“I work where they live.” Community Management – A Noble Profession
W
e recently completed our annual Law Seminar in Northern and Southern California, and the energy at both locations was electrifying! With greatly expanded breakout sessions, new legislative programming and lively receptions, you could feel the excitement in the air. At the Northern California event, it was heartening to hear one of our Certified Community Association Managers, Christian Ellingson, talk about his profession and the importance of his role as a community builder. He spoke with such pride and clarity about being a member of CACM and how the CCAM certification has helped him in his career and in his role as a community facilitator. For me, it was one of those moments when I feel the pride of accomplishment for what we do at CACM and its value to our members and to our society. Christian’s simple statement sums it up, “I work where they live.” This is a recognized privilege and a heavy responsibility for the professional community manager. Community management is a noble profession, and the manager is the custodian of that profession. Through CACM’s focus on California laws and regulation and the administration of the Professional Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, we have helped organize our young industry by creating a baseline of expectations and a foundation for a healthy future. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, “noble” is used to describe an air of “having lofty character, having high moral qualities.” Professional community managers follow an ancient code of professionalism as expressed through job performance and ethical decisions. If home is the castle, and the nobles are loyal and qualified servants working for the kingdom, then modern-day community management is much like the role of nobles in the days of our ancestors. Recently I attended the retirement party of Bill Stewart, one of those nobleman at the wonderful Santaluz community in San Diego County. Bill is a founding member of CACM who recognized the need for our industry to self-organize and self-regulate in order to ensure its ongoing health and success. The founders’ vision was to have well educated and thoughtful, ethical community managers from which to build this industry. In an impassioned farewell retirement speech, Bill said that the real value of the Santaluz community is not the consistent increase in property values, nor the beauty of the setting and landscape, but rather the powerful “sense of community.” It is this sense of community that lives on in the vision and mission of CACM. As represented by the members of our community, CACM is the custodian of your noble profession, and we appreciate the opportunity to serve you.
David Zepponi, President & CEO
www.cacm.org | Vision Spring 2016 7
