Lakeside CDC's community association board training program is branching out to make services more accessible by initiating online webinars for their most popular courses. The first of these was held on Thursday, January 28, covering condominium association and board training basics webinar. The webinar was led by Brian White, Lakeside Executive Director, and Julio Soriano, Lakeside's Community Housing Specialist.

"With so many demands on people's time, it's harder and harder to get people the information they need through workshops or face-to-face counseling," said Soriano. "This seems like a natural way to get the information out in a relatively simple and easy fashion".

The inaugural webinar reviewed the basic rights and responsibilities of condominium owners and associations. Using an online chat feature, participants "discussed" how to build stronger community associations, improve communication, maintain consistent systems, and manage finances. The presentation was also recorded, with a summary provided to participants afterward. The webinar attracted guests from all across the city, who attended from the comfort of their own homes and in several cases, with neighbors gathered around a computer monitor with speakers.

Lakeside is planning to do more webinars in the future and will also look to expand the use of other online resources, including an online discussion forum that is currently available to visitors who wish to post questions. Lakeside hopes the forum will encourage peer-to-peer learning and dialogue on best practices. Lakeside staff will also participate and ask one of their numerous professional partners, which include attorneys, property managers, accountants, and others, to help answer specific technical questions. Lakeside's community association training program, which is partly funded through the Chicago Department of Community Development, is unique among housing groups and is available citywide.

"We are not doing away with our workshops and seminars," says Soriano. "In fact, we will hold more than two dozen this year in community locations across the city. This is just another tool to help complement what we have been doing all along."

For more information about Lakeside's community association program webinars and other services please contact Julio Soriano at (773) 381-5253