DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

MR. A.J. KEEFE, CAI-GREATER INLAND EMPIRE CHAPTER

They say that a 30th anniversary calls for pearls so I wanted to highlight some of the pearls we have in our trade association at both the local and national level. Like pearls, these should be thought of as valuable and primary reasons why our members join our organization. Even if only one of these resonate with you, a famous French actor once said, “One pearl is better than a whole necklace of potatoes.”

Homeowner Leader pearls:

• Education such as the Board Leadership Development Workshop, the various classes offered by the GRIE chapter on specific topics confronting your communities, online webinars from national and published resources addressing your needs specifically.

• CAI Exchange, where you are able to log on to an interactive online forum to discuss issues that other folks in similar situations can help address.

• Extended network of community managers and Business Partners which both provides confidence in the product you are in need of as well as shortens the amount of time it takes to identify the right person for the job.

• Legislative support ensures your best interest is being considered from local ordinances to elected leaders in Washington D.C.

Community Manager pearls:

• Education similar to that stated for HOLs, but when completed in full, may lead to credentials that boost an individual resume, perceived authority and professionalism of the industry as a whole.

• While Exchange is also a nice resource for managers, in fear of redundancy, our very own Connect Magazine which you can see has gone through a bit of a redesign, is a great resource of information.

• Trade shows and social events provide an amazing platform to create a sense of camaraderie and trust with vendors.

• Legislation is also a very large component and another value add that partners with that is industry data that you can use for benchmarks and forecasting when strategically planning with your boards.

Business Partner (BP) pearls:

• While not usually the highest on our list for BPs, education is also offered for you to better help you serve the clientele within common interest developments.

• Concentrated marketing to interested parties is one of the major value adds. While we try to grow our membership in order to bring more diverse and new faces to our events, you get the benefit of new opportunities.

• While Connect Magazine is a valuable tool for marketing, we also print and mail a membership directory to more than 450 HOA Board and Management members as a resource to use when searching for a proper vendor. In addition to the printed directory, we greenlit a beneficial project to make our directory digitally searchable by name and business type by our members.

• A CAI BP Toolkit is also available online with National for those folks looking to diversify into the HOA market.

After researching topics for this article I found that Pearls stand for many things with one of them being humility. This really stuck with me because I am so humble to help lead such a great group of people who have created and maintained a community for over 30 years. I am excited for the opportunity the years to come will provide.