Professional Community Association Management Since 1984
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Archived Newsletters

Every month, we issue an electronic newsletter, eNews Monthly, to keep clients informed about Association items, spotlight clients, answer frequently asked questions, and let you know what is happening with the company. Old issues of eNews Monthly are available on our Library page.

August 2017
eNews Monthly
Volunteer Spotlight
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Bridges Condominiums Dorothy Tucker
by Lia Arnold

Dorothy Tucker has served on the Board of Directors for the Bridges Condominiums for four busy years. After a traveling life through many places, including Germany, Japan and a few stops through San Antonio with a military father, she came to be a part of this lovely community in 2003.  As the Secretary, she has used her previous business knowledge in banking to make sure the day to day operations of managing a multi-family property are carried out. Ms. Tucker was able to retire from her job at a timeshare resort in 2014 and ever since, has been very involved with her community’s management as well as with the residents to make sure the community remains a wonderful place to live.

There are often times that Ms. Tucker walks the property to ensure that all eleven buildings, the clubhouse, pool and grounds are in good condition. This has allowed her to become well known and loved by owners and tenants throughout the Bridges community. She is always available for them to speak to on a personal or business level and residents often reach out to Dorothy as their trusted advocate to see that things are being taken care of in their community. She often invites owners to come to their monthly meetings to discuss any issues, concerns or ideas they may have for the community.

This past Spring, Dorothy planned a small community get together with entertainment, fun for the kids and food. Members of the community joined together to meet and catch up with neighbors. The people in attendance were extremely grateful for the opportunity given to them by this event. Her dedication to the community and efforts to bring the community together are inspiring and continue to make the Bridges Condominium a safe and welcoming place to reside.

Accomplishments
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Association Manager Specialist

We are proud to announce that Deniece Reyes, of our Southwest Houston Office, has earned her AMS designation. The AMS (Association Management Specialist) designation is the second level in the career track for community association managers developed by Community Associations Institute.

The AMS designation demonstrates a higher level of commitment to the community association industry and requires two years of experience in multiple aspects of association management. In order to qualify for an AMS, managers are required to earn the CMCA designation, and take at least two (2) approved continuing education classes on various association related topics.

Join us in congratulating Deniece on achieving her latest professional goal!

Back to School
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Easing the Transition

Back to school time is upon us.  Lazy days in the sun are ready to give way to the hustle and bustle of bus schedules, homework and after school activities.  For many of us that means chaos and hectic schedules, but many experts say it doesn’t have to be that way. There are many things we can do to help ease the transition for ourselves and our kids.  Click here to review a list of articles,compliled by Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, from many noted experts on back to school tips for everyone.

Seminar Series
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We always enjoy presenting the C.I.A. Services Seminar Series. Each seminar concentrates on the practical aspects of the topic and provides board members with background knowledge to help them in their decision making. We consistently receive positive feedback on the content and presentation.

This year, we introduced new and exciting features by offering our first seminar via webcast. The result was the same successful seminar with more advanced topics and audience participation.

We are continuing with our webcast format.  We will come to your computer screen rather than you needing to travel to us!  Each event will be broadcast live so anyone anywhere can join in.  We believe this is the most convenient way for community volunteers to be able to participate. 

Because the seminars are broadcast live, we have the added bonus of the presenter being Ralph Troiano, our company president.  If you have never had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Ralph, you are in for a treat!  Ralph is a dynamic speaker with a true passion for what we do.

We’ll still ask participants to register in advance so that we can get the sign in information to you in advance. To register, please send an email to seminars@ciaservices.com.

You can view the full schedule of all of this year’s webcast seminars here.

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Stay Plugged in with Webcasts

We have received great feedback on our new webcast approach for presenting our seminars!  If you have not been able to join us, we encourage you to catch the next one.

With this new method of presentation, we are now able to offer the recorded webcast on demand for you to watch at any time! If you have missed a seminar, our seminars are available on our YouTube channel.  The following seminars are now available:

  • Board Member Orientation
  • Practical Deed Restriction Management
  • Understanding Collections and Financial Reports
  • Meetings and Records - The Legal Requirements
  • The Essentials of Architectural Control

Just go to our website www.ciaservices.com and click on the Resources tab.  From there, select our Library and you will see the links to each webcast and other training materials or you can simply click here.

