can notify the person of the status of their concern.  You now have historical data for future use, should a similar issue arise again, or should you need this information for legality purposes.  You can't prevent all situations from happening, but you can do a great deal in addressing future issues.

Your website should be easy enough for anyone to edit/add content that is beneficial for all owners.  Do you have emergency contacts readily available in case of an emergency?  Are your owners always asking for meeting minutes and by-laws?  Why not post them on your site behind a secure area, where only those individuals that need access, have access.  Providing this information readily shows that you are attentive, and you don't have to spend countless hours searching for important documents.  What about those phone calls that take you away from serving the needs of the corporation.  Perhaps other owners could answer questions in the forum?  You would be amazed how effective this feature is, and how quickly you build a community that is unified.

As you can see, a great condominium website could enhance the user experience and greatly help  in providing the best possible service through effective communication.  There are many benefits to having a communication portal that will help you in increasing the relationship between you and your clients.  A condominium website should offer, not only concise information at lightning speed, it should do so with great ease. Communication through technology is possible, it is here and it is effective.