At the end of every summer, The CMSA hosts a Chapter Presidents Orientation in both Northern and Southern California. A busy end to the summer season limited me to only attending the Southern California orientation where I met the incoming presidents of the Los Angeles, Ventura/Santa Barbara, Orange County and San Diego Chapters of the CMSA. I’d like to thank all the chapter presidents for their commitment to the CMSA. At the orientation, we discussed guidelines for running a CMSA chapter and brainstormed on ideas for speakers and topics at chapter meetings. Associate Board Member Jeff Nadeau of DEWITT Companies discussed the importance of including associate members in the running and promoting of a chapter meeting.

 

Soon after meeting the new chapter presidents, I made my way to the Twin Counties Chapter, the chapter where I grew up in the CMSA, as the speaker along with CMSA President Steve Weitekamp. I would like to thank Mark Layton of Apple Valley Transfer & Storage for agreeing to be the chapter president (for the third year in a row) and for organizing a great meeting. With more than 20 attendees, this meeting was the largest Twin Counties meeting in years and the warm reception was exactly what I needed as I mumbled through my first attempt as a speaker. The following day, I attended the San Diego Chapter meeting organized by RaeDeane VanMeter, Republic Moving & Storage. I have been fortunate to have attended a few San Diego Chapter events in the past and I have always been impressed with the organization and size of every meeting. As always, the San Diego Chapter came through and with more than 60 attendees, I found myself literally spinning in circles in an attempt to address the crowded room. RaeDeane and Thomas McCarthy of McCarthy Transfer & Storage discussed plans for the upcoming golf tournament and Dave Rosenberg of Priority Moving volunteered to become the chapter vice president. I was very encouraged to hear from movers and associate members that the summer season had been extremely busy for all and that most were looking forward to a busy fall and winter season.

 

As summer turns to fall, I encourage mover and associate members of the CMSA to begin attending CMSA chapter meetings and fundraising events. A quick check of the calendar of events at www.thecmsa.org shows that chapter presidents are working hard in scheduling speakers to discuss topics such as CARB, employment law, reputation management and health care reform. January 1, 2014, will bring some huge changes to our industry and attending a chapter event will help all members stay up to date with all of the new regulations. For those of us trying to minimize the stresses and expenses that CARB and health reform will bring, the North Bay Chapter will be have a bowling night and the San Diego Chapter will have live comedy along with its vendor appreciation night. Please check out the calendar of events in this issue as well as the CMSA website (www.thecmsa.org) for several upcoming chapter events.

 

Like it or not, the moving industry is set for some massive changes at the beginning of next year. Chapter presidents have organized some great meetings covering topics that will have a huge impact on your business as well as organizing meetings and events that will help us relax while we raise funds to support the CMSA Scholarship Fund and Special Olympics. Our chapter presidents deserve our support and there is no better way of supporting them than by attending a meeting or fundraising event. Steve and I will be traveling the state attending these chapter events and I look forward to meeting all of you soon.