The 2017 Canadian Multi-Res Tenant Survey conducted by Informa Canada showed that 85% of renters take less than two months to find their rentals. Your marketing website and ILS listings through RentCafe are designed to help get their attention during that crucial time. But for a truly effective marketing approach that makes the maximum impact during those two months (and beyond), there are a couple more tools you can add to your toolkit. RENTCafé CRM and RentCafe Connect are two solutions that integrate with RentCafe and Yardi Voyager to better manage prospect, applicant and resident workflows. RentCafe CRM simplifies leasing and resident services by putting everything leasing staff needs in one mobile interface, making it easier to follow up with leads and provide expert service from anywhere. RentCafe Connect is a budget-friendly contact center solution that supports your team with automated call answering and on-demand live support – so prospects and residents get the service they need 24/7. Using these tools in conjunction with RentCafe helps property managers improve onsite efficiency while managing the prospect to resident lifecycle, as well as improve spend and retention. Take a closer look at the four benefits of integrating your marketing strategy using the tools in the Yardi Marketing Suite. Simplify Operations Connecting these three solutions automates the entire leasing process, increasing visibility for you and your staff. When online leads and applications come through RentCafe, your prospects’ data instantly appears in RENTCafé CRM – no duplicate manual entry required. Follow-ups are automatically scheduled based on your custom criteria, giving your staff a clear picture of what needs to happen next to convert each lead into a lease. There are follow-ups for residents too that help automate the move-in, move-out and lease renewal process, making this a true...

A case study reveals the rewarding results of a Yardi-led search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) campaign for Westdale, a national real estate investment and property management company. Using RentCafe Reach, Yardi tested, analyzed and optimized mobile ad campaigns for Westdale to produce fast results. These included a 160% increase in leads, 81% of which came from mobile devices like tablets and phones! About Westdale Westdale is headquartered in Dallas with six regional offices through the country. It focuses on acquiring, managing and developing investment opportunities and oversees approximately 200 properties in more than 30 cities. Westdale’s goal during the campaign was to work with Yardi to differentiate its communities from the competition and reach more potential renters. Process The case study focused on a RentCafe Reach campaign targeting rental leads. For Westdale’s campaign in a competitive Class A apartment rental market, Yardi researched, planned and executed SEO and SEM strategies to improve lead generation from organic and paid search results. Yardi is a certified Google AdWords partner, and RentCafe Reach campaign management is executed by Google AdWords Certified Specialists. This campaign used expanded text ads and other Google AdWords products. Conversion tracking throughout the campaign was used to support data driven marketing decisions. Results & Metrics The combination of SEO and SEM tactics created a large footprint in search results for Westdale, driving more qualified lead candidates. As a result, Westdale saw a significant improvement in the quality of both online and offline conversions at a lower cost. 160% increase in leads 66% increase in conversion rate 56% reduction in cost per lead Westdale’s Takeaways “When properties experience issues with low occupancy, combining SEO and AdWords brings immediate results,” said Jaymz Yates, director of technology at Westdale. “Yardi has fined...

Video continues to rise to the top of the digital marketing playbook. If you’re skeptical about the power of video, consider that almost 50% of internet users look for videos related to a product or service before visiting a store. And four times as many customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. Video content can also improve SEO, increase engagement and boost brand loyalty and awareness. Within the realm of real estate, the industry – from retail to residential to student housing – is finding creative ways to leverage video. What’s clear is video isn’t going anywhere, so it’s time to jump in feet first. Facebook Live offers an interactive, free and highly visible way to engage with an audience. The platform now sees 8 billion average daily video views from 500 million users. With help from social media experts, in-depth tutorials and best practice tips, even the most novice user can become a Facebook Live pro.   Here are five tips to rock Facebook Live: Step 1: Ask permission If you plan to live stream other people, ask for permission before you record them. Keep in mind some conferences and venues may have strict no streaming policies. When in doubt, ask. Step 2: Game plan Some questions to inform your live video strategy: Why do you want to do live video? Who are you hoping to reach? What do you want this audience to do? What will you talk about? How long will you go live for? Facebook recommends 10 to 90 minutes, but even 5 minutes is great. Do what feels right for your organization and your viewers. Where will you go live from? Walk the room and consider reserving a spot in front. Minimal background...

