The shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Florida has many association boards analyzing their protocols and seeking to avoid being on the losing end of a legal battle. Boards can turn to community-watch volunteers, but they should be extremely careful how much authority those volunteers have, such as passkeys, security responsibilities and access to the association’s funds, Tamela Wiseman writes. Read the full story.

John H. Ganoe, CAE, a professional who has dedicated almost 25 years to the trade association field, has been hired as executive director of the National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers (NBC-CAM). The nonprofit organization awards the Certified Manager of Community Associations Credential (CMCA).

Selected by the NBC-CAM Board of Commissioners, Ganoe replaces Dawn Bauman, CAE, who resigned in March to take another position. He assumed his position on a full-time basis starting May 14.

Ganoe’s trade association experience includes serving for the past six years as the executive director of a credentialing program in the health arena, where he nearly doubled the number of credential holders, expanded legislative and regulatory activities and enhanced the organization’s communications with credentialed professionals, the media and other stakeholder groups.

“John was the perfect candidate for this critical position,” says Tom Skiba, CAE, chief executive officer of Community Associations Institute (CAI) and NBC-CAM. “His trade association and credentialing experience make him the ideal fit for the job. I’m sure he’ll continue the growth and success experienced by NBC-CAM in recent years.”

The CMCA program consists of four basic steps:

• Coursework in accounting, collections, ethics, finance, governance and the law
• A rigorous examination
• Adherence to a code of professional standards and ethics
• A commitment to continuing education and professional development

“It’s a wonderful opportunity when you can step into an organization that is already so highly recognized and respected,” Ganoe says. “Despite the successes in recent years, we can still strengthen both NBC-CAM and the CMCA credential, as well as aggressively promote the value of the credential to the tens of thousands of community associations that rely on professional managers.”

Ganoe holds a master’s degree in communications from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in international studies from American University.

Help us welcome John to NBC-CAM!

Are your association’s offices being taken over by scraps of paper with messages you can never seem to find when you need them and filing cabinets stuffed to the brink of exploding? If so, you should consider striving for a paperless office.

Bear in mind, you will probably never attain that goal. You still need hard copies of some documents for legal or regulatory reasons. Nevertheless, you should try to cut that paper monster down to size.

Start by using scanners instead of copying machines whenever possible, transmitting electronic faxes instead of paper faxes, storing information electronically instead of in filing cabinets, and sending major documents as e-mail attachments or on CDs instead of in bound folders. By sending this newsletter to you via e-mail, for example, NBC-CAM holds down clutter in hundreds of offices—and maybe saves a tree or two along the way.

If you prefer the portability of paper, why not print out your newsletter or other document on the back side of documents you otherwise would have pitched? And then recycle the paper when you’ve finished reading the newsletter.

Whether you receive the documents electronically or scan them yourself, save them as searchable PDF files that lock documents into records that cannot be altered. You will be able to run flexible searches and find information within seconds rather than spending hours thumbing through files.

For some documents, you may need Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software, which extracts text from images and interprets tables while retaining their original cell structure. Often, viable OCR software comes with the scanner.

Once you have the documents filed, you will also be able to access them if you are away from your office. Plus, you can quickly share the information with others, including vendors, property owners and government officials.

Always remember to back up important files. Saving duplicate files on your hard drive is not good enough, though. If your hard drive crashes, you stand to lose all files. Among backup solutions are second hard drives, DVD-ROMs or other removable storage media. You also may save to the Internet and off-site locations to minimize the risk of data loss from a computer failure.

How much space can you save? Consider that a 250 gigabyte hard drive can store 5.8 million pages; a 4.7 gigabyte DVD-ROM, 105,000 pages; and a 700 megabyte CD-ROM, 16,000 pages.

The savings resulting from a switch to less paper extends well beyond the value of the office space you regain by eliminating massive filing systems. Your association will also notice a substantial reduction in the cost of printing, mailing, and shipping.

If you do not feel up to the task, your association may want to consider hiring the services of an independent consultant or firm to help get you set up. It might be one of the best investments your association ever makes.

