HOA Strategic

Emails can get you in a mess. Your choice of words in memos and online, too. You don't want to think about it when you're volunteering on an HOA board. You're volunteering!! Who wants to work so hard on words? But they do cause problems. And misunderstandings. And angst. Even lawsuits.

"Fuzzy, terrible writing" is "costing American businesses nearly $400 billion every year," reports the Daily Beast. "Poorly written emails and documents...can result in lawsuits," according to a Georgia newspaper, The Monticello News. These costs slip up on organizations like homeowner associations and their property management companies. We see potential problems all the time in meeting minutes, emails, newsletters and website content. With a word or two causing confusion and misunderstandings. You know how this works. Spotting red flags is what we do. Reach us at hoastrategic@gmail.com

How fun last year seeing a lovable herd of goats chewing their way through overgrown weeds and other vegetation growing wild along scenic trails surrounding a California community association. Surely the herd would be back again this year. But no. This year, the work was being done by tractor-powered mowing machines, "really nifty" equipment capable of trimming "weeds even in those hard-to-reach rutty, rocky places," according to an article in the community association's monthly publication. "That's okay when there's a range of options for clearing wild vegetation, either a herd of goats or mowing equipment." But the article's author wonders "how the goats might have been informed about the change in plans. Maybe the herd's team leader -- a goat named Billy? -- stops by for a chat with the boss. And maybe the boss says something like... "Billy, your team crushed it last year! Outstanding numbers! I'm sure you've se...

He shaped opinion of the infamous ATM surcharge and more. His articles about PR and public opinion ran in Business Insider , American Banker and regional newspapers. He wrote What Homeowner Associations Can Teach Governments About Spending , commentary published in ECHO Journal (the Educational Community For Homeowners magazine) . His columns are featured in a West Coast community association's monthly publication. He's the author of At Least Some PR and HOA Over Easy . (Contact him -- Harvey Radin: hoastrategic@gmail.com )

Big corporate PR staffs work like crazy to get even a little publicity about their companies. And that's all they get much of the time, little or nothing for their effort. Unless their company screws up...that's a different story, so to speak. So when you see stories in the media about organizations or businesses that in all likelihood aren't staffed with an army of PR people, how cool is that? Like TV coverage of a school's unique yearbook. Kids on the yearbook staff added pictures of actors and animated characters, mixing them in among class pictures of the students.  There was good news about a homeowners association saving "millions of gallons of water with native plants." A homeowner attending HOA meetings heard "that more than 40 percent of the budget went to water bills," according to an article in an Audubon publication. The homeowner researched native plants and engaged neighbors in a conservation effort. Irrigation systems were upgraded...

Some examples of thorny issues at HOAs Way too many decorations Showing the flag(s) What a dues-zy/ Of course I can! The HOA edition of the booklet -- At Least Some PR -- has more about thorny HOA issues. At Least Some PR (HOA Edition) is available through Amazon Books.

Measuring words used in HOA communication, in Meeting Minutes for example, is necessary and important. People in communication who work with words all the time think about each and every word. How words will be perceived. Whether words will make sense or not. Whether they will prevent or cause problems. Going over documents, potentially problematic words jump out. They just do. It's a mental process.