What We’ve Learned From the Launch of The Elevator Speech: 22 Weeks and 41 Posts Later

By Edward M. Bury, APR
Director of Marketing and Communications, BOMA/Chicago

BOMA/Chicago is accustomed to taking the lead.  In fact, the concept of building owners and managers working together to support their investments and the industry was started with the founding of BOMA/Chicago in 1902. Over the years, the organization has been a forerunner in labor and governmental relations, and has championed energy conservation and the creation of the world’s first commercial smart grid.

BOMA/Chicago was also one of the first BOMA federations to actively use social media to reach our varied stakeholders, communicate with members and position the organization as a thought leader.  In June, we took a bold step forward with the debut of this blog, designed to be “The online voice of Chicago’s building owners and managers.”

Here’s a snapshot of results stemming from The Elevator Speech to date:

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  Our "Blockbuster Buildings" is our most popular blog post to date.

  The numbers.  As of today, we have more than 3,100 page views.  That translates to around 20 per day.  Our best single-day viewing took place on June 2, when we recorded 145 views of our post on “blockbuster buildings.”

• The bloggers.  We’ve published posts by 14 individuals – ranging from our board president to building and affiliate members to staff – and posts that are attributed to BOMA/Chicago.
• The subjects.  Our bloggers have tackled subjects you would expect, like the benefits of LEED certification, the need for effective recycling and emergency preparedness strategies, as well as some that might be unexpected: Golf scramble etiquette, strategies behind preparing for a scholarship application process and nurturing future property managers.
• The comments.  We’ve only received 16 comments on our posts.  We hope this number will improve, as one key goal of The Elevator Speech is to encourage dialogue.

And, now a few thoughts on what we’ve learned:

• The commitment.  We have committed to publishing at least one post per week.  We’ve averaged a little better than that. One key regular feature is the Friday “What We’re Reading” post, a chronicle of key real estate, business and social events in Chicago.  We’ve learned that publishing a blog takes work and dedication.
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  Clik here to view.The strategies.  Before launching the blog, we developed a marketing plan built upon four key strategies.  Reflecting back on the posts published to date, we’re keeping on target.  Having these guidelines in place helps keep us focused on what we want readers to take away from each post.
• The intangibles.  As noted, we’ve received posts from 14 members.  Their participation signals interest and commitment to BOMA/Chicago and the industry.  We provide a vehicle to communicate and they provide their insights and expertise.

And, one more thing: We’ve realized that competing for attention in the ever-crowded online communications landscape is challenging.  But we’re up for the challenge and remain confident The Elevator Speech will continue to evolve and grow – providing we stay true to our mission to be the “online voice of Chicago’s building owners and managers.”  If you have thoughts on the value behind blogging, we’d welcome them. And, if you’re a BOMA/Chicago member and you’d like to contribute a blog post, please drop me an email at ebury@bomachicago.org.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.