Behind the Scenes of Fairfield's Better Living Begins with YOU Conference

After a virtual conference in 2021, it was incredibly exciting to reunite our Community Managers in person at our 2022 leadership conference Better Living Begins with YOU. We know property management is all about connecting people and creating better living one relationship at a time, and that's exactly what we focused on. The 3-day conference was filled with Fairfield insights, enthusiasm, and inspiration from keynote speakers, Fairfield panels, and intimate breakout sessions. Check out the highlights below, and if this looks like fun to you, consider joining the Fairfield family! Check out our job openings across the country on our careers page.

Opening Reception & Vendor Showcase

Our partnerships make this event and much of what we do every day possible, so Better Living Begins with YOU kicked off with an opening reception and meet-and-greet with our valued sponsors. Fairfield Community Managers got to know our vendors and learn more about how their products and services improve our operations. 

Keynote Speakers

We were graced with two empowering keynote speakers: Wall Street powerhouse Carla Harris and Dr. Elizabeth Dunn. Ms. Harris is a two-time author who offered "Carla's Pearls" of career strategies for getting started, getting "unstuck" from tricky situations, and redirecting momentum to make positive change. Dr. Dunn, co-author of Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending, presented Happiness 101, a deep-dive into her research on self-knowledge and happiness with a focus on the impact of technology. Fairfield was capitaved by their energy and positive messaging!

Key Learnings

Event emcee Senior Vice President of Training and Development Sue Essa, together with President of Property Management Kim Bender, led Community Managers through two information-packed days covering everything from big-picture company updates from our executive leadership to the ABCs of ESG and how Farifield is growing these initiatives to a panel on how resident retention and community reputation impact the customer journey. 

Our Interior Design team presented some vignettes of our upcoming new communities to illustrate the latest design and amenity trends in multifamily communities. Our Operations team recapped some of the successful process improvements we've implemented over the past year in a "better-to-best" comparison that highlighted the forward growth we've made as an overall team. Community Managers were offered quality face-time with various department heads during the Fairfield Connection (a spin on the classic speed-dating game), where leaders moved from table to table sharing insights on their key initiatives and answering questions directly. 

Some Fairfield departments hosted smaller breakout sessions to provide information in more intimate environments, such as Training & Development's "Expand Your Communicatsion Toolbox," which offered tangible tips on how to improve the impact of your communication through small changes; Operations' "Policy Place," a detailed look at our internal resource guides; and HR's "Wellness & YOU Famiy Feud" game that shared reminders about associate benefits and wellness tips through an interactive game. When we weren't soaking up knowledge from our fellow associates, we had the opportunity to relax in the Zen Den with mini-massages and spa-inspired treats.

The Room Rescue Reveal

As part of the session on resident retention, our Marketing team premiered the culmination of our ongoing resident retention campaign: Room Rescue. The campaign centered on the opportunity for all Fairfield residents to enter the Room Rescue contest for a chance to win up to a $15,000 room makeover. After thousands of entries, Amie McWilliams was selected as the winner and we revealed the dramatic transformation and her heartwarming story on the big screen before sharing it with the public. 

Join the Fairfield Team

Fairfield is growing at every level in a wide array of property management careers and corporate functions. Visit our Careers page to learn more or search our career openings to view opportunities at our corporate and regional offices or onsite at one of our communities near you.