Notes from the CAI Spring National Conference

CAI's National Conference was a inspirational experience that was both exciting and frenetic. We hardly noticed the backdrop of beautiful Palm Springs, California, as this was one of the busiest and best attended conferences in years. Attendees from TOPS included Jeff Hardy, President, Ryan Allen, Vice President of Technical Services, and myself.

We received raves galore about TOPS Professional™ from customers who made a point to stop by our booth to tell us. Among the more popular features that people couldn't stop talking about were the new CC&R Batches and the Attachments feature. We also gave a sneak preview of two of the new products we will be releasing within the next two months - the TOPS Calendar/Scheduler and the new Files and Folders functionality for the TOPS Internet Backup Service, both of which generated a lot of excitement. The cobalt blue shot glasses commemorating TOPS' 21st anniversary were also a huge hit.

In addition to manning the booth and meeting and greeting with attendees, I completed 19 hours of training for the CAI National Faculty. I am very happy to announce that I am now a full-fledged member of the CAI National Faculty. The caliber of these industry educators is awe inspiring, and I am very fortunate to be included with this elite group of dedicated professionals.

Ryan and I sit on the Technology Group Committee, where we discussed making technology part of the Professional Management Development Program (PMDP) curriculum with a possible new CAI designation, a regular column in Common Ground, and possibly an issue of Common Ground devoted exclusively to community association technology – at last, technology is finding its place in the community association industry.

We are looking forward to the next national Conference, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 25 – 27, 2007. Hope to see you then!

Bruce Gran is the Vice President of Sales for TOPS Software