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February 28, 2006
The Annual Meeting (or do I really want to miss that re-run of "Everybody Loves Raymond")
Many moons ago, when condos were new to our state, (and HOA's barely a gleam in some attorney's eye), "March Madness" was not only a way of describing the NCAA basketball tournament, but it was also the way managers talked about Annual Meetings. You see, in the beginning, one law firm drafted almost all of the documents, using the same template for each one, and these were in turn copied by other attorneys who managed to shoehorn their way into the business. Every set of documents called for the Annual Meeting to be held on the second Tuesday of March. Managers had to scramble for opinion letters stating that they could hold it on some other day in March, or tried to amend the documents, but in the meantime, everybody worked an average 80 hour week during this particular month.
Times have changed, and the meetings are now spread around the calendar, but the meeting itself hasn't really changed much from what it was back then - a letter announcing it and calling for candidates, a scramble for a quorum, a few reports, a few thank-you's, some praise for the volunteers, some arguments about all kinds of things and a motion to adjourn, none too soon. Basically a snoozer, except for the arguments. I know, some associations would be happy with that, especially if your association meeting resembles the coliseum in Rome during Nero's reign and looking for the board's blood.
There have been a lot of articles written about ways to improve annual meetings and you really should take a look at them. They should be a celebration of your association's birthday (or anniversary), a chance to beat your chest about all of the hard work that's been done over the past year, and a public opportunity to thank every person who helped out during that year. Try using some technology to help. One management company has a PowerPoint presentation running when people start arriving, showing slides of people in the association enjoying themselves, jogging, walking around, at social events. It has photos of volunteers who did something special during the year, as well as noting things that occured, from maintenace items that went well, to people who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversay. Its designed to set a positive tone for the meeting, and it gives people something to watch before the meeting starts, rather than discuss a work order that hasn't been done.
When the meeting starts, a new PowerPoint comes on, showing the highlights of the reports, and making sure every volunteer is mentioned again. If there is a major issue, the presentation rolls right into it, using images to help make the board's position more clear. It really helps focus the attendee's attention. In other words, its a useful tool that can help.
There are more ideas in the articles, all designed to make the Annual Meeting a positive experience for the owners, and that's all any board can hope for.
Posted by joewest at February 28, 2006 12:19 AM