CIC Candid Interview: Community Association Manager (CAM) Insights & Lessons Learned

Posted By SheliaH on 06/17/2022 2:02 PM
There's a lot in that article that's on point. I think the biggest challenge is for both sides to respect what the other does and why crossing boundaries isn't a good idea. A property manager shouldn't like he/she is a board member. You can make suggestions, although the more I see in these conversations, it's best to wait until you're asked. If

Then preface it with "I can't and won't tell you what to do. You are the board and have o make the decision and sometimes they are hard. But just because they're hard doesn't mean you can avoid it. I can help you gather the information you can use to make an informed decision, but you have to do the work and review it."
Likewise for the board - you made the decision to join the board and you can't treat this like a weekly poker game. This is a nonprofit organization you're running and you're responsible for managing its resources, which are several acres of land, X number of houses, and so on. You can mismanagement your own home , but not the homes of your neighbors.
There's nothing wrong with asking questions. You should consider the pros and cons of your options and then make the best decision you can. Stop running scared - you won't make everyone happy 100% of the time and you don't have to. However you are expected to be candid and explain why and what's being done. Nothing you should be a surprise and sometimes you have to be the adults in the room. B
If you're the type that folds at the first sign of trouble or spend most of the meeting agreeing to everything because you're too lazy to read anything or ask questions, get off the board and go do something else.

Now that I've said all that, I don't know how you'll react to this, but here goes:
What goes on between you and the sponsors of this website is between the two of you, but be honest - is your real objective to drive people over to YOUR website, so you can get more views (and maybe more money from advertising)? You don't own this website, so they are well within their rights to delete whatever they want. If you don't like it, post what you like on your website and leave it at that.
Yes, I admit I've suggested people look for educational resources on CAI's website, but I've also said several times I try not to comment too much on their lobbying and it's quite possible they do favor property management companies, developers, HOA law firms and such because those folks usually buy advertising and co sponsor educational seminars and local activities. Money talks after all, and putting together educational resources takes time and money. So I take what's most useful to me and skip the rest.
As for the useful articles I post every now and again, I do that because they often have interesting perspectives on what makes a good leader, effective communication with others, even the dull, ignorant and borderline cra-cra, and emerging trends to give people something to think about and maybe they'll find something that will help them in their communities. if no one reads it, that's fine. If the moderator were to toss it, that's ok too, because it ain't my website
Oh Sheila, yes, you've found me out. Generating 20 visitors to a website with no click-to-pay advertising is very lucrative. Oh wait, it's not. Zero. Revenue. Generation.

If you find no value in what I post, please stop viewing and responding. Otherwise, enough. If you think deleting entire posts or threads at a whim that are not selling a product (which is the stated forum rule) is OK, good for you. There's no rule against providing links to any URL. Participating here in this forum is a goodwill gesture to help out other homeowners and volunteers in CICs. It earns me zero.