Please click here to learn more about the 2013-2014 candidates for Executive Committee.

Welcome everyone to our new home for WACUHO.

Hello WACUHO!

I write this greeting to you on the heels of a few weeks of travel and visiting with family, friends, and the friends who may as well be family. Charli and I were lucky to attend the wedding of my sister in NYC at the end of September and despite the fact that temperatures were a very unseasonal 80 degrees we were still able to appreciate the beauty of tree leaves starting to turn and fall from their branches. Soon after, the entire Executive Committee had the pleasure of being hosted by CSU Channel Islands in a gorgeous area of the state that has so much more to offer than the outlet mall that most cite when you mention Camarillo. Why we have not hosted WACE in that area in my 16 years in the region is a true mystery. I am looking forward to more travel in the month of November when I head out to attend RAPS at UC Irvine, UCLA, and UC Santa Cruz.

The first few months of my tenure as WACUHO President has been full of moments that were accompanied by a suitcase, a smile, and ultimately some new Facebook friends when all was said and done. WACUHO was the local host region for the 2012 ACUHO-I Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE) in Anaheim and we were well represented by many in our region who not only attended ACE, but also volunteered on various ACUHO-I committees to help make ACE a huge success. A very special thank you also to your members and Corporate Partners who so graciously gave their time and resources to help us hold a successful regional reception at El Torito in Anaheim that boasted an attendance of over 170 people. We pushed some boundaries and were a bit unconventional by going off site but in the end being innovative paid off.

Innovation continues to be a mantra of the Executive Committee and our organization as we spent the summer working on beta testing some new technologies and services that we hope will make the business of WACUHO more user friendly and seamless. You may have noticed that the Leadership Manual (otherwise known as the ever dynamic working document of WACUHO) has undergone a facelift and is now presented at wacuho.org as a WIKI. What is a WIKI, you ask? According to techterms.com:

“A wiki is a Web site that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wikis end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site visitors. A great example of a large wiki is the Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia in many languages that anyone can edit. The term "wiki" comes from the Hawaiian phrase, "wiki wiki," which means "super fast."

I invite and encourage you to check it out when you have a few moments and let us know what you think. It is currently in beta testing form and any changes that are submitted need to be veted by our Tech Coordinator.

We will also be launching what we are calling the WACUHO Presidential Blog which will be a an arena for us to share and encourage dialogue on topics that are important to our ongoing success as an Organization, housing professionals, and good community members. It is our hope that this blog will allow us a venue to continue the conversations and relationships that we all crave and look forward to when we are able to connect in person. The blog is located at http://wacuho.org/president/ and we are interested in opening the blog up to our entire membership—so, if you fancy yourself a pundit on a particular topic or issue and would like to contribute to the blog please contact me at staci.buchwald@scrippscollege.edu or President@wacuho.org.

Just a reminder that WACE 2013 will be held at The Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, CA the first week in April. The theme will be WACE 20.13 Upgraded: Search, Connect, Share. Keep your eyes on wacuho.org as we get closer to the end of the calendar year for more info regarding registration.

In Community,

Staci Buchwald
WACUHO President