Yesterday, we laid the foundations of a strong online presence. We now continue with how to gather insights from analytics to inform marketing and retention decisions. Micro-Adjustments Lead to Success When vacancy rates inch upward, resist the urge to slash prices. “Price should be the last negotiable item, not the first,” advises Sawh. Examine your SEM data, which will show leads generated and which keywords drive conversions.  Use that information to adjust pay-per-click ads, the easiest marketing factor to manipulate. In a case study, Bell needed to fill several 2-bedroom units. Data revealed that people who visited the website’s Pets page were most likely to reach goal completion. The team marketed 2-bedroom units to pet lovers to successfully fill the units. You can also make adjustments based on prospects’ objections to visits and objections to leasing. Leverage Soft Data “Business intelligence tools can give you a purview in but it doesn’t tell you the story. Customer insight is the soft data, the human touch,” says Weaver. SEO and SEM generate traffic but once traffic is translated into website and site visits, ORM and customer relationship management (CRM) capture data about visitors. Both give insights into why visitors chose to lease (or not) with your property. Use data gleaned from ORM to tweak the resident and prospect experience. If several reviews indicate that the marketing doesn’t match the product, for example, it’s time to update your gallery and re-examine your marketing message. With prospects, poor follow-through lets many conversions slip away. “It will take eight times of someone telling you no before they say yes,” explains Norbury. “Three points of contact aren’t enough.” “What we tend to forget is that we paid, maybe $20, for the phone to ring. If we don’t answer or don’t...

The National Apartment Association (NAA) recently hosted the 2017 Education Conference in Atlanta. Marketing Maneuvers: Data in the Driver’s Seat explores how data can inform marketing decision and maximize revenue. Panelists included Candace Weaver, Director of Marketing, Bell Partners; Diana Norbury, Vice President, Multifamily Operations, Pillar Properties; and moderator Dharmendra Sawh, Industry Principal, Revenue Management and Business Intelligence Sales at Yardi. The trio reinforces the importance of operations, revenue management, and marketing working together to reach goals. Below are three takeaways from the session: Understand the “Magic Mix” Before you can gather data, four key components must be in place to generate web-based data sets: SEO– search engine optimization is how your site is written to interact well with search engines. If you don’t have this solid foundation, you’ll have to work harder and spend more on SEM. Quality SEO contributes to higher organic rankings. SEM– search engine marketing includes paid search features. It is second best to organic rankings. “In one of our properties, there were an average 497 organic views but an average 690 views with paid search. Paid search will boost you but you can’t do SEM well without SEO,” explains Weaver. SEM comes with unique benefits as well. In one Bell case study, only 23 percent of leads came from SEM yet those leads made up 43 percent of total conversions. ORM -online reputation management entails how your brand is perceived online. This includes but is not limited to reviews and comments on your site and third party sites. Both Norbury and Weaver recommend having designated reputation management teams. “Of the 2 percent of people that click ‘Reviews’ on our property website, they have a 46 percent chance of converting,” says Weaver. SMO- social media optimization may overlap with ORM...

Today’s renters expect to be able to find and interact with your company everywhere, all the time. But does that mean you’re suddenly able to hire more staff for around the clock support? Of course not. Marketing automation is your secret weapon in an increasingly busy digital marketplace. Marketing automation streamlines repetitive tasks, follows user behavior and delivers targeted content to get customers into your leasing pipeline and help you keep them as loyal residents once they’ve moved in. It drives efficiency for the marketer and leasing manager while creating a more personalized experience for the customer. Watch a quick video about marketing automation. We talked with Esther Bonardi, vice president of marketing here at Yardi, for her perspective on the evolution of property marketing technology. “Property marketers have to constantly innovate to keep pace with consumer trends and demands,” said Bonardi. “Marketing automation is one way even smaller marketing teams can do that and have a big impact without breaking the bank.” 3 Ways Marketing Automation Is Changing Property Marketing Larger Reach Marketing automation tools like ILS data syndication and social media bulk posting help property marketers reach a larger audience with less effort. Instead of manually entering details like vacancy information, pricing, policies and contact information repeatedly – increasing the likelihood of human error each time – internet listings can be automatically and accurately updated across multiple sites with information from your property management software. Social media posts can be created just once and then scheduled and shared across popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Reach thousands of viewers each week without sucking time out of every work day. Better Service Bonardi points out that marketing automation isn’t just a way to work faster, it’s a way to market more effectively. “Marketing...

