Sunday, February 9, 2014

How To... Host an Awesome Community Builder!

by Elyssa Strickler, Moriarty Head RA

Whether or not you want to acknowledge it, your most successful CBs require planning weeks prior to implementation, as this is the safest way to iron out any wrinkles and avoid disaster (or awkward, one-person-attendance, but you get the picture.) Knowing where, when, how, and why the program is taking place will increase attendance, as well as resident satisfaction and appreciation for your efforts. 

Honestly, the best way to ensure that residents attend a CB is to plan something that they want to do! Just ask them, it’s that simple. You can do this in person, say, at your floor meetings; or you can get a bit more creative! Survey monkey is a personal favorite of mine. By writing up a survey for my residents, I can include questions about potential CBs as well as future floor meeting planning, and information for my bulletin boards.  

Your next step, of course, is planning the CB. Pick a time that works for your residents as well as you. If you end up having to cancel a night in Philly that you've been looking forward to for months, you will probably be a little bitter and your residents will notice; if you seem like you don’t want to be there, they sure won’t! A great way to ensure this does not happen is to sit down with your planner (or however you keep track of your crazy schedule) and commit to some days that you are going to use for CBs. This will give you lots of time to put together awesome advertisements and get your residents pumped up for the program, as well as ensure that they don’t make plans for that particular night. 

A good friend once taught me the ‘six P’s to success’: “prior proper planning prevents poor performance.” Keep this in mind and you are bound to host an extremely successful CB.

And if all else fails, order food!!

No comments:

Post a Comment