CMIA 2010 WHIRLWIND WORKSHOP IN RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
If you are one of the lucky CMIA Members who attended the Raleigh Workshop you were treated a great educational experience with a taste of Southern Hospitality.
The 2010 Managers Workshop was held in beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina, March 28th to March 31st. In addition to the Manager's track, this year we held an alternate track for Association Financial Controllers.
The headquarters hotel for the Workshop was The Marriott Hotel in downtown Raleigh, by far the most beautiful hotel CMIA has contracted with to date. The rooms were lovely with views of downtown and included breakfast and were all very reasonable. The location of the hotel, its meeting facilities, restaurant and physical fitness center were all outstanding as was the service provided by the staff. The Marriott provided us with a hospitality suite where all attendees had a chance to rekindle old friendships and start new ones, getting to know their peers, and sharing stories and successes.
TR O'Neill, acting, General manager of Lake Royale, and Chris Parrish, Community Manager of Brier Creek were this year's hosts.
The Managers were treated to a tour of Lake Royale Property Owners Association, a community like no other we have visited. Lake Royale is a 3,000 acre gated community with over 60 miles of private roads and a 345 acre lake. The community has 3,500 residential parcels with 1,000 completed homes and 2,500 recreational lots for camping and campers. Lake Royale has been recognized as the "Community of the Year" in the large scale category for the past three years by the CAI North Carolina Chapter. Management has made great strides in this community, taking on architectural matters with a fervor, attacking delinquencies, and working with the unique issues of large private homes sitting next to camping lots.
Lake Royale has its own police force, one that is fully deputized and recognized as a police force in North Carolina. Chief of Police Jarrett Umstead provided us with an in depth look at the Lake Royale Police Department, its operation, vehicles and it's cooperation with neighboring police forces.
Mid-day, Lake Royale treated us to a Carolina barbecue on what must have been the largest indoor grill on earth. The steak luncheon with all the trimmings was outstanding and during lunch we had a special session on Offsetting Costs through Creative Use of Volunteers.
The next day we were treated to a day at Brier Creek from Manager Chris Parrish. Brier Creek is an upscale golfing community built by Toll Brothers. The Home Builders Association honored Toll Brothers as the both the Developer and Builder of the Year for 2009. We toured the community with special emphasis placed on its recreational facilities. During our lunch we had a special session on Strategic Planning and Reserve Funding.
The Workshop also included a tour of Blount Street Commons, a unique mixed use community that is just breaking ground in downtown Raleigh. In an effort to help blend in with the surrounding historic neighborhoods, the Developers are rescuing historic homes threatened to be razed and relocating them within the community which will eventually blend old with new
We also enjoyed a walking tour of several high rise condominiums featuring green roof practices, a saline pool filtration system, energy conservation through the use of chilling towers and state of the art technology for both security and equipment monitoring.
The social events were not to be believed. The Opening Reception at the Marriott was sumptuous. Monday's intimate dinner at The Mint was both delicious and beautiful. Tuesday's dinner at the Capitol City Club, Raleigh's oldest private dining club, provided beautiful views of the city from this roof top dining room.
The low registration cost and many included features of the 2010 Workshop came about as a result of the generous contributions of our sponsors.
We wish to thank Community Plus (a division of North State Bank) and Accounting Integrators for the opening reception; Lake Royale for the wonderful steak lunch; John McInerney and Janice Wedel for Monday's wine tasting before dinner; Miller Dodson Associates for dinner at The Mint; TruGreen LandCare & ChemLawn for lunch at Brier Creek, and Talis Management Group for Dinner at the Capital City Club.
CMIA also wants to acknowledge the extraordinary events of host John McInerney and his wife Janice Wedel. John put together this outstanding program. Janice used her expertise to arrange for the hotel and the evening events. CMIA owes you both a debt of gratitude.
Most of all, thanks to those who attended and actively participated in this great networking and learning experience. | 