We could all use just a little more time to get everything checked off our to-do lists. If you’re a property manager at any size property, you and your team have a seemingly endless list of daily tasks, from interacting with new prospects to taking resident payments. Fortunately, modern technology is evolving to help speed things up at work. Advances in online services mean many processes that once had to be done by hand can now be automated. Recently, a few clients have shared quantifiable time savings they’re seeing at their businesses as a result of implementing better property management software. Take a look to see where you could be saving hours every month. Online Applications: 15+ minutes per application How much time do onsite teams spend entering application data? Mallory Monsma, marketing leader at NALS, estimates that online applications save its leasing agents 15 minutes each. In August of 2016, the team processed 347 applications, resulting in a time savings of 87 hours. If you’re using esignatures and completing the leasing process entirely online, your time savings will be even greater. Not to mention all the savings you’ll accrue surrounding printing, mailing, paper costs and physical storage. Online Payments: 4+ minutes per payment Monsma says that automated payment processing saves at least two minutes per check and a 20-minute roundtrip to the bank for every 10 checks. These numbers might seem small, but they quickly add up across a portfolio. In a month with 11,000 online payments, the NALS team saved 44,000 minutes (733 hours). Getting onboard with online payments also adds convenience for renters and speeds up cash flow. Roscoe Properties collects 95% of its rent electronically, quickly and on time. Mariana Estrada, vice president of operations, enthused, “That’s massive! That’s money...

We are thrilled to officially unveil RentCafe Reach. This advanced set of marketing services is designed to attract qualified prospects to your multifamily properties through SEO, SEM and enhanced online property listings on the RentCafe.com ILS. As a certified Google Partner, we’re ready to help you elevate your search and lead generation programs to the Big Leagues. SEO & SEM Services for the Real Estate Industry The RentCafe Reach digital marketing team is comprised of Google certified experts in both Google AdWords for paid traffic and Google Analytics for organic traffic. This allows us to use Google as resource to answer questions and identify future opportunities. Our SEM program is a full-service offering from research to setup and fine-tuning, plus remarketing, conversion tracking and display advertising. The SEO program is also a full-service solution with content optimization, on- and off-page optimization, website health checks and location data management through our partnership with Yext. This ensures our clients receive only the absolute best-in-industry, white hat strategies and tactics for improving their websites’ performance while actively protecting them against black hat techniques that get flagged by search engines and harm the performance of search results, ads, websites and brands. Stay Ahead of the Competition We understand how daunting it is to launch an entire digital marketing program. And the perils of working alone without a partner to guide you. What is a SERP? Or Semantic Search and PageRank? What’s the difference between display network and search ads? Or regular text ads vs. expanded text ads and the comparative click-through-rates? We heard your questions and took them to heart so we can help you, our clients, reach beyond the fold and seize the leads that make the difference and drive business results. Today’s digital space is as...

Multifamily marketers from across the country converged in Huntington Beach for the 2017 Apartment Internet Marketing (AIM) Conference on May 7-10. Several hundred professionals gathered to explore the industry’s latest marketing trends and best practices. Here are three ideas from this year’s event that might buoy your marketing efforts: Tell Your Story Marketing is not just an exercise in generating the lowest cost per lead. It’s a complex combination of creativity and strategy that ultimately tells a story to potential customers. In a world of constant digital distraction, today’s marketers need to have the skills to create content that will rise above the noise. When it comes to creating engaging content, authentic storytelling and video rule. AIM panelists Jamie Matusek, President of Catalyst, Lori Valenti Webb, Director of Marketing at Wood Residential Services, and Anna Geary, Founder of Show My Property TV, explored the ideal customer experience. Matusek explained that experiences progress through the Happiness Halo framework, from anticipation to interaction to afterglow. Anticipation is the process of building excitement, teasing potential customers into wanting to know more. This can be seen in pre-event promotion and behind-the-scenes videos. Interaction immerses customers in an experience, providing emotional direction to aid in decision making. Multifamily application could be a time-constrained promotion, such as a rent discount, or highlighting property perks, such as free recreation classes or dog-friendly happy hours. Afterglow focuses on creating a positive memory, reinforcing brand positivity. As Matusek explained, bad things will happen, such as a poorly executed maintenance request or a negative front office visit, so it’s important to positively direct the sentiments with each resident touch point. Crafting an effective story can combine these three concepts into any medium, from a blog or social media post to a video. At AIM, video was...

