CAI president's message: A decade of change & growth

Ten years ago I was elected to serve as president of the CAI New England Chapter (CAI-NE). I really enjoyed my tenure as president for those 12 months in 1998, and as 2008 chapter president, I welcome the opportunity to be involved once again at this level. Members & Volunteers from Around New England Since 1998, CAI-NE has come a long way. The most notable change is that we truly are the "New England" chapter. While the CAI New England Chapter states include Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont, for most of the chapter's history almost all of our members and chapter volunteer leaders were from Massachusetts. However, each year more community associations along with industry professionals and service providers from Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont have joined CAI. These new members have also become more active in the chapter and through their volunteer leadership a record number of programs and events are now being held outside of Massachusetts. In addition, these volunteers have made possible some monumental achievements including the authorization of a Rhode Island Legislative Action Committee, the first Maine Condo Conference & Expo and new programming opportunities in Vermont. The pages of Condo Media magazine also brings news to our thousands of New England readers dedicated to each state making it a more widely read magazine. Recognizing Volunteer Leaders I am looking forward to 2008 and working with the many new committee members who have become involved over the last 10 years. I would like to publicly thank Erik Simard, the 2007 outgoing president. I know he spent countless hours in 2007 volunteering his time for the benefit of the chapter. Without his time and dedication, as well as the time and dedication of all the other volunteer members of CAI from our around New England, our chapter would not operate as efficiently and effectively as it does. The CAI New England chapter has been recognized consistently by the national organization and many of the other chapters around the country for its wonderful volunteers and they all deserve our thanks. And in recognition of CAI members including chapter volunteer board and committee members as well as the thousands of community association volunteer leaders and industry professionals and service providers throughout New England, the annual awards banquet will be held on Friday, February 29th at the Boston Hilton Logan Airport Hotel. Awards will be presented in the following categories: Community Association of the Year; Association Volunteer of the Year; Community Association Manager of the Year; Service Professional of the Year; CAI-NE Industry Professional Volunteer Award; CAI-NE Hall of Fame Award and CAI-NE Recruiter of the Year. For a nomination form contact the chapter office at 781-237-9020 - all nominations must be postmarked by January 11th. Richard Brooks, Esq. is the 2008 CAI New England Chapter president, Wellesley, Mass.