2016 CONFERENCE FEEDBACK PAGE 7
Lifestyle Estate , Ebotse Links , Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate and Blythedale Coastal Resort .
The ARC Annual Conference , which was attended by more than 130 residential estate managers , senior staff and directors , together with international guests from the USA , Australia and Dubai , took place on 28th and 29th of July at Midsteam Estates , Centurion . A gala dinner for over 160 guests was held at the Royal Elephant Hotel and Conference Centre .
Programme highlights included a keynote address on day 1 by Femi Adebanji , who provided pointers to his audience on how they could excel in their roles and become high-performance , influential leaders , inspiring their teams to raise their game and positively influence bottom-line business results .
On day 2 we heard a keynote address by Ian Thomas , who focused on the principle that the “ success of the team is because of the individual and the success of the individual is because of the team ”.
He presented a riveting and informative account of how lions , the only cats that hunt in teams , can be compared with businesses that operate as teams , showing how individuals benefit from teams and how teams , in turn , become powerful !
The programme also included a number of insightful presentations covering key industry imperatives :
Governance , best practices and national standards , by Kelly Richardson , President of the US-based Community Associations Institute .
Communications : a community management imperative , by Stephanie Rosenmayer of Telkom .
Residential communities , NOT gated estates : industry statistics and survey results , by Jeff Gilmour , President of ARC .
The CAISA Annual General Meeting was chaired by Johan Kruger , Chairperson of CAISA , and formed part of the proceedings on day 1 of the conference .
This year ’ s programme included four pertinent and valuable workshops :
“ Why chameleons change their colour ”, facilitated by Dr Brian Jude , who kept us entertained while we learned how to recognise the differences between people , understand them better and adjust our behaviour to suit their different styles . By developing behavioural flexibility , we are able to gain rapport and co-operation quickly and easily .
Rob Anderson facilitated a workshop on “ Understanding our security risks and finding solutions in technology , intelligence and systems in residential communities ”. This interactive workshop covered security principles and theories , developing a security plan , and operationalising and managing the appropriate security solution .
“ Your HOA brand ” was facilitated by Dionne Collett . Marketing oneself , a brand or company is challenging as there are so many forums to choose from and access to so much information . Dionne expanded on the dos and don ’ ts of marketing one ’ s community or company , internally and externally , as well as the branding fundamentals , and discussed the pros and cons of using the multitude of media platforms for marketing purposes . Enhancing and maintaining one ’ s reputation is critical to remaining a positive force in the industry .
The workshop on “ Sustainable resource utilisation strategies for water and energy ” was facilitated by Anthony Turton . He gave an overview of water-related risk in South Africa in respect of quantity , quality and health . He discussed disruptive technologies coming onto the market , what this means for risk-mitigation strategies for residential communities and what solutions are available .
The conference programme also included a lively panel discussion and debate with international and local community leaders which covered a range of industry initiatives and challenges . This lively debate was facilitated by Johan Kruger and Jeff Gilmour .
The new format of the ARC Annual Conference , with the addition of the ARC Expo , proved to be an exciting , educational and fun-filled experience for all who attended . Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success !
The Fifth Annual Conference , Expo and Golf Day will take place from the 2nd to 5th of August 2017 at one of our beautiful Western Cape communities . The venue will be confirmed in the next few weeks , but in the meantime please save the date ! We look forward to seeing you there .
Peggy Gilmour www . hoasupport . co . za