Are you familiar with the Yardi Marketing Forum? This biannual event brings multifamily marketers from across the country together for three days of fun, education and inspiration. We just wrapped up our first forum of the year in beautiful Austin, Texas. If you couldn’t attend, here are the top five marketing takeaways that were shared by our guest presenters. Stop Hunting, Start Cultivating Anders Bergstrom, marketing director for Sanuk, opened the Yardi Marketing Forum with his keynote address on “Surfing the Waves of Consumer Change.” He stressed the need in every industry to build a lifelong fan base, instead of targeting consumers with marketing that kills the relationship after the sale. “When it comes to your audience, cultivate. Think of yourselves as farmers,” shared Bergstrom. “Become aware. Become curious. Become advocates for your clients.” Watch the recording of Anders’ presentation on Facebook. Dial in Prospect & Resident Communications Do you feel like your marketing messages are getting lost in today’s increasingly crowded digital space? For our session on “Getting Heard in a Noisy World,” we were joined by Nikki Crosby from Buckingham Companies, Mallory Monsma from NALS and Yardi’s Nima Farkhak to talk about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to interacting with residents and prospects. The panel consistently reinforced the need to be present everywhere your customers are. Crosby noted that Buckingham properties that use social media remarketing far outperform properties that don’t. Monsma shared email tips that have resulted in a phenomenal 50% open rate for NALS, including keeping subjects snappy, limiting frequency and scheduling the month’s emails in advance through RentCafe. And Farkhak talked about the importance of live chat, citing a case study that netted a RentCafe Connect user an $80 return for every $1 spent. “The best...

Want to get in touch with your residents? SatisFacts 2017 Online Renter study reveals that 88 percent of respondents prefer to be contacted via email; 73 percent ask to be contacted by cell phone, and 50 percent request text communication.   Each method of communication has its own best practices. Dive into these nine tips for effective responsiveness. EMAIL Email is old news but effective email techniques constantly change. You must find a way to make your emails stand out in inboxes that are flooded with spam and competitors. These tips may keep your emails from the trash folder: 1. HubSpot reports that 33 percent of email recipients decide whether or not to open an email based on the subject alone. Subject lines matter! Since 40 percent of emails are read via mobile device, keep your subject 30-50 characters max. Make the subject interactive by leading with a verb. “Party with us tomorrow night!” is more enticing than, “There is a party tomorrow night!” If you have an incentive, notify the reader in the subject line, such as “Get 10% off rent next month.” Add emojis at your own risk. Research tells us that readers dread all caps and excessive punctuation. More than 85 percent of respondents prefer an all-lowercase subject line to one in all caps. But emojis are a relatively new terrain. When used sparingly, they can make a good headline stand out. Downside: they might not translate well across devices and carriers. Also, certain demographics (and not others) appreciate emoji use. Lastly, integrate numbers when you can. Numbers stand out among text and they provide context. “2 weeks until your lease renewal” will have a higher click-through rate than “renew your lease soon.” 2. Timing matters. Consider the subject of your email...

OMG’s, LOLZ’s, puppy-dog faces and flower crowns. Snapchat is sometimes reduced to these simple stereotypes and thought of as something to entertain the kids when the adults get tired of the noise at family dinners. But noise and chaos are staples of modern life, for company and consumer alike. And as the godfather of guerilla tactics, Sun Tzu, expounded upon millennia ago, “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” When fully leveraged, Snapchat can be used to cut through the chaotic noise, both at family gatherings and in today’s rental marketplaces, to turn potential opportunity into new prospects. Background All social media platforms once represented an unconventional and unrealized marketing space. This is no longer the case. Snapchat is one of the many recent social frontiers that qualifies as a guerilla marketing opportunity for brands. It’s a place where you can outmaneuver your competition through unconventional and creative means (without a huge budget), thereby gaining greater exposure and winning. Some continue to dismiss Snapchat as “just an app.” At one point, the doubters may have been correct, but as the scope of Snapchat’s business has expanded so has their reach. It’s now a social media platform that competes closely with the companies typically identified as giants in the space. Case Study So you want proof, eh? The intrepid property managers at Continental Realty Corporation (CRC) just so happen to be early Snapchat adopters, and they were kind enough to share the data of some recent campaigns with us. In October 2016, CRC ran two Snapchat filter campaigns for onsite events, one in the commercial space and one in the residential space. At the commercial property, CRC ran a custom filter for the “Jerry Adams Chili Cookoff.” The Snapchat filter campaign lasted for...

