2010 Broadband Properties Summit Recap

This is a guest post by Tom Stender -- VP & CTO of InfiniSys Electronic Architects -- that was originally posted on the InfiniSys site.

The 2010 Broadband Properties Summit was held April 26th through the 28th in Addison, Texas. While I am not sure if the actual numbers are in, attendance appeared to be up over last year.

As in previous years, the sessions were divided into different tracks so an attendee could get the most out of what really interested them. There was the FTTH Track, the Multifamily Track, the Editors Choice Track, and a special one day Broadband for Rural Prosperity forum that was sponsored by the Rural Telecommunications Congress.

My main interest was the Multifamily Track; however, the tracks were laid out in such a way as to allow several sessions and keynotes covering FTTH and Rural Broadband to be attended as well. All of which provided a wealth of information.

The Multifamily Track contained a good cross section of representatives from various telecom service providers, property owners, low voltage contractors and other industry consultants. Each provided their own insight and expertise on the wide array of panels which ranged in topic from the Future of Multifamily Design to Resident Choice, Due Diligence, Bulk Services, and others. The subject of resident choice and multiple providers came up frequently, even on panels where it wasn’t the main subject. It is obvious that this is a very important subject to owners and providers at this point. In my opinion, this track was a great educational resource for those that were new to the Summit as well as for the folks that attend regularly, as the magazine staff planned well in their selection of subjects for the track sessions.

The Exhibit Hall held a wide array of folks ranging from the major service providers to equipment manufacturers and was open multiple times each day for attendees to peruse. There were many products and services being displayed, but a few things that caught my eye were the release of the new SWM32 module for DirecTV MFH-2 delivery (supports up to 32 apartments in a single wall mountable package) and the Foxcom repackaged BsmarTV equipment (a simple kit utilizing a single fiber and compact, easy-to-mount electronics).

As always, Broadband Properties, with the help of their major event sponsors provided for plenty of great networking opportunities.

All in all, I found it to be a great educational event, and my hat goes off to Scott Degarmo, Steve Ross and the rest of the organizers and volunteers for their efforts to help put this together. The only thing that would make it better would be to have more property owners and managers to receive the education that is available at an event like this.

What are your biggest technology questions? What topics would you most like to see covered at events like this? Let us know!

Top Technology Trends for 2009

Want to know the technology trends that will have the greatest impact on the multifamily industry this year? Yeah ... me, too.

That's why I'm glad I got to interview Richard Holtz of InfiniSys and Steve Sadler of Post Properties today as part of our first Multifamily Technology webinar. (I'll post the full recording soon.)

Both of these guys are experts in their field, and it was interesting to get the different perspectives from the consultant (Richard) and the property developer/owner (Steve). They talked about everything from fiber optic cabling to fitness equipment.

Lastly, I can't say thank you enough to the people who dialed into the call ... you all rock. There were so many great questions, I think it will definitely warrant similar events in the future. If you have any feedback, additional questions or ideas for future events (including format), feel free to contact me anytime or speak your mind in the comments.

Until I can get the full recording posted, here is the slide presentation these guys ran through today:

Multifamily Technology: Winning Ideas for 2009

View SlideShare presentation

Know a great speaker/expert with knowledge about multifamily technology that just blows you away? Give me a call (386.236.1530) ... we're looking for folks to participate in our future events.

Retrofitting Your Property: Taking a Different Approach

I'm late posting this, but I wanted to share the presentation I gave last week at the NMHC's Apartment Technology Conference.

The topic was "Voice, Video, and Data Infrastructure: Retrofitting Existing Properties" -- I sat on a panel with Mike Kolb of Cautela Solutions and Scott Skokan of Bozzuto. Mike knows a heck of a lot more than I do about the nuts and bolts and dollar figures that go into the actual upgrade of a property's network, but my job was to frame the conversation in terms of what residents expect when it comes to technology today.

Here are the slides:

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: nmhc apartment)

The basic premise is that our residents see advancing technology all around them ... except in their apartment, in many cases. When you're considering the retrofit of a property's wiring, make sure you are asking the right questions, considering your residents' expectations and most importantly, thinking about how long you expect the upgrades to last.

Wi-Fi and cellular coverage were major concerns throughout the conversation, and measuring the return on any investment in infrastructure is always a question. It also seemed as if there is a groundswell developing for a technology rating standard (similar to the LEED system) for apartment communities.

