Aeros 12-2 on Hockey Night

The Aeros won again on C.I.A. Services Hockey Night.  In our 14th annual event, they improved their impressive record to 12 wins and only 2 losses on Hockey Night.  And this year’s game was as exciting as it gets.

The Aeros jumped to an early lead to energize the crowd.  But the lead was short lived as the Lake Erie Monsters tied the score.  Then they took the lead on a demoralizing goal.  The puck was in the corner behind our goal line.  Our defenseman picked it up unchallenged and wanted to make a cross ice pass.  Unfortunately he cut it too close and banked it off our goalie into our own net!  Ouch!

And then the Monsters scored again.  And again!  Down 4-1 entering the 3rd period.  But the crowd wasn’t giving up on the home team.  As the cowbells and the crowd got louder, the Aeros scored. And scored.  And scored!  Tie 4-4.  The crowd went wild.  We’re going to overtime!  Nobody put the biscuit in the basket in overtime so it came down to a shoot out.  The Aeros won in the final 5th round.  Wow, what a game!

C.I.A. Services had a record number of guests this year.  We were pleased to have 1,024 of our family and friends join us to cheer on the Aeros.  And we were happy to be a part of the largest attendance at an Aeros game since they moved to the Toyota Center (13,590).

We were joined by five guests who have attended every Hockey Night (left to right): David Swenson (Atascocita North), Executive Vice President Renea Miksch, Keith & Debbie Hymer (Ridgepoint) and Mark & Bonnie Wilkinson (Eastpoint).  Debbie was chosen as Honorary Aero and was on the ice waving to the crowd before the game.

Enjoy the photos from this year’s event.  We’re looking forward to next year when the record should go to 13-2.

Rampage Looking for Luck of the Irish

Our 4th annual Hockey Night with the San Antonio Rampage will be held on St. Patrick’s Day this year - March 17th.  Hockey, green beer and the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders dancing during intermission - could we ask for anything more?

Well actually we could.  The Rampage haven’t been too lucky on Hockey Night.  They lost in our first two years and barely escaped with a win in a shoot-out last year.  So this year, we picked St. Patrick’s Day hoping they’ll be charmed.

We’re looking for our biggest crowd so far and have really cool green cowbells and t-shirts as door prizes.  Check out photos from the last three years.

Website Activity

Our new website has been pretty popular.  In the last two months, we have had over 10,000 unique visitors with 72,000 page views.  Our biggest day was January 31st with 744 different visitors and the most popular page was, not surprisingly, "Pay Assessments".

And the five communities which have received the most visitors over the last two months?  Cinco Ranch, Summerwood, Telfair, Legends Run and Riverpark on the Brazos.

In terms of technology, over 70% of users have accessed our website with Internet Explorer.  Firefox and Safari were each used for 10% of the connections.  The iPad and iPhone dominated mobile access.

Board Member Portal

Another part of our new website will open at the end of March: the information portal for Board Members.  The portal will give board members access to board packages, financial reports, check summaries, budgets, meeting minutes, contracts, up-to-date ownership lists, deed restriction reports, ACC reports and much more.

The user interface makes it very easy to see the latest information added or search for older information.  We are in the process of loading historical information now.

At the end of March, each of our community Board members will receive an initial password for accessing their information on our website.

Twenty-eleven was a busy year for C.I.A. Services. We are proud of the large accomplishments like conducting eight "No Place Like Home" new legislation seminars from Galveston to San Antonio, launching our innovative new website and even taking two first place awards for our pirate ship in the Bandera Riverfest!

But great management is also about doing the small things well. Our dedicated staff members kept up with the thousands of daily details associated with managing communities. Here are a few statistics from 2011.

