Like many families, Cardinal saw a lot of changes in 2011. We proudly celebrated our 30th year in business. Employees, directors, vendors, and Anaheim city officials gathered at The Villa in Orange to honor the past three decades and look ahead to the future.

We also made some spectacular leaps in technology this year. We launched our enhanced website to facilitate communication with our clients and prospective clients (www.cardinal-online.com), started a blog, and now have a heavy presence on both Facebook and Twitter. We also electronically deliver our board packets to those directors who request it.

And for those who have trouble navigating the assessment collection process, we have added an assessment collection course to our Board Education seminars.

We're also extremely proud of our commitment to our communities. Every year, Cardinal participates with Share Ourselves (SOS) and adopts a family for the Christmas holidays, fills baskets full of food with the Basket Brigade for Thanksgiving, and walks miles for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In addition, employee donations are company matched.

Anaheim City Councilwoman Gail Eastman attended a special evening reception at The Villa in Orange, recently to congratulate Susan Naples, CEO of Cardinal Property Management, AAMC/ACMF, and the Cardinal staff on 30 years of service to Orange County Homeowners' Associations.

"I bring you greetings from the Mayor and the rest of the City Council. It's so nice to be here tonight to congratulate you and to wish you well with your future," Eastman told the approximately 200 attendees.

Pennie Contos, vice president of Business Development for the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, also congratulated Naples. "I'm proud of your accomplishment of 30 years, and I'm so happy to be here to help you celebrate."

Cardinal opened its doors in 1981 with just a few employees and one leader, Naples. Today Cardinal has 25 employees, and Naples in 2010 promoted Farrah Esquer to president. Esquer has worked for Cardinal for 13 years.

The firm holds the Accredited Community Management Firm designation from the California Association of Community Managers (CACM) and the Accredited Association Management Company designation from the Community Associations Institute (CAI).  Cardinal is the only Community Management firm in the state to hold both these designations. 

Rather than throwing a traditional anniversary celebration for Cardinal employees, Naples hosted the party for its clients--directors of its homeowners associations--and Cardinal business partners.

MTV also celebrated its 30th anniversary this year so Cardinal chose Rock and Roll as the theme of the night. The Villa in Orange was decorated with oversize guitars, speakers, cassettes, and 6-foot records. All attendees wore "back stage passes" as name badges.

Esquer told attendees, "I want to thank our business partners who have helped make this evening possible. You are our trusted partners that we have worked with for years, and in some cases for decades. We rely on you and your expertise to help us manage our communities. You are the experts in the industry that we turn to help us take care of our clients.

"I'd also like to thank our clients. We enjoy longstanding relationships with many of our Directors, and we look forward to our continued mutual success far into the future. It is because of you that we are here tonight." 

The real reason we're are all here tonight, said Esquer, is because 30 years ago Susan Naples decided to start her own company. She founded Cardinal based on three commitments:  1--provide the highest quality of services to our clients, 2--further the professionalism and integrity of the industry and 3--participate in education and legislative efforts.  Every day for the past 30 years, each of these three commitments have been met and exceeded. 

Cardinal also pays for the education of all account managers to ensure that they are the most educated management staff in the industry. Cardinal is a founding member of the California Association of Community Managers, and every manager is a member of CACM.  All managers are also active members of the Community Associations Institute, and many are actively involved at the Committee and Board level.

"I'm proud of the Cardinal Family and have so much respect for all of you," Naples told her employees. "I continue to be impressed every day by your laser focus on our services to our clients. And of course, without all of you clients we wouldn't be here," said Naples.

Cardinal started a new tradition last year when our team raised funds and walked for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) to pay tribute and bring hope to people battling blood cancers. We proudly joined hundreds of thousands of participants who raised money and walked for lifesaving research and patient services.

This year we again formed a strong team dedicated to topping last year's contributions and walked through Anaheim Stadium in the Light the Night event in support of LLS.

For more than six decades, the LLS has been solely focused on people with blood cancers, and every dollar is provided by concerned donors.

Cardinal Property Management plays as hard as we work. At our annual summer picnic, staff and families gathered to spend recreational time together. This summer, we met for a BBQ and potluck at Yorba Regional Park in Anaheim. Piñatas, bicycles, and hula hoops were the tools of the day.