Check our web site, at www.thepinehurst.org, which has been in existence for a year and a half.

We've had no adverse reactions whatsoever. In fact, our only challenge has been to get more residents to use it -- we share lots of information on the site's Residents' and Construction pages. Having just replaced every window in every apartment, the Construction page was a fantastic way to help residents schedule their installations.

We also post various forms so shareholders don't have to contact the property manager and wait for the mail to deliver a sublease agreement, the pet rules (and city dog license form), STAR application, house rules, and the like.

The site is maintained and managed by the Board.

Please take a look and see what you think.

I took a quick peek and the site is great! It appears to have a great deal of information and easy accesses to forms and such. Wonderful Q&A section!

Can I ask two more questions….

- You say that the board maintains the site. Does it require an excessive amount of time? Our board (being newer) is trying to learn how to juggle things and they are a bit overwhelmed.

- Does your site allow for Shareholders to communicate back and forth? It does not seem to be the case and I wonder if there was a reason this was done.

Again, great site. Thanks for sharing it.

Thanks, Pam.

The only thing that's time-consuming is the Events page. Take it away, and I probably spend 5-10 minutes a day on it, 5 days a week. That's just updating the Residents' notes or changing a photo to match the season (i.e. snow in the winter).

The Board discussed allowing responses, but decided that we didn't want to be in the position of moderating posts (which could lead to charges of favoritism or censorship), and the alternative, letting anyone post anything, didn't sit well with us either.

As it happens, no one in our building has asked to make his or her own post. They have asked that we post various neighborhood events, however, which we're happy to do.

While I completely sympathize with your Board's decision not to make possible any online Shareholder free-for-all, did you consider offering anyone who wants one, a blog? I'd be very surprised if the Shareholders who are most involved and most creative turned down THAT offer; several organizations find that it also fosters involvement, especially if the bloggers are artistic types, like painters, writers, photographers (and NYC certainly has more than its share!) and somewhat interesting to read. The Pinehurst seems to encourage its residents to be involved, judging from the events page in particular... it could certainly be a selling point to potential buyers if their residency included a free blog. : )

I find that Apple's iWeb is very easy-to-use and comfortable, once you get past the brief learning curve and your own tech-hesitancy factor. It's a piece of cake to add a blog to your website using this application, too. (And the format is EXCELLENT for updating events... you have an archive, so people don't have to scroll down 15 pages to find something that happened awhile back... they just click on the archived entry, and voila! You can also have a number of active events on the landing page. [Disclaimer: I do not own a penny of Apple stock. Wish I did, though. ha]

If co-ops out there - especially small ones - want to start their own website, I highly recommend giving it a shot yourself. I haven't had a chance to do one for my own business yet (too busy!), but I've been doing one for a community organization with multiple committees, multiple minutes, etc. and it's quite doable even if you've never done a website yourself before. I'd done planning or creative work on some, but never touched the actual structure until iWeb. If you can think in a straight line from A to B, and imagine what responses or questions a design or issue might raise, planning ahead before you do any real work - you can make a dynamite website without paying someone else to do it. You can even video your Annual Meeting and put it online for those who missed it... if you want to, of course.

I mean no offense or denigration, to professional web designers out there - after working on this first one, my hat is off to them BIG-TIME for the work they do for corporations, etc. But if you're strictly bells, and don't need too many whistles, I say: give it a shot.

Feel free to write me off-line if you want to learn more about a "do-it-yourself" project.

I am currently building a website for my company. Along with it will be an individual site for each building that will have a secure area for the buildings respective documents, forms, etc... another section for board members only (requiring separate login) to chat, run conversation strings, etc... and a public bulletin board for resident conversations (and much more)... residents can have their own RESIDENT@YourBuilding.com email address

My point is if you can do it, do it. Your Management &/or Board is over analytical.. ask them to site a single lawsuit to you with respect to the areas???