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Advanced Topics for Board Members

After you’ve been on the Board a few months or a few years, you realize that some things are pretty complicated. This seminar has a heavy legal and legislative orientation. We’ll dissect the lawsuit process, review foreclosures and bankruptcies, and discuss significant portions of the Texas Property Code and federal law. After all the legal stuff, we’ll touch on aspects of “risk management” which includes insurance, reserves and budgeting concepts.

08/17/17 – Thursday

6 – 8 pm

Webcast

 

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The Super Budgeting Process

“Super-Budgeting” is our term for preparing a comprehensive long term budget and business plan. This isn’t something you do on the back of an envelope an hour before the budget meeting. We’ll break the process down into understandable components and show you how assets and reserves fit into the picture. We’ll start with a simple question that very few people can answer correctly: “How much money should our Association have in the bank?” By the end of the seminar, you’ll know the correct answer for your Association. This is a critical seminar to take before you start looking at budgets.

09/13/17 – Wednesday

6 – 8 pm

Webcast

 

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Community Website Administrator Training

This is the required training course for certification as a Community Website Administrator (CWSA) on the C.I.A Services web site (www.ciaservices.com). As a CWSA you’ll be able to maintain the pages for your community. You’ll be able to create news and events, update key personnel, add community information, display photos, conduct surveys and much more. Being a website administrator is very easy on www.ciaservices.com and you can do it from anywhere you have an Internet connection. All CWSA training is done by webinar in the comfort of your home.

Space is limited and advance registration is required.  To register, please send an email to seminars@ciaservices.com.

09/19/17 – Tuesday

6 – 7 pm

Webinar

 

Community Spotlight
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Atascocita Trails Homeowners Association

We are proud of every one of our communities, so it is always hard to find just one to highlight. We start by having each of our Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them and take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:

  • August - Atascocita Trails Homeowners Association - Humble Office - Linda Morris
  • July - White Oak Ranch Subdivision Homeowners Association - Humble Office - Valerie Lehr
  • June - Telfair Commercial Association - Southwest Houston office - Libby Hodges
  • May - The Woods at Fair Oaks - San Antonio office - Tina Jameson
  • April - Cross Creek Ranch Community Association - Humble Office - Renea Miksch and Kristen Craig
  • March - Aliana Homeowners Association - Southwest Houston Office - Deniece Reyes
  • February - Steeple Chase Terrace Townhouse Association - Humble Office - Valerie Lehr

To see the full story on these communities and to see all of the past winners, visit the Community of the Month page on our site.

Community Anniversaries
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Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are the clients that started with us in August.

  • Country Colony Community Improvement Association — 22 years
  • Atascocita Trails Homeowners Association — 5 years
  • Eli West End Owners Association — 3 years
  • Yaupon Ranch Homeowners Association - 2 years
  • Aliana Homeowners Association - 1 year
  • Aliana Community Council Association - 1 year

Our goal has always been to create a positive, long term relationship with all of our client communities. We are very proud to be managing all of these communities.

Employee Corner
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Employee Anniversaries

We love to celebrate special milestones with our employees. In the Employee Corner of each eNews issue, we will list all employees that have reached their 1 year anniversary with our company.  Additionally, once employees reach five years and become company stockholders, we recognize them each year on their anniversary month.

Congratulations to Kim Moore, on her 19 year anniversary. Kim is an Executive Vice President and Community Manager from our Southwest Houston Office.

Congratulations to Frances McIntyre, on her 12 year anniversary. Frances is a Community Specialist Lead from our Humble Office.  

Congratulations to Daniel Harris, on his 9 year anniversary. Daniel is a Maintenance Coordinator from our Humble Office. 

Jessica Brown, Community Specialist from our San Antonio office, Terry Davis, Maintenance Coordinator from our Humble Office, and Minahel Abid Aliana Onsite Assistant are all celebrating their 1 year anniversaries.  Congratulations to them all!

Read Past Issues of eNews Monthly

Every month, we issue an electronic newsletter, eNews Monthly, to keep clients informed about Association items, spotlight clients, answer frequently asked questions, and let you know what is happening with the company. Old issues of eNews Monthly are available on our Library page.