October 2016

INSIDE CONNECTION LAURA O'CONNOR | DIRECTOR, MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING

What’s in it for me? Community Associations Institute Membership

A s the Director of Membership & Marketing for the New Jersey chapter of Community Associations Institute I answer the question “What’s in it for me?” on a daily basis as I explain the benefits of membership to prospective members. As the third largest chapter of CAI with 1,600 members in New Jersey we have a lot to offer our members from networking opportunities, education and legislative advocacy. There are networking opportunities throughout the year specifically created with each type of member in mind. The annual Conference & Expo taking place on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 is great for networking with our Manager members and our Community Association Volunteer Leader members. Earlier this year the Business Partner committee recognized the need for vendor to vendor networking and held its first Business Partner Meet Up event. We also held our annual Beach Party event with 800 attendees. Educational programs are also a big part of what we do here at CAI-NJ. We have recently added an educational course geared to our Business Partner members the Business Partner Essentials. CAI-NJ is the second chapter to offer this course in person. For our Manager Members that were seeking their CMCA designation we held a CMCA Exam Study Group: Coffee & Cram session to help them prepare for their test. This year we sold out our Board Leadership Development Workshop course for our member CAVLs. Many members are unaware of the work that the CAI- NJ LAC does reviewing proposed legislation. One of

the issues that CAI-NJ weighed in on this year is fore- closure reform. Our efforts would provide relief for our homeowner members who are stuck with abandoned properties that are not being foreclosed. We continue to pursue manager certification in an effort to provide a level of professionalism for the Community Management industry. As you can see there is something in everything CAI‑NJ offers for our Manager, CAVL and Business Partner mem-

"As you can see there is something in everything

CAI‑NJ offers for our Manager, CAVL and Business Partner members."

bers. Providing networking opportunities, educational programs and legislative advocacy is critical to the suc- cess of the community association industry and CAI-NJ strives to provide our members programs and services that specifically address their needs. If you would like assistance determining “What’s in it for you?” as a member or if you are considering membership, please feel free to reach out to me at (609) 588-0030 or laura@cainj.org . n

10

O C T O B E R , 2 0 1 6