Blog # 368 Copyright 2015 COBA7® Worldwide Proprietary: community-investor.com
Perspective. ‘Land-lease-lifestyle Communities, a.k.a. manufactured home communities and ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing.’
This blog posting is the national advocacy voice, official ombudsman (press), research reporter, & online communication media for all LLLCommunities in North America!’
To input this blog &’or affiliate with Community Owners (7y Part) Business Alliance®, a.k.a. COBA7®, use Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-5764.
COBA7® Motto = ‘U Support US & WE Serve U!’, & Goal of its’ print & online media = to ‘Not only inform & opine, but transform & improve Business Model Performance.
I.
What’s Happening During October 2016?
‘No Fewer Than Seven National & Regional Events!’
The Fall months, September thru November, have long comprised ‘the major meeting season’ for the manufactured housing industry and land-lease-lifestyle communities. These are national and regional venues when and where businessmen and women gather for advocacy-related matters, industry education, interpersonal networking, deal-making, and specialized training. And this Fall (2015) is no different.
The 24th International Networking Roundtable, held in September, is now history – with its’ record setting attendance, home manufacturing emphasis, and timely firsthand input from the GSEs Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
As we begin the month of October however, it’s downright difficult, if not impossible, to find any national advocacy body – other than COBA7®, let alone trade media publication, that identifies, describes, and provides contact information for all seven national and regional venues occurring during October 2015!
Here’s the list that, in my opinion, should be routine fare in The Journal, MHI’s weekly news to members, and elsewhere.
4-6 October. Manufactured Housing Institute’s (‘MHI’) Annual Meeting in Boca Raton, FL. (703) 558-0400. Wonder how many more would attend if the meeting was held in a more affordable location? This too is when/where LLLCommunity owners/operators, who’re direct, dues-paying members of MHI, attend its’ National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division meeting on Monday, 5 October.
5-8 October. Rent Manager’s annual gathering of clients and interested parties, in New Orleans, LA. Guess how many generally attend? More than 400! Yet this meeting ‘rarely gets a mention’ in the trade press or by any of the national advocacy bodies, except COBA7®. It is second in size, only to the annual MHCongress in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, phone (513) 583-1482
13 October. Manufactured Housing Manager® professional property management training & certification program, in Atlanta, GA. The one day class is team taught by Katie Hauck, MHM® & George Allen, CPM® & MHM®. To register, contact sue@secoconference.com or phone (317) 346-7156. There’re 1,000 MHMs presently owning/operating LLLCommunities coast to coast and throughout Canada.
14 & 15 October. 5th SECO Summit in the South Symposium, in Atlanta, GA. No fewer than five Community Series Homes will be exhibited, along with a raft of pithy seminars focused on helping LLLCommunity owners/operators ‘sell & self-finance more new home sales on-site’! Contact sue@secoconference.com to register or phone (678) 428-0212. Like the Networking Roundtable, this venue is independently planned and hosted.
20-24 October. Institute of Real Estate Management’s (‘IREM’) Fall Leadership Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Go to www.irem.org/events Why is this important? Because there’re 150+/- Certified Property Managers® active in owning/operating LLLCommunities nationwide. And to date, our real estate asset class is the least involved in promoting professional property management among 50,000 properties nationwide!
26-28 October. I’m HOME Conference (‘Innovations in Manufactured Homes’), The Marquette Hotel in Minneapolis, MN. Host: CFED. For info, call (202) 408-9788. This venue is difficult to characterize, as it’s an annual coming-together of what some describe as the ‘social activists’ of the manufactured housing industry.
See what I mean? There isn’t a week during the month of October, when there isn’t a key meeting taking place that’s directly or indirectly aligned with the interests of the HUD-Code manufactured housing industry and LLLCommunity realty asset class.
Where will I see you? I’ll be at the MHI/NCC meeting in FL, and the two SECO-related gatherings in Atlanta. I usually participate in the Rent Manager program and IREM meeting, but am ‘taking a pass’ this year. Did I miss listing any national and regional meetings in the above list? If so, please let me know ASAP, via the Official MHIndustry HOTLINE: (877) MFD-HSNG or 633-4764.
II.
‘EXTRAS’ at the Networking Roundtable…
At Least Four Things That Happen There & Nowhere Else!
Sometimes we take things for granted that have special meaning, but over the years have become routine. Here’re some of those special cum routine matters that occurred at the 24th International Networking Roundtable, during early September, in San Diego, CA. And you can be sure they’ll happen again at the 25th anniversary venue during September 2016.
We no longer remember when this practice began, but know it’s one we’d best not neglect in the future. What? Soon after we Welcome everyone to the Roundtable, we spend nearly an hour to passing the microphone around the conference room, so every one of the 200+/- attendee can stand and introduce themselves to their peers! This practice ‘jump starts’ the superb interpersonal networking, for which this event is famous. Everyone is given a directory of registrants when they enter the meeting room, and as the mike makes its’ way from person to person, it’s easy to see folk checking off names.
And ever since our nation’s 9/11 tragedy (11 September 2001), we’ve included another important tradition: As a very large group, we stand and pledge allegiance to the American flag! I can’t speak for anyone else in the room, but standing there and leading hundreds of my peers in this patriotic practice, brings tears to my eyes, and memories to mind, of years past and present, where personal actions and sacrifice have preserved our freedom and American way of life.
The Roundtable luncheon on Thursday is always a special experience, for different reasons. Some years I arrange special entertainment (a magician one year, a famous author the next); guest appearances by national realty or industry advocacy figures; and this year, brief solicitations by representatives – seeking funds/donations, to support…
• RV/MH Heritage Foundation’s Hall of Fame operations in Elkhart, IN
• MHI’s PAC (political action campaign) fund for 2015 & 2015, and
• MHGives – a charity founded by LLLCommunity owners, Ken & Katie Hauck, MHM, to rescue orphans in Latin America.
Unsure how we’re going to ‘top’ that luncheon next year. Ideas anyone?
A prayer meeting at a business conference? Yep. This is yet another unique practice adopted, since our nation’s 9/11 tragedy. (Actually, that year’s Networking Roundtable was scheduled to occur on 9/11, but was postponed when all air transportation ceased. Rescheduled Roundtable, in November, attracted even more attendees!) Early Friday morning, at every Roundtable during the past 14 years, at least a dozen men and women gather at 7AM for an informal prayer meeting for our nation and its’ leaders. Someone prepares a devotional thought to share, requests are shared, and then we engage in intercessory prayer. And during the past few years, an appropriate book has been given to each participant. This year it was a copy of the Chapbook of Prayer, recently released by PMN Publishing. If you’d like a free copy, simply phone the aforementioned Official MHIndustry HOTLINE and request it. Don’t delay though, as the first printing of 200 copies is almost depleted.
Finally; at the end of every Roundtable, the final hour Friday afternoon is spent in informal, intimate conversation among ‘friends in the MHBusiness’. While the number attending rarely eclipses 20, they’re individuals who’re willing to share what they appreciated at the current venue, suggest what they’d like to see the next year, and generally engage in lively and constructive conversation among their peers.
Well, this is the final installment, reporting this year’s Roundtable event. We’ve already begun planning the 25th anniversary venue. If you have ideas for meeting location (resort @ max ½ hour drive from a major airport), stimulating topics, engaging presenters, timely theme, and the like, please let us know by letter: GFA c/o Box # 47024, Indpls, IN. 46247, or phone (317) 346-7156.
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