• In 2011, our maintenance coordinators issued and tracked 3,912 work orders and projects for our communities. That is an average of 16 per workday. A work order can be anything from having a sign fabricated & installed to developing specifications & soliciting bids for a contract to having a swimming pool resurfaced. Each work order includes a large amount of communication with contractors in advance and as follow-up. That is an impressive amount of work.
• In 2011, our home improvement coordinators processed 4,500 home improvement and new construction requests for our communities. Many requests entail multiple communications with the homeowner to ensure that the request is complete before passing on to the ACC for a decision. Each request finishes with a letter to the homeowner documenting the decision.
• In 2011, our bookkeepers prepared 10,603 checks and coordinated 2,868 bank drafts for our communities. That is an average of 54 per workday. Even more impressive is that those disbursements covered 43,142 separate invoices. It takes great organization skills to coordinate that many bills, obtaining reviews and approvals while meeting the due dates. All that while keeping impeccable records that CPA auditors love to see.
• In 2011, our community managers, administrative assistants and inspectors tracked and resolved 71,144 deed restriction violations by issuing 75,346 letters. Our deed restriction management efforts continued to be successful with 85% of all violations getting resolved before a certified letter was needed.
• And not to be outdone, in December alone, our accounting staff and administrative assistants received and deposited $7,511,897 in assessments in 16,538 individual payments. In January, we deposited even more. In the three business days on either side of December 31st, we processed 7,969 payments.

Our 2012 C.I.A. Services Seminar Series is underway. Click here for the full schedule with seminar descriptions. Our core group of seminars are all back and updated with additional information and the impacts of new legislation.  Even if you have attended any of these before, you will find the updated versions informative.  And we’ve added a new seminar. We added a new seminar and converted CWSA training to a compact webinar.

• Board Member Orientation
• Advanced Topics for Board Members
• Meeting & Records - The Legal Requirements new
• Understanding Collections & Financial Reports
• The Super Budgeting Process
• Practical Deed Restriction Management
• Essentials of Architectural Control
• Community Website Administrator Training 1 hour webinar

Each two-hour seminar begins at 6:00 pm and we provide deli sandwiches in case you come straight from work.  You’ll leave with a wealth of practical information and a notebook for future reference.

And if that is not enough, our seminars are free. Register in advance with an email or phone call.

Meeting & Records - The Legal Requirements

This is our brand new seminar the ensure everyone understands the responsibilities of board members and their associations under the laws enacted in the 82nd legislative session.  This seminar dealing with board and members meetings and how those meetings must be announced, conducted and documented.  We’ll review what can be done in board executive sessions and unannounced meetings.  We’ll cover elections and voting.  And finally, we’ll explain members’ access to Association records.  This is an extremely important seminar for all board members.

Understanding Collections & Financial Reports

The first half of this seminar will cover all the steps involved in successful assessment collections.  Since not everyone pays on time, we’ll get into late fees, liens, payment plans, bankruptcy and all the legal remedies.  The second half of the seminar deals with reading and understanding your financial reports.  We’ll trace the flow of money throughout the reports so you’ll never be in the dark when staring at all those numbers.

Board Member Orientation

This seminar is a must for all new Board members and a great refresher for seasoned veterans. It will help you get up to speed quickly by understanding your responsibilities and authorities. We’ll review the documents and laws that govern the way you do business. We’ll give you an overview of the governing documents, basis of authority, organizational roles, responsibilities & authorities, conduct of meetings, and we’ll cover insurance and taxes.

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. 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 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.  We’ll hold webinars periodically throughout the year to train CWSAs as needed.

Legends Run (Spring) 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:

• February - Legends Run (Spring) Homeowners Association
  North Office - Renea Miksch, Community Manager
• January - Summerwood Community Association
  North Office - Laura Tate, Community Manager
• December - Courtyard-Westway Homeowners Association
  Southwest Office - Deniece Reyes, Community Manager

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

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

• Oyster Point Homeowners Association— 16 years
• Oak Hollow Homeowners Association— 11 years
• Eastpoint Subdivision Homeowners Association— 9 years
• Silverglen North Homeowners Association— 9 years
• Post Wood Civic Association— 8 years
• Greensbrook Community Association— 6 years
• Whispering Lakes Homeowners Association — 4 years

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.

Welcome to the Team

We are very pleased to welcome Kandis Romhill to our North Office.  Kandis is a Community Specialist in our Customer Service Department spending three days each week in our office and two days onsite at Summerwood Central Hall.

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.