‘Tis the season! It’s here! We’re as shocked as you are to learn that 2021 is coming to an end, but we’ve got the best holiday resident event ideas to get you through this season.
As a reminder, a few things you want to make sure you have set up in place for all your resident events are:
- Make it easy for residents to RSVP (either through your resident app or an RSVP link)
- Promote the event as if there’s no tomorrow (you should spend more time marketing the event than on planning the event itself)
- Give rewards to residents who submit event pics (you can use them on social media or your website)
These 3 things are extremely easy to accomplish if you have a free Flamingo account, but you can also do them on your own. If you are interested in getting a free Flamingo account, visit our website by clicking here.
1. Thanksgiving Turkey Cooking Class
Entertaining can be stressful, especially when you’re the one cooking the turkey. Residents appreciate when events have an educational touch, and they’ll love having the opportunity to learn how to cook a turkey during this season. A nice thing about this event is that it can be virtual (you can have a lot more guests if you do a virtual class) or in person (and make it fun by providing wine during the class!). Even if it’s not for Thanksgiving, lot’s of people cook turkey for Christmas as well, and that makes this class a hit.
2. Holiday Pop Up Meals
This event gives your residents the opportunity to enjoy a delicious meal in a COVID friendly way. You can partner with a local restaurant and create a nice menu of meals that your residents can either pick up or you could drop off at the individual apartments. It’s safe for everyone but still has that holiday spirit. A holiday pop up meal basically takes the traditional grab n’ go breakfast and turns into a nice, more upscale event.
3. Boozy Irish Coffee Bar
This event mixes two of the most popular beverages in the world, coffee and alcohol. This resident event should be especially popular in places where the weather is getting much colder. We recommend going for a Saturday or Sunday morning so that your residents have time to interact with each other and have fun together.
One thing to consider with any resident event you’re planning is making sure it’s Instagrammable; and a Boozy Irish Bar definitely has the Instagram effect. Encourage your residents to take pictures and post them on social media and tag the building, or email them to you so that you can use them on your socials or website.
Another great way to fully take advantage of a resident event like this is to make it a recurring event. For example, you could do Boozy Irish Coffee Bar every Saturday for the month of December.
4. Outdoor Holiday Movie
Another classic resident event! People love movies and people love holidays, so this combo really knocks it out of the park. Depending on the movie, it’s a great family-friendly because it allows them to have time with their kids, meet their neighbors, and have fun with the whole community. One way you can take it to the next level is providing popcorn and snacks. Or you can actually combine an event like this with multiple different events, like with the boozy irish coffee or hot cocoa and cookies to keep it PG 13.
5. Santa Meet & Greet
This one is great fun for kids or the people who are still kids inside. Another very family-friendly event that’s just perfect for the holiday season. What’s nice about an event like this is this that you can invite the whole neighborhood or prospects. These types of events are great because they allow you to really expand your reach win the hearts and minds of prospects. We recommend teaming up with you marketing team for these type events because you can get a bigger budget and do a much better event. It’s a win for everyone because residents are happy, prospects are happy, and the whole team is happy.
6. Gingerbread Cookie Decorating Class
Fun, holiday-themed and very family-friendly! A gingerbread cookie decorating class is always lots of fun because it’s very hands on. People love learning how to do stuff, especially if you have something to show for at the end of the class; so what could be better than having (and eating) your very own gingerbread cookie creation? We specially love that this is also very Instagrammable; so create a hashtag beforehand that you share with your residents and make sure they tag the building on all their pics! There’ll be plenty.
7. Holiday Trivia (Hosted by Santa!)
A holiday spin on an event that is typically really popular. A trivia hosted by Santa goes along with the season and it’s such a fun event because it is extremely interactive and it’s something that your residents either already do or have always secretly wanted to try it out.
There are multiple ways you can go about doing this type of trivia; it could be a recurring (monthly or seasonal basis); it could be individual or in groups; it could be family-friendly or catered for adults by providing beer or wine. It’s really up to you and the type of resident experience you’re going for.
8. Ugly Sweater Party
Why do a regular holiday party if you can do an ugly sweater party?! Ugly sweater parties have been around for a while and there’s a reason for that, people love them! It’s a fun event that allows residents to dress funny, meet their neighbors, eat some food, listen to music and really get into the holiday spirit. This is also an easy event to combine with others, like the Boozy Irish Coffee or even an Ugly Sweater Contest. Some of the Halloween parties that had the most engagement were the ones where the building organized a costume contest and opened voting to the whole building through the resident app or their FB. It extends the life of your event and will have people talking about it for days!
9. Santa Brownies Day
Another fun, family-friendly and delicious event! You could also make it a recurring event and have Santa Brownies Day Fridays for the month of December. It’s a nice, cheap way to bring joy to your residents’ days. Kids love it, adults love it; it’s a no brainer.
10. Christmas Carols
Christmas carols is an absolute resident favorite. It’s also more dynamic than you’d think because you could go for a live band or a quartet. It depends on the vibe you’re going for. This is a resident event that could also cater your prospects or your whole neighborhood. It’s a nice way to build community and to get everyone in the Christmas spirit.
11. Hot Cocoa & Cookies Fridays
Another event that’s perfect as a recurring (weekly) resident event. This is something you can set up in your lobby throughout the holiday season, so that residents can just grab and go. It’ll put a smile on everyone, it’s easy and cheap to set up and it adds a holiday touch (almost decoration) to your lobby.
12. Santa Showdown Party
Similar to the Ugly Sweater Party, this fun event allows residents to dress up as Santa and then participate in a contest! Again, extremely Instagrammable because, trust us, your residents will want to show off their outfits. Nothing will get people in the holiday spirit more than dressing us as Santa and going to a party.
EXTRA: Holiday Cocktails
A classic spin on your cocktail making event. Don’t ask us why, but mixology events are by far one of our most popular events in the Flamingo Marketplace. Making a mixology class all about holiday cocktails will definitely guarantee a high attendance and lots of event pictures.
These 12 holiday resident event ideas (plus an extra) are all available on our Flamingo Marketplace NOW. If you want to book any of these events, you can create your free account here.
As a bonus, here’s a presentation and a video recording of our webinar on the topic:
