CAI-CV Wins Seven National Awards

CAI-CV Wins Seven National Awards

By Cal Lockett, Executive Director

CAI-CV was notified in late April that we have won seven 2018 National Chapter Achievement Awards! They will be presented to the CAI-CV Board of Directors on May 17th at the CAI National Convention in Orlando. There are five award categories and we won all five for Large Chapters. Additionally, we won Best Net Growth for increasing our membership by 24 percent and we won the Chapter Excellence Award for having the highest total points in each of the five categories that include Membership, Chapter Management and Development, Leadership, Public Affairs and Membership Services. Thank you to our leadership team and all of our volunteers who worked so hard to elevate our Chapter and the common interest development (CID) industry last year. Your recognition is well deserved.

Here is more information about each of the programs that won awards.

COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT AS A CAREER PROGRAM SUBMISSION IN THE MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY

The goal of the Community Association Management as a Career Program is to recruit new skilled and educated people to the CID industry and for them to consider community association management as a career. A severe lack of community managers in the Coachella Valley has placed burdens on management companies, associations and the entire CID industry.

In January 2017, the Professional Manager Committee met for the first time and discussed the major issues impacting manager members. It was decided that there was a pressing need to bring more managers into the industry. The committee investigated CAI and other CID organizations to see if they could find a brochure that described community association management as a career and found nothing specifically designed for their need - to recruit people from outside the industry. They prepared a proposal for the CAI-CV board to develop a brochure and poster that could be sent or delivered to career centers. In March, the process of drafting the brochure began and was completed in April.

The board approved the brochure and a budget of $1,000 to cover printing and mailing costs. Rodney Bissell Design Studios was hired to do the layout. The finished brochure was completed in June. The Committee received approval to host an open house career day at the new CAI-CV classroom on September 25, 2018. The committee decided to use the new brochure and poster to invite career seekers to CAI-CV to hear firsthand about community management. To engage the management companies in this recruiting process, the committee invited the CEOs of ten management companies to attend and co-present to whoever showed up on the 25th. Committee members researched and prepared a list of 62 career centers in the Coachella Valley and nearby Riverside and San Bernardino counties. In July, they hand-delivered brochures (invitations) to all the local career centers, colleges and high schools. The CAI-CV office mailed posters and more brochures out to all 62 career centers the following week. The committee volunteers also attended career days for the Palm Desert and Greater Coachella Valley Chamber of Commerce and for the Palm Springs Realtors where they handed out brochures. Copies of the brochure were also sent out using Facebook and via email. Fifty-four career seekers attended the meeting, and many brought resumes and were able to hand deliver them to the management company CEOs.

Of the 54 people from the community who attended, 49 said they gained new insights about the common interest development industry and would be interested in receiving more information and either signed up for Quorum and/or said they would attend CAI-CV's upcoming lunch program.

The committee reported overwhelming support for this effort from those attending. Six people joined the chapter that day. Fifteen additional people called the office to get on the mailing list for next time.

Four career counselors attended and invited the Professional Managers Committee to provide speakers for their career days. The CEOs responded positively to this effort and gladly took any resumes that people brought and at least two new managers were hired shortly after the open house. We estimate that the brochure and posters reached between 8,000 and 10,000 people.

This was an excellent first step at defining community management as a career to career seekers. The committee will be holding another open house in 2019 and is looking at implementing a local job board for career seekers.

CLASSROOM PROJECT SUBMISSION IN THE CHAPTER MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT CATEGORY

The goal of the CAI-CV board’s classroom project was to expand the Chapter’s educational outreach by building a new office with a classroom capable of holding 50 students. CAI-CV is 38 years old and for more than 25 years its 1,000 square foot office was in an industrial park. Trucks loading and unloading in front of the office, sometimes four times a day, blocked the front door, signage and parking. The office was suitable only for small meetings. All classes and educational programs, as well as networking events, had to be held elsewhere, many times at costly venues. Two years ago, the board decided to begin looking for new office space. During strategic planning in 2016, a decision was made to find an office that had a classroom.

The board engaged a commercial real estate broker (Michael Lawton) and appointed a subcommittee of the board to explore various office locations. After reviewing options with the broker, the board developed a list of requirements and budget. Eventually, several locations were found so the board engaged an architect to ensure each space could be adapted for a classroom. The board eventually settled on the following strategies:

• To find a location central to the Coachella Valley that would be easily accessible for all members.

• The space would be in a professional office building and would be between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet.

• The monthly budget would be close to twice the current rent.

• Moving costs, furniture and any build-out needed would be paid with the Chapter's savings.

The board outlined how the new classroom would be used, focusing on providing education to our three major membership groups:

MANAGERS

• Manager on the Run (MOTR) - 1 CEU Course offered six times annually

• Assistant Manager on the Run - offered six times annually

• CA CID Law Course - 8-hour course offered twice annually

• CAI National Courses - in 2019, CAI-CV will offer ALL the prerequisite courses for a manager to become a PCAM, the M-100 and all the M-200 Courses.

• CAMICB's CMCA prep course and exam

HOMEOWNER LEADERS

• Board Member Workshops (BMW) offered twice annually

• In-depth legal review - 2-hour course offered twice annually

• Board Basic Training - two hour course offered eight times annually

• Board Leadership Development Workshop - offered annually

• HOA Board Councils - monthly meetings

BUSINESS PARTNERS

• Summer Sizzler Mixer offered once annually

• Educated Business Partner course offered twice annually

• The classroom would also be used for various marketing opportunities for individual class sponsorship and for the classroom itself.

OUTREACH TO NEW MEMBERS

• New member orientations - offered twice annually

• Community Association Management - Career Day - offered once annually

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

• We are offering our classroom to management companies and HOAs for their meetings.

• We are also offering the classroom to other nonprofits. Currently, the Palm Desert Chamber is using our classroom every Tuesday morning for their business gathering.

Eventually, the board decided to focus their search on the area closest to the freeway so that members could easily commute from Palm Springs or Indio. The search was narrowed to four possible locations and board members visited them and provided feedback. In early March, a location was chosen and negotiations began. The board reviewed the proposed expenses against their original budget and determined the new location would work financially. The architect drew up floor plans and the amount of rent was negotiated. A contract was signed with the building owner to move to the University Commerce Center's professional office building on Gerald Ford Drive. At the same time, the board signed a lease for the new printer that would allow the Chapter to save about $1,500 per month by printing Quorum Magazine in-house. This savings made it possible for the chapter to pay the new rent.

The board reached out to the Chapter's business partners for help with the buildout and to save costs. In April, the building's owner selected CAI-CV member Vantage Point Construction for the buildout. Vantage Point offered the Chapter a $10,000 discount. CAI-CV member Flood Response agreed to do the dry-wall work in exchange for advertising and sponsorships. Vista Paint donated all the paint. AMS Connect agreed to put in a state-of-the-art alarm system in exchange for advertising in Quorum. The buildout was completed in December of 2017. Signarama created the sign for the outside of the building. In November, the Chapter hired a professional AV installation company to oversee the wiring for WiFi, computers, telephone system and AV equipment. A new monitor for the conference room, an AV projector and screen, as well as the refrigerator, microwave and dishwasher were purchased on Black Friday, saving the Chapter thousands of dollars. A commercial telephone system was purchased and installed and special electrical was pulled for the new printer. Furniture was purchased through another CAI-CV business partner. On December 31st, the Chapter moved out of the old office and into the new office. A moving company was hired to help with the move and to take old furnishings to a charity. Unpacking commenced and the office was up and running by Tuesday, January 2nd. The staff immediately began updating all the Chapter's information on websites and with vendors and members. And, they printed new business cards, stationery and collateral material for the Chapter on our new printer.

Based on the board’s initial criteria, the classroom building project was a huge success. The building was done on time and within the approved budget. The ongoing rent of the new office space has worked out beautifully. The furnishings, computers and AV equipment were purchased within budget. The income saved by printing Quorum Magazine has indeed saved about $1,500 per month. Most importantly, in 2018, the Chapter doubled the number of classes offered to managers and homeowner leaders. The new classroom was also used by management companies, associations, and other nonprofits for meetings throughout the year.

After 25 years in the same location, moving was a huge undertaking for the Chapter. CAI-CV has grown in many ways over the past year. There has been a refocusing on education. Our membership is growing quickly, and we are raising our visibility as the source of education and resources for Coachella Valley community associations.

HOA LIVING BROCHURE SUBMISSION IN THE LEADERSHIP CATEGORY

In January of 2017, CAI-CV received a call from the City of Palm Desert asking for a meeting to discuss a problem they were having. They were getting inundated with requests for help from residents who live in HOAs about issues where they had no jurisdiction. The City completed their own research showing that 80 percent of Palm Desert residents live in HOAs so they saw this problem getting worse if no solution was forthcoming. Several negative stories including hot issues like short term rentals had been published by the local newspaper and the City was in the middle of controversy. The call was referred to the PR Committee. The meeting was quickly set and the CED and several members of the PR Committee attended with the City Manager and the City’s Chief

Communications Officer. At the meeting, the City Manager said they needed help explaining to residents in HOAs (and the media) about who is responsible for what. At subsequent phone meetings, ideas were exchanged about crafting a co-branded brochure with the city that would attempt to address their concerns.

CAI-CV Board Approval

The PR Committee created a proposal for the board to consider that included a $2,000 budget, which was approved. The board asked the Committee to try and create a brochure that would solve the City's issues and would also serve as an educational piece that would empower CAI-CV members to effectively educate new members, other HOA practitioners, and the residents our members serve.

The HOA Living Brochure would serve to help residents understand the different responsibilities of the association as opposed to those of the City. It would provide an educational look at all aspects of HOA living and clarify homeowner’s rights and responsibilities. The brochure would also provide best practices for managers, association board members and businesses that support HOAs. On the back page of the brochure, City departments would be listed and there would be space to list important association numbers so that the brochure would become a resource for solving problems or gaining information that residents may eventually need.

In terms of audience, the brochure would provide:

• Basic training about HOAs for managers, assistant managers, board members, and businesses.

• Help for managers trying to educate boards and residents.

• Help for boards attempting to educate residents.

• Help for boards and managers trying to explain HOA living to businesses.

• Help to cities to educate residents about who is responsible for what.

• Help to residents who were unclear about HOA and City responsibilities.

• Help to realtors to educate potential buyers about living in an HOA.

To investigate what collateral material might already exist, the PR Committee used part of their budget to purchase a dozen brochures from CAI National and delegated review among all the committee members. At their March meeting, they provided these brochures after highlighting the key messages and prioritized the messages. Here are the sources that were used:

• Good to Great Brochure

• Community Associations Institute Rights and Responsibilities for Better Communities

• Model Code of Ethics for Community Association Board Members

• Community Association Fundamentals

• Community Association Governance Guidelines

• Introduction to Community Association Living

• Statistical Review: Community Association Data, Foundation for Community Association Research

• CA Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Law Course

The office staff placed the highlighted messages from all the brochures into one document and began the process of editing. The draft brochure was then ready to be reviewed by some attorney members and was edited again to include California legal information. This version was then distributed to the CAI-CV board for input and was edited again. After CAI-CV had edited the final version, it was given to the City for their input and edited again. After another legal review, the brochure was given to CAI National for their input and blessing. After making their revisions, there was another legal review and the brochure was proofed and completed.

The PR Committee contacted many of the associations in Palm Desert explaining the purpose of the brochure and asking them to send photos. The City of Palm Desert also provided photos. Rodney Bissell of Bissell Design Studios provided a layout for the Committee to consider. Edits were made and photos replaced until there was unanimous agreement. A copy was sent to the CAI-CV board and to the City for final approval, which was obtained in September.

The HOA Living Brochure was first published in Quorum Magazine for CAI-CV members to review. Copies were also given to the City to hand out, and an electronic version was given to the City and placed on the CAI-CV website. Copies were also distributed to CAI-CV's Homeowner Leader Committee, Education Committee and the Professional Managers Committee. The HOA Living Brochure was completed for $1,800, which was under budget. The cost per brochure with design and staff time is approximately $.50 each.

Because this is a collaborative project with CAI-CV, the City of Palm Desert, and CAI National, its success relied on agreement of all three entities. Given the need for and nature of the brochure, agreement was easily obtained. To our knowledge, this is the first time CAI National and a chapter have co-branded a publication. Another primary method to determine the brochure's success was whether we would be asked to print more copies. So far, we have been asked to print over a thousand additional copies. An unanticipated customer has been HOA boards wanting copies to help educate their residents.

The CAI-CV board also wanted the brochure's success to be determined on whether those involved in the HOA industry found it helpful to educate each other and residents. Feedback from the Professional Managers Committee and Homeowner Leaders Committee has been outstanding.

The HOA Living Brochure appears to be a great success. There is nothing like it available to our members and the constituents they serve. At the Chapter's most recent Strategic Planning session, the board discussed expanding distribution of the existing brochure and to approach other Coachella Valley cities to see if they want to do something similar. There are nine cities in the Coachella Valley. We envision a version being created for each city. We also believe that other CAI chapters can benefit from this brochure. We have told CAI National that we will provide the print version of the brochure to any chapter to use for free.

Overall, there have been many planned and some unplanned positive consequences to the PR Committee's work to develop the HOA Living

Brochure. We helped the City of Palm Desert address a major problem they were having with HOAs and the media. We empowered our own members with a document they can use to explain the industry to coworkers and others. We have raised the visibility of CAI as the authority on HOAs in the Coachella Valley. Finally, we have created a brochure that other CAI chapters can use for their own outreach efforts. Copies of the brochure are available at the CAI-CV office or can be ordered online at www. cai-cv.org.

The CAI-CV Public Relations Committee is currently approaching the other eight cities in the Coachella Valley offering to do a similar brochure for them. The Palm Springs Regional Board of Realtors has also relayed their interest in a Valley-wide edition to give to people who purchase homes in associations.

CA GRASSROOTS PROGRAM SUBMISSION IN THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS CATEGORY

The purpose of the CA Grassroots Program was to empower CAI-CV members to advocate for and against legislative proposals as they make their way through the halls of Sacramento. In 2018, the board endorsed numerous grassroots campaigns resulting in defeating several onerous bill and gaining the Governor's veto of two onerous bills.

CAI-CV established a Legislative Support Committee (LSC) to help the statewide California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC), CAI’s advocate in Sacramento. The board approved a budget for the new LSC Committee to pay for grassroots programs and to educate their members by paying for them to attend the Day in Sacramento where they would be trained as advocates and learn about the pending legislation. The board also encouraged

"THE GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGNS INCLUDED SB 729, THE 'BALCONY BILL' THAT WOULD REQUIRE ASSOCIATIONS TO PHYSICALLY DAMAGE BALCONIES AND STAIRWAYS TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER THEY NEEDED TO BE REPAIRED."

LSC Committee members to attend the CA Statewide Legal Forum where they could be further educated as advocates.

The new LSC asked other CAI-CV committees to help. The Quorum Committee established an "About CLAC" department to report on legislative activities every month and the Programs Committee agreed to have a CLAC update at each lunch program.

The most beneficial result of the new LSC was their ability to empower CAI-CV members to advocate on behalf of the industry. The board approved six specific grassroots programs related to CA legislation during 2018. The Chapter worked in collaboration with the other seven CA chapters to maximize their grassroots effectiveness. The grassroots campaigns were marketed in Quorum Magazine, both online and in print. The campaigns were also marketed to members via emails from CLAC and CAI-CV. Two of the campaigns were published on Facebook and Instagram.

Our target audiences were board members, managers, and business partners who are interested in the success of the CID industry. Our effort was to encourage them to get involved by writing or calling their legislator or the Governor.

The grassroots campaigns included SB 729, a.k.a. the "balcony bill”, that would require associations to conduct destructive testing on balconies and stairways to investigate whether they needed to be repaired. The cost to associations would have been astronomical. Later in the session, we began to get positive traction on a favorable bill that outlined board financial reviews more clearly. Unfortunately, as it moved through the process, it was merged with an onerous bill that we opposed that would take away the ability of boards to determine criteria for new board members. Felons and delinquent members would now be able to run for their boards.

Grassroots programs encourage individual voters to write directly to their elected officials. This type of advocacy has the highest effectiveness of all forms of lobbying. All CAI-CV’s grassroots programs in 2018 had the following components:

• Emails were sent to all CAI-CV (and other chapter) members from CLAC explaining the situation and asking for members to call or write their legislators.

• Quorum Magazine had a call to action and provided names and phone numbers of Coachella Valley legislators.

• Regular meetings were set up with the CV legislators in their district offices where LSC Committee members attended and informed legislators and local staff of CAI-CV's positions.

• A meeting was scheduled with our local legislators in their Sacramento office with the same LSC Committee members so faces and the subjects were familiar.

• An email from CAI-CV was also sent to encourage our members to participate.

• A verbal plea for member involvement was made every month at our Educational Program Lunch & Mini Trade Show.

• Flyers were designed and handed out at CAI-CV events and at management companies.

• For the two bills impacting boards' ability to set requirements for new board members, an added component of calling directly to the Governor's office to oppose the bills was imposed.

During the year, our members received 34 messages from the LSC Committee on various bills. The ultimate success of our local grassroots activity is the outcome it had in Sacramento on the legislation.

In August, the "balcony" bill was amended to take HOAs out of the bill. The author could not get the votes for it to pass until he removed our industry. A subcommittee of legislative staff and CLAC members are working together to craft legislation that makes more sense for HOAs. This would not have happened without the hard work of our members writing letters. In September, the favorable bill outlining what boards must do when reviewing financials passed both houses and was signed into law by the Governor in October. Also, in September, both bills that took rights away from boards to determine criteria for new board members passed both houses and were sent to the Governor for signature. Hundreds of CAI-CV members participated in a grassroots campaign by calling the Governor and asking him to veto these bills. On the day prior to his signing deadline, he vetoed both. To achieve a Democrat Governor's veto of two pieces of legislation that came to his desk from the Democrat leaders of the Assembly and Senate is unheard of in Sacramento. CAI-CV received 100 percent success with their grassroots programs in 2018.

QUORUM MAGAZINE SUBMISSION IN THE MEMBER SERVICES CATEGORY

In 2018, the Quorum Committee reviewed and analyzed CAI-CV’s monthly publication, Quorum, to maximize its utilization for providing education and best practices to all three membership categories – homeowner leaders, managers, and business partners. The Committee also wanted to expand distribution and readership of Quorum Magazine among members and nonmembers and to expand the benefits of advertising in Quorum.

The Quorum Committee held a strategic planning session to outline topics to be used in each monthly issue of Quorum in 2018. Managers and Homeowner Leader members were surveyed to help determine content that would meet the needs of these membership classes. Based on the survey information, the Quorum Committee developed jobs for each section of the magazine and delegated responsibility for each department to specific committee members. New technology was purchased and developed to allow Quorum to be distributed electronically to members and nonmembers and that allows for member ads to click through to their website. This new software also allows CAI-CV to email members a reference to a specific article in Quorum and send a link that takes the member directly to that article. In January of 2018, printing of Quorum Magazine was brought in-house to save the Chapter money and allow for more pages in each issue when needed. Printing in-house also served to speed up delivery to members' homes. CAI-CV's Membership Committee began offering the electronic version of Quorum free for one year to potential members.