Too often we hear about the negative side of community association management: managers embezzling from an HOA, the veteran who was told he couldn’t fly his flag, or corrupt board elections.  Let’s focus on the positive.  I found this great story to share with you.  Please tell us all about something good in your community.

HOA raises funds for developing a park
A community association in Tuxedo, N.C., held a fundraiser Saturday as part of its plans to develop a park. “We hope to see a community building,” said David Hill, president of the Green River Community Association. “It will be a good central site for people to gather.” Times-News (Hendersonville, N.C.)

Teen workers can be an asset to your community association, largely because they tend to be enthusiastic and eager to learn. However, because of their biologic, social, and economic characteristics, young workers have unique and substantial risks for work-related injuries and illnesses.

Approximately 2.3 million adolescents aged 16 to 17 years worked in the U.S. in 2007. In 2006, 30 youth under 18 years of age died from work-related injuries. Every year, more than 50,000 work-related injuries and illnesses among youth less than 18 years of age are treated in hospital emergency departments. Only about one-third of work-related injuries are seen in emergency departments.

In anticipation of the summer hiring season, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revamped its Teen Workers Web page to improve access to more resources for teens, parents, employers and educators on workplace safety and health. Of particular interest to association managers is the section on lifeguarding, which contains information for teens on bad bugs, safe storage and handling of chemicals, pool safety, and summer hazards.

Other resources at the site include:

• Frequently asked questions (FAQs) for small businesses hiring young workers. The FAQs are arranged into five categories to assist the user in identifying specific areas where a question may appear—general information, age, work hours, wages, and jobs and training. Each FAQ has multiple hyperlinks embedded in the provided response to additional information on the question being addressed. This is followed by a Related Links section designed to provide other pertinent information to the small business owner on compliance issues not specifically addressed in the provided response.
• Links to information about common hazards teens typically encounter on the job, including unsafe equipment, inadequate safety training, dangerous work that is illegal or inappropriate for youth, and alcohol and drug abuse.
• Self-assessment tools to help employers comply with the the youth employment provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and rules designed to protect young workers by restricting the types of jobs they perform and the number of hours they work.
• Training tools from previous Teen Summer Job Safety campaigns, including video clips of teens demonstrating safe work practices in construction and landscaping, including general protection, hearing protection, protective shoes, lifting, shoveling, and sun and hydration.

Homeowners associations spar with owners on solar panels
Georgia residents Angel and David Dobs supported a measure in the Legislature to expand property owners’ rights to add solar panels after their homeowners association denied their request; the issue is heating up nationally and pitting environmentalists against developers. The Georgia bill failed. About two dozen states have laws that restrict homeowners associations and local governments from banning the installation of solar panels. The Huffington Post/The Associated Press

Speak at events
Take advantage of community events, professional meetings and CAI chapter events to speak about your CMCA and why communities benefit from hiring credentialed professionals. Use the CMCA brochure as a guide, and wear your lapel pin to create visibility and spark conversation. The greater the awareness of the CMCA credential, the greater the value to your career.

For brochures or a pin, contact us at info@nbccam.org.

“Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention.”
–Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. president

Are you in Las Vegas at the CAI Conference?  I hope you’re enjoying the workshops and have some time to check out what NBC-CAM has to offer at the info table.  Come take a look at the new CMCA pins!

Harvardbusiness.org included four tips for improving e-mail. Consider the following before hitting the send button:

• Include a call to action. Does your e-mail ask the reader to do anything—like participating in community activities, taking steps to ensure the safety of themselves and others in the community, or complying with rules and regulations? If not, why are you sending it?
• Say it up front. Can the reader tell from the subject line and first sentence what you are writing about without going further? If not, why are you insisting that they guess?
• Assume nothing. Are you relying on what the audience knows or what you think they ought to know concerning acronyms, terms or references rather than providing a simple explanation? Are you unintentionally hiding information your readers need to understand? If so, why do you want to surprise them later on?
• Do the thinking. Does your e-mail include your considered opinion and options for readers to respond to? If not, why are you making them try to read your mind?