10
O C T O B E R , 2 0 1 6
INSIDE
CONNECTION
LAURA O'CONNOR
| DIRECTOR, MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING
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
What’s in it for me?
Community Associations Institute Membership
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-
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
"As you can see there
is something in everything
CAI‑NJ offers for our
Manager, CAVL and
Business Partner
members."