Over the last few months, we have been highlighting major advancements within C.I.A. Services which will enhance our organizational structure and the services we provide to our communities. In August, we announced the relocation of our North Office which will occur at the end of October. Last month we reviewed great new technology we are introducing. We will have a new company-wide communication system which includes integrated calling and phone management. We are creating a consolidated data center for better information sharing in a more efficient network management structure. Our employees will access data through high speed telecommunications lines.

• North Office Relocation
• New Technology
• Customer Service Center
• Paperless Operations
• Centralized Accounting
• New Support Office Opening

Our new technology allows us to establish a dedicated Customer Service Center. This is a very exciting and refreshing change from the traditional approach to community management.

Our customer service center will be located in a separate area of our North Office. Our Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) will handle all incoming phone calls. When a resident calls, the person answering the phone will be able to handle any request without transferring the call to another person or to voice mail. Our staff will have new powerful software to quickly retrieve information about any community or any homeowner account and efficiently log the call and follow-up. Our CSRs will be advocates for our residents helping them with solutions to their concerns or questions.

In addition to providing a better experience for our callers, the customer service center will generate other benefits. Our administrative assistants currently spend nearly 50% of their time assisting callers while still carrying out many other necessary tasks. By having most phone calls handled by the CSRs, our administrative assistants will have more time to help their community managers on more challenging tasks. This change will give our community managers more time to concentrate on management.

Next month we'll review our move towards paperless operations and how that will benefit every community we manage.

"Nothing Happens Unless First A Dream" - Carl Sandburg

Our popular C.I.A. Services Seminar Series continues. We have trained over 500 students so far and have received very positive feedback on the content and presentation. Our goal is to provide timely and convenient educational opportunities to help you with your duties. Click here to view the seminar descriptions and schedule.

Each seminar begins at 6:30 p.m. and runs 2-1/2 hours. Since we always provide deli sandwiches, you won’t have to rush to eat dinner beforehand. You’ll leave with knowledge you can use immediately and a great notebook with the seminar slides, samples and reference materials.

This seminar is a must for all new Board members and a great refresher for seasoned veterans. It will help you get up to speed quickly by understanding your responsibilities and authorities. We'll review each of the documents that govern the way you do business. We'll give you an overview of collections, deed restrictions, architectural control, contracts, facilities, insurance, conduct of meetings, elections, communications and many other important topics.

• October 9, 2007 (Tuesday), 6:30 p.m. — Southwest Office
• October 29, 2007 (Monday), 6:30 p.m. — North Office

This is the required training course for certification as a Community Website Administrator (CWSA) on the C.I.A Services web site (www.ciaservices.com). As a CWSA you'll be able to maintain the pages for your community. You'll be able to create news flashes, update key personnel, add community information, display photos, conduct surveys and much more. At the end of the seminar we'll give you a taste of HTML - the web language that will allow you to do some pretty advanced things if you like. Being a website administrator is very easy on www.ciaservices.com and you can do it from anywhere you have an internet connection.

• October 24, 2007 (Wednesday), 6:30 p.m. — North Office

If you don't know the difference between a vacuum breaker and a vacuum head and you're not comfortable wandering around a swimming pool pump room, then this seminar is for you. We'll review your major facilities and equipment including irrigation systems, pool mechanical equipment, gate operators and explain how they work (and fail). We'll move onto the essentials of bidding major contracts. After that we'll move to ongoing maintenance of landscaping, pools, tennis courts, buildings, fences and other common assets. When we're finished, you'll be talking like a skilled contractor!

• November 7, 2007 (Wednesday), 6:30 p.m. — Southwest Office
• November 15, 2007 (Thursday), 6:30 p.m. — North Office

You can register at any time by calling our Southwest Office at 713-981-9000 or emailing us at seminars@ciaservices.com.

