by Tom Markell, CMCA, AMS, PCAM - Vice President, High Rise Division

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On January 4th, 2021 we were contacted by our friends at Fairfax County’s Your Community Your Connected (YCYC). For those that do not know, YCYC is a community outreach, education and discussion forum targeted to Community Association Board Members, volunteers and the membership at large.

As it turns out, the guest speaker for the January 12th event was unable to participate and I was selected for the opportunity to step in. The topics to be discussed related primarily to the pandemic and its impact on community associations. This is a topic with which anyone in our industry is quite familiar. 

Typically, YCYC is held live in a television studio. However, due to pandemic related restrictions, this was conducted virtually instead of in person. I have had a few colleagues participate in the in person broadcast, so I was excited to see what this was all about and was looking forward to contributing to the program. 

I was unaware of the level of preparation that goes into the broadcast. The YCYC team was a pleasure to work with and is excellent at what they do. After several pregame sessions I felt ready for the main event.

The evening of the broadcast, things went smoothly, but it took a while to settle in. With the leadership of the YCYC team and an experienced co-presenter I was able to achieve a decent groove and complete the show successfully.

I truly enjoyed this opportunity and it was a rewarding experience. It was quite satisfying to share my knowledge and expertise with those interested in the management of community associations. I am thankful to those that participated in this program along with me.  I hope to have the opportunity to join a future YCYC presentation, perhaps even under the bright lights of the television studio.