After a lengthy blog sabbatical, we’re happy to be back with some exciting company news which further demostrates our commitment to being a socially responsible organization.  The NeighborHuddle website is now 100% wind-powered!  Since on site wind power is not an option for the NeighborHuddle’s servers, Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are purchased to offset their energy usage.  Through this change, NeighborHuddle is excited to help reduce the amount of energy required from fossil fuels for our services.

“We have been looking for a way to reduce our company’s impact on the environment and I’m thrilled to have found a partner who can help us achieve this goal.” – Kris Petersen, Founder of NeighborHuddle.com

http://condoboard.eventbrite.com/

Join us for an evening of information, collaboration, and community !

Topics Include:

• Ways to Improve Your Associations’ Budget
• Communicating to Your Members with Simple & Sustainable Practices
• Creating an Orientation Program
• Creative Ways to Generate Revenue for the Association
• Emerging Trends that can Affect Your Home and Buildings Value
• Legal Issues that can Arise and How to Deal with Them

In yet another adventure into social media, NeighborHuddle has entered into the world of Twitter. Keep up with the latest NeighborHuddle news and information on community living by following @NeighborHuddle .

NeighborHuddle is proud to present at the inaugural SPARKt real estate technology conference in Chicago on December 10th, 2008. Alongside well known industry experts from Zillow, apartments.com, realtor.org and many others, NeighborHuddle will be discussing our evolution from a simple idea started out of need to a national solution serving a widespread list of clients including HOA/Condo Associations, Realtors and property managers. For more information, please contact Kris Petersen at admin@NeighborHuddle.com.

The inaugural SPARKt Technology Conference features notable national experts and change-agents leading an afternoon of short-form talks (18 minutes each) that challenge each of us to expand our understanding of how technology is changing real estate as we know it. For more information, visit www.SPARKt.org.

On Monday, October 2oth the first sponsored NeighborHuddle community website went live in Chicago.

Under the sponsored model, the community gets the benefits of a NeighborHuddle website free of charge, the sponsor gets valuable advertising and marketing access to the residents and NeighborHuddle continues to grow!

NeighborHuddle would like to thank the Lynn Reidl Team of Real Living Helios Realty and Wolcott Manor Condo Association for helping making this idea a reality!

Visit the condo / HOA sponsorship webpage to learn more about this program.

A non profit organization based in Los Angeles, CA has reached out to NeighborHuddle.com, a carbon neutral business and one of the fastest growing networks of condo and homeowners associations on the Internet, to help build the digital infrastructure for their charity platform.

Both organizations are committed to the active participation of community consciousness and global problem solving, so the joint project seems highly relevant. The California-based charity called The Banana Project was founded by Stacy Hanstad, a former NCAA collegiate basketball player, turned marathon runner, turned triathlete, turned philanthropist. Her basic mission for this project is to raise awareness and funding for an Orphanage in Guatemala, by taking a zero emissions bike trip from California to Central America. Stacy says, “I chose to reach out to NeighborHuddle.com because they are extremely dedicated and passionate about offering Internet tools for community participation and collaboration with a green philosophy.”

Today’s community residents want more than just information from a website. They want to interact with their community and get value out of the time they spend online.  NeighborHuddle is a dedicated space to this mission as well as providing the avenue to store and distribute information in an environmentally friendly fashion. Kris Petersen, founder of NeighborHuddle says, “Our services help residential communities simplify their operations, encourage collaboration and reduce their environmental impact, while connecting to a powerful network of associations in their area.” This is an extremely important and adaptable message across the living spectrum of all major metropolitan areas, as well as rural communities.

NeighborHuddle is an online tool setting the new standard for community websites, which further exemplifies their commitment to being proactive and solution oriented in issues surrounding environmental impact. “NeighborHuddle is about bringing communities together, simplifying operations and reducing the environmental impact. We are very happy to volunteer our time to help initiatives with similar community and environmental objectives. The Banana Project is a worthy endeavor.”

For everybody living large in a condo, NeighborHuddle created an informal group on the social network Facebook called “NeighborHuddle – Kickin’ it condo style!”

Show your love for your condo and join now… http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15931743229

In an effort to expand the professional network of condo board members, community leaders and those that do business with condo associations, NeighborHuddle has introduced the Condo Association (and HOA) Network group on LinkedIn. By joining this group, users will gain access to a network full of professionals with valuable skills and opportunities within the condo association landscape.

Join here, http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/109844/0F1CD04C04E5

Today’s community residents want more than just information from a website. They want to interact with their community and get value out of the time they spend online. At NeighborHuddle, we are constantly working to keep our services on the cutting edge of community websites. In the weeks ahead, we’ll be introducing three new features for our customers: contractor ratings/reviews, complete service request tracking from start to finish and text message reminders for assessment payments.

Are you looking for a reputable plumber? Do you want to know more about the new restaurant up the block? NeighborHuddle’s business rating/review system will allow you to read other user’s experiences and post your own reviews of local businesses. NeighborHuddle’s unique framework will also allow you to read reviews from other communities all from the comfort of your own community website.

Another improvement we’re finalizing is the ability to track service requests from creation through completion within the NeighborHuddle application. Don’t let your issues get buried in someone’s email inbox. By logging community issues in NeighborHuddle, all residents will be able to review, track and comment on issues throughout their life cycle. By keeping a current list of issues readily accessible, residents shouldn’t be reporting duplicate problems and hopefully there will be a quicker turnaround time for fixes.

Last, but not least, for those residents who are always on the go or just can’t seem to remember to pay the monthly assessments on time, NeighborHuddle is introducing a free text message assessment reminder service. At the beginning of every month, participating residents will receive a friendly reminder so they can avoid those expensive late fees.

Business reviews, request tracking, text messages…this isn’t your parent’s community website!