Condo Media - April 2013 - 4

CONDO MEDIA

P RE S IDE N T’S M E S S A GE

The Ofﬁcial Publication of CAI New England

CAI New England

CHAPTER
PARTNERS
DIAMOND
• Brookline Bank
• Goodman, Shapiro & Lombardi, LLC
• Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks P.C.
• Perkins & Anctil P.C.
PLATINUM
• Condo Media Magazine
GOLD
• The Niles Company, Inc., AMO
• Thayer & Associates Inc., AMO
S I LV E R
• American Properties Team, Inc.
• Cozby & Company CPAs
• Crowninshield Management Corp., AMO
• First Niagara, HOA Lending
• Greater Boston Properties Inc., AAMC
• Mercantile Property Management Corp.
• Mutual of Omaha Bank – Community
Assoc. Banking & CondoCerts
• Rockland Trust
• Swerling Milton Winnick Public
Insurance Adjusters Inc.
BRONZE
• Bloom Cohen Hayes LLC
• Goldman & Pease LLC
• Kidd-Luukko Corporation
• MPD Law, LLC
• Prime Touch Services, Inc.
• Schernecker Property Services Inc. (SPS)
• Union Bank Homeowners Association
Banking Services | Smartstreet
For more information about our chapter
partners, visit www.caine.org.

CONDO MEDIA • APRIL 2013

Innovation: Fear,
Acceptance, and Enthusiasm

oesn’t the title of this article sound like a self-help course? Innovations can be either a stumbling block or a springboard for traveling
the information highway. Our target audience can be categorized
into three groups: those who are technophobic — afraid of technology, especially computers; those who are not particularly enamored with
technology, but accept it as a necessary function of day-to-day living; and
those who exhibit atechagoraphobia — the fear of being without technology.
Those atechagoraphobic customers embrace, and, indeed, demand all aspects
of innovation.
Generally, I’ve observed that our industry innovations are only as successful as the audience to which they are introduced, and the ways that we ﬁnd
to incorporate them. Have you ever heard the adage, “A good idea poorly
executed will give you the same results as a bad idea well executed?” Obviously, our industry goal is to execute well a good idea. Innovation for the sake
of innovation does not provide the intended outcome without well executed
follow-through.
Here’s a basic example: Some of our customers don’t use checkbooks anymore, instead relying solely on technology. So how do we compel someone
without a checkbook to write a check? Or how does a manager disseminate
information by email if a portion of the community members don’t own a
computer? Because our industry disseminates large amounts of information
to a variety of entities, our challenge becomes how to make innovative ideas
user-friendly, while keeping pace with the technology-voracious appetites of
the ever-increasing number of our customers.
Our mission includes introducing new and helpful ways of conducting business, while at the same time focusing on our primary goal: providing excellent
customer service. In that enterprise, we must ﬁnd adequate bridges to span
the technological chasm that many times exists.
As a brief footnote, how are you reading this letter: online or hard copy?
Sincerely,

Pete Garrett, CMCA, AMS, PCAM
2013 CAI-NE Chapter President

http://www.caine.org

Condo Media - April 2013

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