Team Yardi was lucky enough to attend the 5th annual Multifamily Social Media Summit in Napa during the first week of February this year. This conference brings together a wide variety of speakers from within and without the real estate industry to talk about the impact of social media on marketing, leasing and more. We’re always happy to get out there and hear new trends and challenges being discussed – as well as meet with clients from social savvy companies like Pinnacle, Reside Living and Monarch Investment and Management Group. This year we left the summit with three big social trend takeaways: Live Video Is Happening If you’ve been waiting for live video to go away, raise your hand. (You can’t see me, but I’m holding mine up sheepishly.) You might be thinking, “But I don’t want to be on camera, and the quality is unprofessional. Who would want to watch it anyway?” Everyone, it turns out. Keynote speaker Joel Comm, an author and entrepreneur who has hundreds of thousands of social media followers, was the first to bring it up. “Live video is the most significant leap in social media since the iPhone,” he said. “You now have the power in your hand to go live and reach the world… and your communities. It will give you an unfair advantage over your competitors.” Multiple speakers urged property managers to use live video to get potential residents to know, like and trust their brands by providing useful information. Joel even thoughtfully provided a list of live video ideas specific to multifamily:   Show an empty apartment Showcase a furnished apartment Meet the staff Explore the neighborhood Show building in progress Show new amenities Tour the fitness center or pool Broadcast an event Walk through...

Did you know that Baby Boomers are the second largest demographic in multifamily housing? Most companies only spend five percent of their advertising budget (and even less effort) on this growing group. Don’t be like them. We’ve got eight tips to master online marketing to Baby Boomers. State your cost—clearly—and why your property is worth it. This fundamental tip is especially relevant to Boomers. They have a lot of money to invest in companies that meet their needs. According to this Nielsen report, Boomers currently control about 70 percent of all disposable income in the US. In the next 20 years, they are set to inherit $13 trillion more. If your property meets their needs, they won’t need sales tricks to buy in. Ensure that your marketing story explains how your property can meet and exceed their expectations. They will be willing to pay top dollar. Highlight the conveniences of renting. Many Boomers opt to rent so that they can explore other interests without the burdens of homeownership. The amenities that set your rentals apart from homeownership are valuable selling features. As former homeowners, many Boomers know that property maintenance is hard work. Boomers will appreciate the assurance of prompt maintenance services. Highlight residents’ access to Online Maintenance Requests through Yardi RentCafe®. The tool will appeal to their desire for convenience. Tell the story of the active, hip Boomer. Boomers don’t want to be reminded that they’re aging. This generation focuses on an active lifestyle and exploring new interests. Feature local hiking trails, parks, and your community fitness classes on your website and social media. Let them envision living the lifestyle that they crave while in your community. Note that Boomers not done living it up. While some are caregivers and part-time babysitters for...

Remember when property marketing was all about foot traffic? Not anymore. In this digital era, an increasing number of apartment seekers start their search online, long before they ever set foot in your leasing office. And the most recent NMHC Kingsley Renter Preferences Study showed that 80% of renters visited the community or company wesite during their apartment search. As a savvy property manager, you already know that online is the name of the game. And you’ve got a website for your property. But how do you get people to visit it? Not everyone has the budget or staff for paid search ads. Fortunately, that’s not the only answer. Here are three inexpensive things you can do to drive more traffic to your property websites. Go Mobile First things first, you can’t get traffic if it can’t find you. Not only is a mobile-friendly website important for easy viewing from a phone, it’s also critical to help your site get found during mobile searches. In fact, did you hear about “Mobilegeddon” in April 2015? This was when Google updated its algorithm so that only responsive websites appeared in mobile search results.  A lot of US businesses lost search traffic because they weren’t mobile friendly. Don’t let that happen to you! First, update your website to a responsive design that works on any size screen to make sure it appears in all search results. Then be sure to include important details that mobile searchers may be looking for near the top of the page. Give them easy access to your phone number, office hours and vacancies. Brand Everything Your property website is one of your most powerful marketing tools. Are you using it to your full advantage? It’s time to put your website address on...

