Out of the Ordinary—CAI National Conference Recap By Bob MacDonald, CMCA, AMS, PCAM
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n May I was honored to be one of the fortunate individuals who traveled to Orlando to participate in the CAI National Conference and formally receive my PCAM designation. After returning to Minnesota and hearing from other managers, vendors and homeowners who attended, I decided to share some of the highlights of the conference. The theme of this year’s conference was “Out of the Ordinary,” and that’s what we were encouraged to do—step out of the ordinary. Keynote speakers Stephen Harvill and Vince Poscente spoke on how we as individuals could break out of our comfort zone and realize our full potential. And, I can tell you that they did so in a powerful way. They were spellbinding and we all sat on the edge of our seats listening to every word. In fact, I found myself taking pictures of some of the slides with my phone so I could review them later. With this in mind let me share the contents of one slide with you because I reflect on it daily:
The story in 3 simple parts What do you do? What value do you bring? How are you different? But, enough of me. You can read some thoughts shared by Lynn Boergerhoff, who attended as a Board member of the Foundation for Community Association Research (FCAR), as a HOA Board President, and as Chair of CAI-Minnesota’s Community Association Volunteer Leader (CAVL) Committee, in the article “Here’s My 2014 CAI National Conference Story” on page 11. Like me, this was also a “first timer” to a CAI National Conference, and all I can do is echo Lynn’s words. From my perspective, he is spot-on.
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Minnesota Communit y Living
The conference not only benefited managers, homeowners and board members, it also allowed vendors to network with people from around the country. Knowing this I asked Wayne Srsen, National Director of Sales and Marketing for American Building Contractors to comment on his conference experience. What he shared with me follows: “I try and never miss the national show. For business, it gives me a chance to find new and prospective clients that have a similar business model as we do, that is, they operate in multiple states. I already have set up a meeting with a large management company that operates in 11 states, with a heavy Florida presence. With hurricane season already here, our meeting could be timely indeed. For fun, it also gives us the opportunity to host a client dinner. We keep the shop talk to a minimum, and it really gives us a chance to get to further know our customers in a non-business environment. To me, hosting the dinner is my favorite part of the week.” Summarily, besides the excitement of receiving my PCAM, I can tell you that the conference was one of the highlights of my business career. As Lynn and Wayne aptly stated, those of us who attended furthered the experience by the taking advantage of opportunities we were given to develop connections and interact with others from
around the country. And, let’s be real, we all enjoyed the social events that occurred in a warm climate where we were surrounded by palm trees and beautiful scenery (no snow).
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