Sports lovers are in bliss in Houston in the Fall. We have the Friday night lights of high school sports. College football is rolling. Professionally, the Astros and Dynamo are winding down but the Texans and Rockets are taking off. But most importantly, the Houston Aeros will be opening their season on October 6th.

C.I.A. Services will be hosting our 10th Annual Hockey Night with the Houston Aeros. A few familiar faces will be back on the ice joining impressive young talent. The Aeros are the farm team for the Minnesota Wild. Our Hockey Night is set for Saturday, February 2nd when we take on a newcomer to the league, the Quad City Flames. Quad City, located on the Iowa-Illinois border, is the primary affiliate of the Calgary Flames.

Each year, we invite our community leaders, friends and families to join us for a fun night of hockey. Our 500 cheering fans always get noticed. There will be lots of door prizes including the third in the series of our popular cowbell collectible. Check out photos of some of the fun from the last five years on the Library page of our web site or just click the years here: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.

So mark your calendar for February 2nd and look for the official announcement and invitation in December.

The C.I.A. Services Electricity Savings Program (ESP) with Tara Energy continues to save money for our communities and residents. We created the program last year to take advantage of electricity deregulation in Texas. If you or your community hasn't made a change in your Retail Electric Provider, take a look at how ESP can save you money without any hidden surprises.

ESP is saving money for our clients and the residents in our communities. Those that signed on when we introduced our program last October have locked in rates for up to four years. Commercial accounts (i.e. the community common areas) have rates as low as 6.95 cents per kwh. Currently, residential accounts can lock in for 3 years at 9.10 cents per kwh. All new accounts receive a $25 credit on their first bill.

For more information on ESP including current rates and options, click here. So what are you waiting for? Think ESP and save!

We are proud of every one of our communities so it is always hard to find just one to highlight. We start by having each of our Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them and take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:

• October — Crystal Lake Property Owners Association
  Southwest Office — Margaret Eckhardt, Community Manager
• September — Westfield Glen Property Owners Association
  North Office — Evelyn Abram, Community Manager
• August — Woodforest North II Homeowners Association
  North Office — Diane Santos, Community Manager

To see the full story on these communities and to see the past winners, visit the Community of the Month page on our web site.

C.I.A Services continues to grow as more communities hear about our unique approach to community association management. We would like to welcome our newest clients that have come on board in the last three months.

• Courtyard Westway Homeowners Association — Southwest Office — Tony Victorino, Community Manager
• Fairway Place Homeowners Association — Southwest Office — Libby Hodges, Community Manager
• Morningside Place Homeowners Association — Southwest Office — Tony Victorino, Community Manager
• New Forest Homeowners Association — North Office — Diane Santos, Community Manager
• Quail Green Homeowners Association — Southwest Office — Tony Victorino, Community Manager

Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are our clients that started with us in October.

• Indian Shores Property Owners Association — 20 years
• Bowling Green Garden Homes — 19 years
• Ashcreek Homeowners Association — 17 years
• Kirkmont Section 2 Association — 14 years
• Traces II Community Improvement Association — 11 years
• Fairgreen Community Association — 10 years
• Belleau Wood Civic Club — 6 years
• Rivermist Homeowners Association — 4 years
• Summerwood Community Association — 2 years
• Fairway Pointe Community Association — 1 year

Our goal has always been to create a positive, long term relationship with all of our client communities. We are very proud to be managing all of these communities.

• We are pleased to announce the promotion of Roxanne Bailey to Community Manager at our North Office. She previously was the Activities Coordinator for Eagle Springs.
• Welcome to a new Maintenance Coordinator at our Southwest Office, Rosemary Abramson. Her background and attention to detail has allowed her to quickly get up to speed.
• Welcome to Kiva Casaly who joins us as a dedicated Community Coordinator for Telfair. Kiva coordinates activities and events for the community and administers the community intranet www.LifeInTelfair.com.

Roxanne Bailey		Rosemary Abramson		Kiva Casaly