Community Associations Institute's 23rd Annual Workshop for Large-Scale Community Managers, September 24-27, offers a diverse program that includes professional education, site tours, personal and financial advice, networking, golf, historical attractions and more.

Held at the Kingsmill Resort and Conference Center in Williamsburg, VA, the event will feature trips to Colonial Williamsburg, the Jamestown settlement and Monticello. Registration opens the morning of September 24. Williamsburg is about three hours from Washington, D.C., and some 60 minutes by car from airports in Richmond and Norfolk.

The workshop is sponsored by Fords Colony at Williamsburg and Kingsmill.

For more information or to register, go to: http://www.lsworkshop.org/.

• Thursday, Sept. 25, sessions will include legal updates, best management practices for lakes and ponds, and humor in the workplace.
• Friday, Sept. 26, sessions will include establishing not-for-profit foundations and round-table discussions on resort, restaurant and golf operations.
• Saturday, Sept. 27, sessions will include a panel of legal, insurance and investment experts discussing how to protect investments and a session entitled, Dominating Your Industry, presented by Verne Harnish of Gazelles Inc.

The workshop has been approved for the 15-point continuing education requirements for the Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM) certification, as well as the education credit toward the following designation requirements: Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA), Association Management Specialist (AMS) and Large-Scale Manager (LSM).

More than 100 people attended the 2002 Large-Scale Community Managers Workshop.

Two community managers are attending the workshop with the help of $1,000 scholarships provided by CAI's Research Foundation. The first-ever recipients of these scholarships are Suzanne Alawa (CMCA, PCAM), general manager of Ewa by Gentry Community Association in Ewa Beach, HI, and Bernie Howe (CMCA, PCAM) of Palmyra, VA.

"We're very pleased to be able to offer these scholarships to help deserving professionals who want to attend the workshop and benefit from the educational and networking experience," said Judy Farrah, chair of CAI's Large-Scale Managers Committee.

Headquartered in Alexandria, VA, CAI is a national and chapter-based organization dedicated to fostering vibrant, effective and harmonious community associations. CAI's 15,000-plus members include community associations, individual homeowners, professional managers, management firms and businesses that provide a variety of products and services to community associations. More information on CAI and its 50-plus chapters is available at www.caionline.org.