The Customer:

A Community of Active Motorhome Owners in Florida

RiverBend, a Class A motorcoach resort located on South Florida’s Intercoastal Waterway, boasts an active community of 315 RV lot owners who flock to the Fort Myers area’s famously warm winter climate. Here, seasonal and full-time residents enjoy the surrounding landscape while mingling with other RV owners in the community. There are three clubhouses that host a large array of popular events managed by the resort’s full-time activity director. 

From joining the local pickleball league to setting sail on bright blue waters from the resort’s private marina, RiverBend owners enjoy an abundance of opportunities to have fun in the Florida sun.

 

The Challenge:

Paper Sign-Up Sheets for Popular Events Proved Hard to Manage

While natural beauty and a wealth of resort amenities are no doubt major draws for RiverBend residents, what truly drives owners to return to the property year after year is the feeling of community. The resort prides itself on fostering a strong sense of togetherness, with on-site staff constantly working to design new experiences to join the lineup of fan-favorite activities.

To help further foster this community spirit, in 2019, RiverBend began working with App My Community to load information on resort happenings onto an app that would serve as a convenient directory for residents. Having easy access to details on everything from bunco tournaments to Taco Tuesday events made the app an instant hit, and lot owners eagerly joined in on the resort’s varied activities. 

However, the overwhelming demand for some events caused frustration among participants, who found themselves racing to secure their spot using activity sign-up sheets posted on bulletin boards in the community. Residents who couldn’t act quickly enough often missed out, especially when it came to high-demand seasonal events like the annual Valentine’s Day dinner.

With the inequitable and chaotic signup process for events proving hard to manage, Dee Antolik, the app administrator for RiverBend, turned to App My Community to find a solution.

 

The Solution:

A More Organized and Streamlined App-Based Sign-Up Process

To save staff the headache of handling disorganized paper signup sheets, App My Community helped RiverBend move to an online system for event registrations. Switching this process to the app also made it more seamless for residents, who could now easily track their registration status as well as their spot on the waiting list for limited-availability options, like on-site trailer storage.

“Registration on the app is date and time stamped,” explained Dee. “The minute you hit that button to register for a trailer spot it tells me that you came in on April 30th at 2 p.m. And this is where you fall on the waitlist now.”

The time reporting feature has helped RiverBend staff stay organized, and it avoids confusion among residents about their eligibility for in-demand events and amenities at the resort. For Dee, the features provided by App My Community have proved invaluable. “It has been a lifesaver,” she said. “Every event this year ran through the app.”

 

The Results:

A Seamless and Consistent System That’s Beloved by Residents

Today, RiverBend’s app has replaced nearly all its previously existing systems, offering efficiency, organization, and consistency for residents and staff. Lot owners no longer have to scour through email spam folders to find overlooked messages or race to beat neighbors to posted signup sheets. Instead, the app offers a seamless and streamlined way to push timely communications and ensure that everyone on the property sees them.

The adoption of the app among lot owners has been widespread, with nearly everyone using it to stay up to date on current happenings. Feedback has also been overwhelmingly positive. “I think based on the technology today, the app is a no-brainer for most people,” said Dee. “It doesn’t take any thought. It’s very intuitive.”

This success led Dee to turn to Joe and Rose Duemig, the creators of App My Community, to brainstorm even more helpful features to add to RiverBend’s app, and she found their response time to be unmatched.

“I don’t think those two sleep,” said Dee. “I really don’t. Because they answer all my questions within a few hours.”

 

The Future:

A Continued Effort to Eliminate Inefficiencies Using App My Community

Looking ahead, Dee is working with Joe and Rose to add an online payment feature to the RiverBend app, which will eliminate the need for staff to manually process event payments on-site. This payment feature also offers reporting capabilities that make it easy to generate a list of everyone who’s paid for an event, further streamlining operational processes.

Finding these app-based efficiencies is a driving force for Dee and RiverBend’s continued relationship with App My Community. Up next is moving the resort’s unwieldy seasonal mail forwarding address list onto the app.

“We lose so much time for inefficiency in the office handling the forwarding process manually,” explained Dee. “But with the app, we’re going to get out of the mess we’re in today.”

Beyond decluttering mail forwarding lists and implementing an online payment system, Dee is looking to App My Community as the solution to many needs voiced by RiverBend lot owners. Residents can even report problems and make requests via the app. But no matter what questions come her way, she’s sure that Joe and Rose will help her find the answer.

“They are super,” Dee said. “I just love their dynamics. I love how they work and how quick they are to help people. Talking to them is always like, ‘That’s a great idea. Let me see if we can figure out how to make that happen.’ It’s very impressive.”