Another idea is to use third party providers such as the one that host this Habitat board http://yourwebapps.com/

A site manager will still have to moderate and review the site to remove any spam or unwanted/unpleasant thoughts of residents & posters. I have several sites that I put in safeguards for these items, i.e. The IP addresses of all posters are captured as well as others…

The issue you posted with regard to your manager being strongly against it… probably lies in the fact that the manager may feel that it will become his/her responsibility, or in that it will be a place where residents can publicly announce managements faults, and it will be a dart board rather than a bulletin board.

If your building has a contracted cable company, you can probably work a deal with them for a dedicated IP internet service for the building. You then create a server from an old PC which will double as your web server and a gateway for the new wireless internet you now supply your residents in the Laundry room and other public areas… (this also forces them to your website) There are so many advantages and added amenities you can provide residents by doing this.

There are also many inexpensive hosting providers out there if you do not wish to build your own server (hostgator.com), but I strongly suggest your own.

Go for it!

~AR

PS
let me know if you decide to move forward and need any assistance...

AR – thanks for your great insight and detailed feedback. It’s helpful to read.

I think building a site is a wonderful idea and a great way to customize though I fear our Board would see this as a huge undertaking. I don’t think any of the members are knowledgeable on this and they are probably not open to seeking Shareholder assistance. I assume (though I could be wrong) that the easiest way to get this approved at this time is to provide them with a few companies that host similar sites and a STRONG argument on why this is a good idea.

Unfortunately I am not complete yet to give you the URL.. and I do not believe there is anything like that as yet.. but there are allot of good examples out there... here is one with a discussion Board:
http://www.50lexington.com/50lexington/discussionboard.htm

and another good one without:
http://www.londonterracetowers.com/
(they do have their own internet and server, etc)

~AR

Here's something that might work well for you and suit your purposes: http://mybuilding.org/

Our building has its own site, but we have the problem another poster mentioned of actually getting folks to use it. We're lucky to have a web developer in our building who kindly did the site for us pro bono (his way of cooperating or giving back). It's a dynamic database-driven site that is easy to maintain; it's simple but it does the trick. I believe I remember him mentioning that he would charge around 8-10K for similar.

If you're at all web or programming-savvy, check out drupal.org for an opensource (free) content management system that is pretty easy to get up and running out of the box.

Another thing to think about: some management companies now offer co-op intranets. We have recently interviewed two who offer this as part of their package. Example: http://coopersquare.com/public-dyn/resident_services.cfm?idNwsId=151

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks much!

The links are very helpful. I think it will be useful to supply these to our Board so that they have a starting point if they do decide to look into doing this.

Again, thank you! thank you! thank you!

I may be a little late to this party, but for the better part of the last year many of my clients have been interested in developing websites for the community to use. I'm a very big proponent for using them on the Management end, as when I develop the website I place all of the information that most residents will call us for and ask for directly on there. (See www.BurnsStreet.com as an example of one website)

This has been especially helpful when I'm setting up a new client, as I can start day one with a new website for the building as well as all of the contact information for Management as well as a way to get in touch with the Board. It only takes me a few hours to get it rolling and slight upkeep throughout the year.

I can see how some companies may not want to have a website for a Cooperative or Condo as they feel it increases a certain amount of liability, but I always create a password protected "Directors" section where only the Board will have access. These sections house minutes, financials, statements, contracts and any other important information. Non-protected areas are important announcements, applications, house rules, etc. We don't have forums on these sites, as those are difficult to moderate and you'll often find that things can get out of hand.

Management of a building takes many tools and this is one tool that I'm utilizing and I feel that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.If have the skills to do it, why not use them for something that everyone can gain from.

Very helpful response. WordPress is a good option.

Check this article on a couple, three companies that do sites specifically for co-ops/condos:

http://www.habitatmag.com/publication_content/2009_february/web_exclusive_adaptations/getting_linked_with_building_web_apps