An analysis of how and when the Wintergreen Property Owners Association should communicate to its members and the overall community has resulted in a decision to start a new email newsletter. We are asking every property owner to subscribe. Sign up here.
The primary audience for the newsletter is WPOA’s 3,000-plus families–and others–who own property at Wintergreen. That puts the number of our primary audience well over 6,000 individuals.
WPOA functions much like a local government, so there is also a large but unknowable number of individuals and enterprises involved in what is going on with WPOA–resort employees, real estate professionals, area businesses, contractors, etc. Everyone is welcome to subscribe.
The only mass email system WPOA has had was Alert Wintergreen, which is managed by Wintergreen Fire & Rescue. This system’s primary purpose is to reach property owners and others when WPOA springs into action in the case of extreme weather emergencies, approaching wildfires, active shooters, blocked roads, etc.
Alert Wintergreen does a fantastic job of reaching people quickly. Literally, everyone who signs up in the system can be called, texted, and emailed in under five minutes. It is wickedly powerful.
But, this emergency alert system does not allow for much flexibility; it’s not designed for carrying links and images, nor is it good for longer text messages.
For example, Alert Wintergreen’s format is not appropriate for some of the operational information WPOA needs to share with the community about roads, safety, facilities, projects planned, upcoming events, and administration.
This is why we’re starting a new email newsletter on a new platform designed to handle these types of communications.
These new email newsletters will not be sent out on a regular schedule. Our end goal is to be less intrusive, only sending an email to you when there is information needing to be shared.
WPOA is using MailChimp, the same email newsletter platform many other Wintergreen organizations have successfully used. Subscribers can easily sign up or opt-out. Besides emailing, the MailChimp system allows the newsletters to be posted to WPOA’s website where everyone can see recently sent newsletters.
Until the new system database is more fully populated, WPOA will sometimes use Alert Wintergreen for news and updates property owners need to see, even if the messages are not a high priority. –Curtis Sheets, Chief of Wintergreen Fire & Rescue & Jay Roberts, WPOA Executive Director