Of course, there's a whole lot more that goes into it than just these few items. Feel free to post your questions, comments or horror stories about property wiring retrofits in the comments, on the Multifamily Technology discussion boards, or contact Mike Kolb or me anytime.

Thanks to Larry Kessler and NMHC for giving me the opportunity to speak.

Plan for the View

Location is everything in the multifamily business.

So doesn't it stand to reason that as many details as possible should take location into consideration, even while the property is being designed?

Let's look at an example of what I mean by this.

Below is a building in design that will be built on the New Jersey waterfront, featuring beautiful views of the Manhattan skyline for the community's residents. The property owner realized very early during the design that they wanted this view to be the focal point of as many units as possible.

While the focal point of each unit changes, there are still only a small number of floorplan layouts. This means that two residents living in the same floorplan on opposite sides of the building (North and South in this case) will likely orient their furniture in different ways to take advantage of the best view afforded by their particular unit's location.

Let me show you what I mean... In the image below, the units along the left side of this building face away from the water, offering only a streetfront view: (Click on any of the images below to enlarge.)

The residents in these units are less likely to orient their furniture in one specific way -- the view isn't a primary consideration when determining where the TV, and TV outlet location, will be positioned in the unit. So, we choose the most likely TV location in the living room and locate the wallplate there (Outlet #3 in the middle of this image.):

Now let's consider the units on the opposite side of the building -- the side that offers the premium views of the waterfront and skyline.

The units with this particular floorplan (on Floors 3-8 in this case) are marked in black in the image below:

As you can see, the units are located on both the North and South sides of the building, so the units will feature varying views based on the specific locations throughout the building.

We still want each resident to enjoy the panoramas, both on the screen and out the window. In the plans below, we have identified where each unit is located in the building, considered where residents would locate their couch and other furniture to be able to see the skyline, then located the TV outlets to fit that view-oriented furniture layout. This prevents the resident from running ugly cables across the floor to connect their TV where they want it. You can see how the wiring diagram changes slightly based on where the unit is located in the building:

It's a subtle difference, but without it, residents might be frustrated by misplaced outlet locations that don't consider the context of the surroundings.

With some new mapping and modeling tools, designers are able to determine the approximate view from any unit in a residential building. The low-powered way to do it yourself is to use the 3D features in tools like Microsoft Virtual Earth or Google Earth.

This specific example obviously may not be a concern in many communities, but small details like this will likely save more than a few residents' headaches, regardless of your property's address. How else are you using your property's technologies to complement the community surroundings?

From this post:
Microsoft Virtual Earth
Google Earth

Sorry, I Need to Reboot the Treadmill...

Following on the heels of the Nike + Apple announcement yesterday, Samsung and Adidas have teamed up to announce a competitor, the miCoach system.

Nike and Apple originally announced their partnership to create the Nike+ technology more than a year ago -- it's a wireless system that allows some Nike shoes embedded with a sensor to communicate with an Apple iPod Nano.

Now Nike and Apple are making the iPod compatible with gym equipment.

The companies announced Tuesday that they are working with major gym equipment manufacturers, such as Life Fitness and Technogym, to allow users to plug their iPod Nano into cardio equipment to track workouts, set goals and upload the information to the Nike website. The new technology is expected to hit gyms this summer.

Adidas Enters the Race
In the Samsung/Adidas announcement, the miCoach phone is dubbed the "first true sports music mobile."

Just like the Nike+ system, miCoach collects and analyzes personal data and then customizes training plans based on a user's fitness level and specific goals, while offering real-time feedback during a workout using the phone.

A Battleground in Your Clubhouse
While the Samsung system will work over a cellular network, it appears that the Apple solution will communicate directly with the fitness equipment, which probably means that these machines will require an Internet connection in the very near future. Other systems, such as FitLinxx, aleady track users' progress online without the need for an iPod. Keep this in mind if you're designing a new fitness center or refurbishing an exercise room in an existing community.

And while I'm giving you more work ... make sure you review the TV service in these spaces as well. Most fitness equipment is not equipped to receive a secured digital signal, which will render all those treadmill screens dark if you don't install a mini-headend or otherwise address the problem with your video provider.

In any case, it's apparent that the fitness center is becoming a battleground for your health-conscious residents' eyes, ears and wallets. The multifamily industry is just lucky enough to be caught in the crossfire.