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D E C E M B E R , 2 0 1 7
LOOKING
AHEAD
LARRY THOMAS, PCAM
| CAI-NJ CHAPTER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
I
’d like to wrap up 2017 focusing on a few items that
occurred during the year, beginning with our CAI-NJ
team. We have a great staff here at CAI-NJ that has
been consistent for the last three years. Angela, Jackie
and Laura remained on the CAI-NJ team and we replaced
the part-time Administrative Assistant/Graphic Designer
with a full time staff member. Brooke Stoppiello came on
board in August as a full-time team member assuming the
Administrative Assistant/Graphic Designer role.
Regarding the team, Angela became a first-time grand-
mother to Olivia who arrived in July of this year. Laura and
her husband Rob are expecting their first child which will
most likely be here before this
issue of
Community Trends
®
is mailed. Jackie got married
to her longtime partner Ben,
changing her name from
Olszewski to Oskierko. We
also had an excellent expe-
rience with this year’s intern
Tara Vakili, she did a great
job over the summer and
helped us keep current with
our social media, member-
ship data mining and other
marketing initiatives. Tara is attending NYU as a sopho-
more and hopefully can return next summer.
Another highlight was our membership growth, during
2017 we grew from 1,625 members on December 31,
2016 to 1,694 on October 31, 2017. This is a very
impressive number and I’m sure we will pass the 1,700
count by the end of the year. Laura and I met with Lysa
Bergenfeld and Nick Haralambopoulos (chair and vice
chair of the 2018 Membership Committee) and discussed
the committee's plan for next year. We all agreed on
focusing on two major campaigns — push the new CAI
Homeowner Leader program change (sign up 3 to 15
board members and key community volunteers for an
annual cost of $295) and focus on increasing the manag-
er membership section of our chapter. These two major
initiatives will be discussed by the entire committee and
a marketing plan will be developed and rolled out by the
committee.
I have to thank the entire
Conference and Expo
Committee for an outstanding
effort with this year’s event.
They were faced with an
unexpected venue change
and pulled off our biggest
and best conference yet.
Great job to the entire com-
mittee along with Angela and
the rest of the CAI-NJ team for
another great conference.
I hope you enjoy the holidays with your families and
friends and recharge your batteries for 2018. We at
CAI‑NJ will be discussing all of our events and programs
and focusing on providing an even bigger and better
experience for all of our members.
n