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Past
Conferences
Bigger, Better, Best!
Building Better Communities was the theme for the ACMO/CCI
Sixth Annual Condominium Conference. Held November 15th and 16th at the
International Plaza Hotel in Toronto, the Conference attracted 350 delegates,
with 76 expert speakers and 64 exhibitors at the trade show.
Speakers and Sponsors
The Conference is sponsored jointly by CCI (Toronto
and Area) and ACMO, but we could not succeed without the help of the expert
speakers from CCI National and the financial support of our sponsors and
exhibitors. We urge managers and directors to support those trades, service
providers and sponsors who have been such stalwart supporters of our Annual
Conference.
Friday Sessions
The Conference launched with a seminar on Breathing
New Life Into Apathetic Corporations, followed by sessions on Conservation
(Dr. Gina Cody), Shared Facilities, Environment and Employees. Friday afternoon
sessions included Developing Community Standards - By-laws and Rules (Bob
Gardiner), Buying Utilities in the Marketplace, Selling the Reserve Plan
(John Warren) and Plumbing.
Saturday Sessions
The Saturday sessions started with the Case Law
Update (Stephen Karr), with subsequent morning sessions focused on New Risks
and Liabilities (Denise Lash), Governance and Roofing Inspections. This
year, the Conference extended for a full day on Saturday, including the
sessions on Communications (Jasmine Martirossian), Enforcement Remedies,
Mechanical, Increasing Value, Management Contract (Janice Pynn), Building
Envelopes and Human Rights. |
L-R: Gerry Hyman, Armand Conant, Audrey Loeb and (standing)
Bob Gardiner at the 'Developing Community Standards' session. |
CCI National AGM
The CCI National AGM was held Friday afternoon
where eight new directors were elected. In accordance with its succession
plan, Pat Cassidy has retired as chair and has been succeeded by Ron Danks,
Past President. Deborah Howes is the new President, Gerrit Roosenboom is
the Vice President and Peter Leong is the Secretary. Our own Peter Harris
is the Treasurer.
Harvey Willis, Distinguished Service Award
Our finest hour came at the CCI National Annual
Awards Banquet. It was a great pleasure to present to our former CCI Toronto
director, Harvey Willis, the greatest of all honours that can be awarded
to a condominium director, the Distinguished Service Award. Past President
of his condominium, Harvey has always been a warm-hearted, friendly and
hard worker as a CCI Toronto director. |
CCI-Toronto President Bob Gardiner (left) presents Harvey Willis with
a Distinguished Service Award. |
Left to right: David Widman, Jody Widman, Robert Gardiner and Tracy Widman. |
Barry Widman, FCCI
For anyone involved in condominium issues, your
heart would have swelled up to have heard Barry Widman's children Jody,
Tracey and David deliver a thank you for the posthumous honour bestowed
upon Barry as a Fellow of the Canadian Condominium Institute. Jody's charming
thank you was greeted with a standing ovation and some tears by members
of the audience for whom Barry meant so much more than just "that guy
with the pipe".
H. Penman Smith Award
Last year, CCI (Toronto and Area) won the H. Penman Smith Award for
Newsletter Excellence. This year, CCI National awarded that honour to the
Golden Horseshoe Chapter as a result of our nomination after reviewing excellent
newsletters from a number of other Chapters.
Lorne Young Chapter of the Year Award
Last year, the Toronto Chapter also won the Lorne
Young Chapter of the Year Award. A particular highlight for the Toronto
Board was the opportunity to nominate this year's winner amongst a number
of excellent submissions. What a pleasure it was to present the Lorne Young
Chapter of the Year Award to our good friends at the Huronia Chapter.
Our own Gerrit Roosenboom (a past Toronto Chapter director) enthused a number
of condo sympathisers to found the Barrie based Chapter to become a mature
branch in two years, with 150 members, a 24 page glossy colour magazine
and educational seminars throughout a fiefdom only slightly smaller than
France. Of course, nepotism played a role, but nepotism is a wo-way street,
and therefore the grant of that honour to Huronia was conditional upon Toronto
winning next year! |
 Left to
right: CCI-T Past President Gina Cody; CCI-T Vice President Denise Lash;
and CAI representative and Keynote Speaker Ellen Hirsh de Haan |
ACMO President Jim Bezemer (left) and CCI-Toronto
President Bob Gardiner (far right) present Darlene Rendell with the Trade
Show Passport Grand Prize of a trip for two to Cancun! |
Accolades
Such a sophisticated and major event requires a
lot of planning, organization and administration. Many thanks to Don Braden
and Jean Rookwood of B B & C for all of their administrative efforts.
Jim Bezemer, my co-chair, President of ACMO and Ron Danks, President of
CCI National, provided outstanding leadership. Donna Swanson, Denise Lash,
Dr. Gina Cody, Janice Pynn, Laura Lee, Roy Arluck and Larry Holmes were
chock full of ideas. Lynn Morrovat and Diane Gaunt contributed their knowledgeable
conference expertise. |
OCI-Toronto Director Steve Willerding (left) accepts one
of many door prizes handed out by CCI-National Past President, Ron Danks
(right). |
2003 Conference
We are all as pleased as punch with the results
and we are already planning the 2003 Conference to be held at the International
Plaza Hotel, Toronto. Mark your calendar for Friday, November 7th and Saturday,
November 8th, 2003 for the next bigger and better extravaganza! · |
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