Most Home Owner Associations (HOAs to the uninitiated)
need web sites. Clearly most associations need a web site, they are currently stressed
by today's economy to reduce costs and by today's technology to decrease the
delivery time of information. There's a dead zone there in between those two
pressures, and it's called paper. Associations have to figure out the way to
most effectively deliver the content and information their membership wants and
needs electronically INSTEAD of paper, which is a shift from the previous IN
ADDITION to paper.
HOAs have a third pressure - a general reliance on
volunteers - for getting everything done. Paper, in addition to cost, adds
labor - delivery, printing, etc. Web and email is SO much easier, and quicker.
So what's the hold up?
Delivery, primarily. There's still a sizeable
population out there in the residential world that's not online, and the
residential world is where the HOA operates. For HOAs, this is primarily an
age-related factor, and not one they'll be able to get by immediately, but as
time goes by, it will solve itself. For some HOAs this may also be an economic
issue, in which case the issue may be more problematic.
That does not mean that HOAs shouldn't do anything
yet. There are thousands of HOAs online, and if you take a look at them, you'll
see they are proactively trying to establish email connection with their
members, and using their web sites as resources. Just a few
examples:
to see what kinds of interactive and static resources HOAs can provide online.
The key for HOAs to remember, however, is that building web value takes
time. It takes time to collect the email addresses for email delivery of
information, it takes time to develop online resources for HOA members to
reference - such as bylaws, calendar, and previous board minutes - so the sooner
an HOA starts, the sooner it will reach a critical mass that will retain
appreciation from members. I'd strongly recommend providing a neighborhood an
email discussion group that allows all members of the HOA - but just members of
the HOA - to participate, whether it be sharing recommendations of a plumber or
figuring out a good place for a neighborhood picnic.
In short, if you run an HOA - get started, particularly in collecting email addresses.
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