You’ve probably heard the saying, “You can’t manage what you haven’t measured.” What exactly do you do once resident satisfaction has been measured? The data within your resident survey results can pave the road for a more profitable and enjoyable property—if you optimize use of the data.   Make a Plan Before you issue the survey, get team leaders onboard with the process. When leaders are vested in the survey, they will provide enthusiasm, structure and accountability among staff members. Enthusiasm for surveys may be hard to muster. If your leadership sees surveys as a public roast, they are less inclined to throw themselves on the chopping block. The first step is to change the way that the staff sees surveys. Kristin Van Ramshorst, Social Media Specialist at Yardi, encourages clients to see all feedback as good feedback. “Any feedback – positive, negative, or in between – is good feedback and a way to offer better customer service,” says Van Ramshorst. “Respond to negative feedback in a way that is timely, empathetic and identifies solutions. Often times responding in a timely manner can also deescalate complex resident complaints and take the conversation offline faster.” Your plan may also include a strategy for compensation and responsibility dissemination. Consider: Will your property have specific hours for responding to issues brought up in the surveys? How will your staff be compensated for responding outside of normal business hours? Outside of normal business hours, are auto-response messages (i.e. Facebook Messenger) a good option for your property? If there are technical or legal issues reported in a complaint, which individuals at your company or corporate will you escalate the inquiry to? What resources (i.e. training, staff, equipment) do you currently have available at your property to respond to social...

“The Millennials are coming, the Millennials are coming!” We’ve all heard some version of this over the last few years, but now they’re here and ready to rent. Are your properties positioned to get their attention? Here are six simple ways to attract more Millennials to your vacant properties. Learn how you can help them find, like, and trust you, so they will take the next step to becoming residents. Be found on mobile. According to Google, more searches now take place on mobile devices than on computers, and 87% of Millennials always have their smartphones handy – day or night. That means if you want today’s young renters to move in, they need to be able to find you when they’re searching on their phones. Is your property website optimized for viewing on mobile devices? If not, you’re missing out on valuable prospects and possibly not even ranking in search engines at all. Display accurate information instantly. Don’t waste anyone’s time by making your unit availability or prices hard to find. Millennials may be online often, but they’re in a huge hurry! Google tells us that while mobile sessions are increasing, time spent per site visit has decreased 18% in the last year alone. If searchers can’t quickly find the answers they need about your property, they’ll move on, rather than spend more time digging for information. Save yourself extra hassle (and data entry hours) by using online property management software that automatically and accurately updates your internet listings for you on multiple ILS sites. Use great photos. Don’t use outdated or blurry photos on your website, and definitely avoid stock photography whenever possible. Millennials are photo-savvy, thanks to their smartphones and photo-sharing sites like Instagram and Snapchat. They expect to see authentic...

The invitation-only Yardi Marketing Forum is designed to help professionals excel in marketing multifamily real estate. Attendees participate in focused discussions, interactive training, and engaging social activities—but first, they designated time to uplift the local community in Seattle. For the second segment of this biannual event, clients representing more than 35 companies from throughout the U.S. convened in Seattle. The forum kicked off with a welcome reception at W Seattle before heading to Cooking for a Cause at Blue Ribbon Cooking School. Cooking for a Cause is a corporate team building initiative that benefits local charities. For this event, the Yardi team volunteered to support ROOTS Young Adults Shelter, a nonprofit organization that fosters dignity for its clients through access to essential services and a safe place to sleep. One of the most essential services is access to a healthy meal. Cooking for a Cause participants prepare top-notch meals for those in need. The menu for the Yardi team included shepherds’ pie, grilled lime-marinated chicken and veggies, truffle mac n’ cheese, and chocolate molten lava cake for dessert—all from scratch. The group divided into teams with a chef at each helm to ensure smooth operations and delicious results. Participants peeled, chopped, diced, grilled, and baked together. A conga lined helped pass the time as the participants waited on the ovens. Cooking for a Cause was a huge success. The group furnished hundreds meals for ROOTS Young Adults Shelter. “It was a really fun experience. The atmosphere was…warm,” laughs Geneva Ives, marketing writer on the Yardi team. “We were in there cooking up a sweat! But it was also fun, friendly, and energetic. It was a nice collaborative effort.” Of course, the novice cooks reaped the benefits of their labor. The team enjoyed a meal...