We’re covering two shows in three days, so our calendar is packed. This week, part of the HelloSpoke team is in Phoenix for the AHMA-PSW Arizona Conference on July 28 and 29 at the Desert Willow Conference Center. The rest of us are just outside Nashville for the GNAA Trade Show on Thursday, July 30 at the Farm Bureau Expo Center. If you’re attending either event, stop by and see us before the show ends.
We may be in different places, but we’re having the same conversation. Whether you manage affordable communities in the Southwest or market-rate units in Middle Tennessee, you’re likely facing the same challenge: too few people to handle nonstop phone calls.
First, Phoenix: affordable housing runs on the leanest teams in the industry
AHMA-PSW represents quality affordable housing in Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. The Arizona Conference offers two days of compliance training, legislative updates, and a chance to meet the people who keep these communities running. We always look forward to this event because affordable housing teams work harder than anyone.
The numbers are tough. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's Gap 2026 report, there’s a shortage of 7.2 million affordable and available rental homes nationwide. Every affordable community is full and always has a waitlist. At the same time, 78% of property management companies report serious staffing shortages, and the industry’s turnover rate is about 33% a year, compared to a national average of 22%. We discussed the impact of this turnover in Why Property Managers Keep Leaving, and it’s especially hard on affordable communities.
Here’s why this happens. Affordable housing teams handle all the same tasks as market-rate teams, plus extra work like recertifications, inspections, and compliance paperwork. When wages go up, affordable operators can’t simply raise rents to keep up. The budget is fixed. So if hiring more staff isn’t an option, the only thing you can control is what ends up on your team’s desk.
This is what we’ve been talking about in Phoenix all week. When a resident calls and everyone is busy, Lou, our conversational AI, picks up. Instead of voicemail, residents get a real conversation. Lou can answer property questions, take maintenance requests, and create work orders in over 75 languages. That’s especially important in affordable communities. With Lou, your two-person office can focus on their main jobs instead of acting as a call center.
Next up, Nashville: three hours of expo floor, one question worth asking
The GNAA Trade Show is on Thursday, July 30, from 4 to 7 pm at the Farm Bureau Expo Center in Lebanon. This annual event from the Greater Nashville Apartment Association brings together hundreds of multifamily professionals and vendors. You have just three hours to decide who you want to connect with after the show. How many calls did you miss last month? Most operators guess low. Every one of those calls was a leasing lead, a renewal conversation, or a maintenance issue that just got slower and more expensive. We'll show you what it looks like when none of them go to voicemail.
Who we are, the short version
HelloSpoke brings all your resident communication together in one platform—calls, texts, voicemail, scheduling, and work orders, all connected to your PMS. At the heart of it is Core, featuring Lou, our conversational AI who answers calls 24/7 so your team doesn’t have to. If you met us at Apartmentalize in New Orleans, it’s the same team—just in two new cities.
What we want to talk about at both shows
Staffing shortages aren’t going away. No one is hiring enough people to answer every after-hours call or repeat question. The real challenge is helping your current team handle the same workload—or even more—without burning out.
On-call burnout is real. If your maintenance techs are still answering after-hours calls, you know how that affects employee retention. A 2 am call should result in a real conversation and a work order ready by morning—not someone losing sleep. Every voicemail is money leaking out of the building. How many is your portfolio actually missing? Most teams are surprised by the answer.
Let's get time on the calendar
Expo floors can be hectic, and the best conversations take time. If you’ll be at GNAA and want to see Lou in action, book a demo and we’ll set aside time for you after the show.
Come tell us what's breaking in your communication workflow, and we'll show you what it looks like when it isn't.
If you missed us this week, don’t worry—it happens to everyone. You don’t need to be at a booth to start the conversation. Book a demo, and we’ll come to you.
