As a property manager and new president of our local apartment association, I was excited and nervous when the subject of the Capitol Conference came up. I was excited for many reasons. Who would not want to go to Washington D.C.? Let’s face it, it’s a beautiful city with so much history. Being new to this position, I knew I had a lot to learn to help the association grow and be more successful. I knew that going would put me in direct contact with the right people who could help us with those goals.
I was also very nervous. Was I prepared for this? What exactly does lobbying entail? I am going to speak to a member of Congress? In person? And of course, will my Executive Director, Bianca Labrador, and I continue to get along after we have been alone in a car for six to seven hours and shared a hotel room for four days? Our decision to share a room was easy. We get along very well and saving money for our association where we can is key.
In preparation for the trip, I spoke with everyone I knew who had previously attended the conference. We both read everything NAA provided for the conference. Luckily, just before the conference there was a NAA Association Executives training in Virginia. Before the AE training, Bianca and I were both thinking that we were not prepared to lobby. What would we lobby for? The AE training answered that question and she came back full of excitement about the opportunity ahead. When she shared the lobbying information with me, my nerves subsided, slightly. NAA gave her all of the information that we needed about lobbying so we did not have to come up with our own agenda.
I had looked up the location of our hotel and where the conference was happening, so we knew that we were just a block away from where everything would take place. The only exception would be the lobby day meetings. Those were in the Longworth and Cannon House office buildings. Even those were only seven city blocks from our hotel. D.C. is very walkable but it is also very easy to get a cab or use Uber. Neither of us had ever used Uber before so we both received a $20 credit, so our rides to and from our lobby day meetings were free, helping us save a little bit more money for our association.
Registration provided us with our badges, all the meeting room assignments, and a map of the area. NAA provided extra information about our lobby day meetings to help us prepare even more. From then on we attended many seminars with great speakers. My personal favorites were the Time Magazine photographer, Platon, and the previous host of Meet the Press, David Gregory. Both were extremely engaging and able to shed a positive light on humanity, morality and of course politics. After all, this is D.C. and we were there to speak about our industry’s needs on a political level. All of the information and education was geared towards how to get our message across clearly and in the best way possible. However, as a property manager, I also found a lot of it to be great for my everyday work life.
Overall the trip was an invaluable experience. For me personally, I got to sit in on committee meetings as well as the board meeting -- which allowed me to see how I can better run my association’s meetings. I made new contacts with people at NAA and other affiliates. I was also able to learn what NAA has to offer our affiliate. As for my nerves and questions, welcome to where clichés become the honest truth. Like most things in life, you never really know what you can handle or are prepared for until you do it, and any experience is what you make of it. I am relieved to report that my initial concerns were unfounded and that Congressmen are just normal everyday people, too!
Michelina Balzer is the President of the Western Pennsylvania Apartment Association, and a Property Manager at Highlands of Montour Run.