In March 2020, student housing operators began organizing an industry wide Zoom meeting each week to share data and insight into how their companies were responding to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to help firms develop best practices in the face of rapid and constant changes.
The Zoom meeting evolved into a monthly routine for the industry and a necessary tool for industry leaders to discuss the topics that are impacting the student housing industry. In an effort to ensure this monthly meeting continues and to expand its audience, the current leadership group behind the meeting is formalizing its structure. The monthly web meeting has officially been named “S.h.op Talk” (S.h.op stands for Student Housing Operations). A new leadership committee is being formed with executives from leading management firms that will coordinate the topics covered each month.
“I think I speak for all industry executives who participated when I say that so much has been learned from this recurring Zoom meeting over the past two years,” says Miles Orth, chief operating officer and executive vice president of Campus Apartments. “The participants have spoken and they want to see it continue and be expanded to a wider audience.”
For more information and to register for the web meeting, go to www.ShopTalk.info. The next Shop Talk is scheduled for Tuesday, April 12th at 1PM Eastern.
“We encourage anyone involved in the operation, ownership, and development of off-campus and P3 student housing to register for Shop Talk,” says Chris Richards, president, management of Core Spaces. “Regardless of whether you work at the site level or in the C-suite, you will find a lot of value in the data and insight that will be shared.”