The Quorum jobs for each aspect of publishing the magazine in 2018 are:

1. MAGAZINE STRUCTUREa. Themes & Non-cover Featuresb. Covers & Spotlightc. President’s Messaged. Advertising Placemente. News & Renews

2. CAI NATIONALa. Tools & Perspectivesb. What Every Board Member

Needs to Knowc. Manager Updated. Business Partners

3. ADVERTISINGa. CAI Event Adsb. Ads Sold to Membersc. Ads Sold to Nonmembers

4. CHAPTER EVENTS

a. Fundraising Events (Awards, Golf, Bowling, Casino, Etc.)b. Educational Lunch Programs

& Mini Trade Showsc. Board Member Workshopsd. MOTR and AMOTRe. Meet the Committee Chair

5. LEGISLATION & REGULATORYa. CLAC Updatesb. HOA Law

6. MEMBERSHIPa. Platinum Sponsorsb. Welcome Aboardc. Time Honoredd. Meet the Board

7. MONTHLY COLUMNSa. Charityb. Maintenancec. Securityd. Trending Nowe. Water Wise/Landscapingf. CVWD & Water Agency Updates

8. PROOFING

Each department was then asked to map out the next twelve issues of Quorum by topic and author.

Each department prepared a one-page Q&A sheet for their department that could be sent out to members to solicit information that could then be edited into an article.

At the February Quorum meeting, all the topics for all twelve issues were placed on whiteboards at the office for tracking purposes. Quorum Committee members then began to contact members and professional advisers to begin writing articles. The board then approved the purchase of a new software called Basecamp that allows the Committee to manage all twelve months online. As articles come in, they are placed in the various departments and held there until it's time to work on that issue. Basecamp also serves as the primary source of communications among Committee members. Everyone on the Committee can see where each issue is in terms of development, editing and proofing.

The communications committee set up photo folders for Quorum in Drop Box software so that there is easy access to photos after every event or program. Those photos are now available online to CAI-CV members through the CAI-CV app. At monthly Quorum Committee meetings, members go through the upcoming months and discuss what articles have arrived, are in process, or those that still need to be developed. Assignments are confirmed and the issues of Quorum progress. Printing in-house gives the Committee about two extra weeks to develop each issue. Now, magazines are delivered within two days of printing.

To determine whether the Committee was on the right track with Quorum, they surveyed managers and homeowner leaders to quantify the value of Quorum to those membership classes. Increased advertising served to determine the success of the magazine as seen by management companies and business partners. Advertising has increased substantially. Increased electronic edition readership and subscriptions served to determine the success in reaching new and potential members.

The survey of manager members included questions about various Chapter issues. The survey was developed by the Professional Manager Committee. Managers were asked if they read Quorum, if they felt the topics in Quorum helped them in their daily work, if they used Quorum to look up topics from past months, and if they used Quorum to find vendors.

The responses were overwhelmingly positive. Eighty-eight percent read at least one part of Quorum every month. Ninety-seven percent said Quorum helps them to be successful with daily work and 77 percent said they refer to past issues for information. The Homeowner Leader Committee conducted a survey of their members and found that 98 percent (of those responding) read Quorum every month. The same percent found Quorum articles useful in governing their associations. The Quorum Committee reported that advertising has increased 25 percent in the past twelve months, requiring them to add at least four additional pages of professional content to each issue in order to maintain the 40 percent ads to 60 percent content ratio. There has also been a significant increase in electronic subscriptions and online readership. We are seeing a 53 percent increase in members and nonmembers searching Quorum by topic. This significantly increases the shelf-life of each issue.

Quorum's printed distribution has increased too. We are now printing 700 copies each month, which is almost a 30 percent increase in one year.

As we look to the future for Quorum, we continue to see it as a primary source of education and best practices for all our members. We also see it continuing to be a major source of income for the chapter. Our next step for Quorum is to expand its electronic readership. The Quorum Committee has been asked to look at new markets such as local chambers and realtor groups to send Quorum electronically.

Quorum brings value to the Chapter by providing written education to all our membership classes. Each month, subjects are addressed that help our members do their work more efficiently, effectively and with greater impact. We also help our members limit their liability by helping them understand best practices, the importance of relying on professional advisers and paying appropriately for services.

Quorum also helps raise CAI's visibility in our greater community. Because Quorum is a coffee table quality magazine, it has a greater shelf life and builds member pride in our chapter.