Few Canadians like meetings, especially emotionally charged ones, but one particularly disagreeable Canadian condominium meeting is now credited with inspiring the development of software specifically designed to open the lines of communication in a condominium and head off nightmare meetings.

"A number of years ago at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the condo I owned, there was so much screaming and yelling, that upset residents and the Board did not know how to react," explained Peter Pietrzkiewicz, Owner and Managing Director of Toronto-based WebCanada, developer of Condo Manager software. "When I talked to residents about why the AGM was like that, they agreed it was communication."

Lack of communication between residents and their Board can lead to heated discussions and open conflict at condominium meetings and AGMs.

Through his web development company, Pietrzkiewicz worked on the software for years after that fateful AGM. By 2002, this robust software was available across the Greater Toronto Area. Now, WebCanada is expanding sales across Ontario. Condo Manager can reportedly be used in condominiums anywhere where English is the principal language.

Pietrzkiewicz attributes Condo Manager's success to its unique appeal to every group in a condominium community:

• Tenants who rent from unit owners like this communication tool because it allows them to quickly, and easily stay on top of what's going on in the building, particularly in online dialogues, even if they have just moved in.

• Owners who rent out their units are pleased with the connection to their investment that includes quickly and confidentially receiving documents such as AGM minutes, financial documents, and other important information without having to wait for delivery by Canada Post.

• These owners and resident owners can easily submit confidential requests to the property manager or to the Board about any issue from noise in the hall, to a leaky roof and get a quick response with online follow up.

• Real estate professionals who specialize in a specific condominium high-rise or townhouse complex can use the Realtor module in the software to achieve permanent but unobtrusive contact with owners in return for providing ongoing transactional and descriptive data for individual units.

• Property managers find the software a great time saver as paper work and correspondence are replaced by emails.

• Builders and developers, who appreciate the same convenience of communication that attracts property managers, also find the website a good selling point because it goes beyond the pre-sale website.

"One of the main praises we get is that it is very affordable for most condos," said the software developer who continues to invest in condominiums.

The annual "no-surprises" subscription fee of C$1695 plus tax includes hosting, domain name fees, use of Condo Manager software, technical support and unlimited updates to keep the site up-to-date with new functionality. The initial setup fee of C$395 plus tax includes the domain name (.com/.net/.org/.ca), a three month trial of Condo Manager, photography, software setup, installation of initial documents, training and technical support. Check out the free online demonstration or enter the contest to win a free one-year subscription.

The subscribing condominium maintains all content and there are no banner advertisements, sponsors, or pop-ups built into the software. The website is hosted by WebCanada and is shielded by a firewall and virus protection. There is nothing for users to install on their personal computers because everything is web-based. The software runs on any browser and no special hardware is required. Users merely go to the condominium's website and login as a tenant, owner or Board member which gives them access to appropriate sections including discussion forums, the Concierge module or several other functions. A public-access section offers maps, transit information, and real estate data for potential tenants or buyers.

Some Boards and property managers are leery of residents talking too much, in the fear that conflict may arise.

"They were scared of the website because, in some buildings, (managers feel) you can have too much communication," he said. "There is a list of what you can turn on or off. For example, the discussion forum can be deactivated and no one will see it on the menu. We've had only two condos where they did not want the discussion forum enabled at all. Another thought it would be a problem and then enabled it after six months."

Canadians living in condominiums may be physically closer to their neighbours than people who live in detached houses, but that proximity may still mean they have no more than a nodding acquaintance with neighbours who live feet away. Now condominium neighbours may be only a click away from a non-invasive meeting of the minds.

Published: March 29, 2005

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