President's Message

thankful. Thankful that we have finally opened our NorCal office with the amazing Natasha Fierro as our NorCal Director! Not only can Natasha talk the talk, but she also walks the walk. She’s been in the CID management industry for eight-plus years. If you haven’t met her yet, you will.

“So, now what?” Well, we’re just beginning. It’s impossible to provide all of the details of what we are researching, planning and implementing in this column, so here are the highlights. Hang on, this will be a ride!

We didn’t expand into NorCal with the purpose of one staff member. We expanded for that staff member to eventually lead a team. That team will help design educational programs and networking events in your office and locally.

While we continue to try and offer our courses through colleges, we learned that we need to start even earlier. So, we are developing an initiative to make high school seniors aware of our industry and bringing our courses to community colleges. We are also developing the CACM CID Trade School, which will have an intern program attached to it. This takes planning, so we are planning.

We are developing two Industry Partner Councils: one for NorCal and one for SoCal. The IP Councils, limited to 15 members each, will be strategic in helping design networking and education programs.

We are developing a Certified Industry Partner certification that will include ethics and components of the Basics of Association Management coursework. When a manager talks to a Certified Industry Partner, they’ll know that partner spent time learning more about what a manager does, which will help both parties better engage with each other and serve clients. The IP Councils will assist us in this endeavor.

But most of all I’m thankful that I’m offered a platform where I have the opportunity to lead a caring group of professionals dedicated to better serve you. Thankful to apply my years of CID management experience to constantly explore ways that will improve our industry and improve the experiences you have in our industry and our organization.

If we elevate each other, together, we elevate our industry.

Until I see you in person again, which I hope will be soon, thank you for all you do for your team, your company, and your clients.

Thomas Freeley, CAMEx, CCAM, President & CEO