President's Message - April 2024
Published on April 1, 2024
Welcome To April
Happy April Fool’s Day home inspectors.
Here’s to enjoying a few jokes and a few laughs amongst friends and colleagues. Nothing serious and no joking around on site!
Speaking of jokes, what is no joke is the level of volunteerism exhibited by the OAHI members is way down. The 2020s mark a remarkable low in volunteerism, down from an admiral high 15 to 20 years ago. Within our demographic the lack of volunteers is exacerbated by the young guards’ need to earn a living and the tiredness of the old guard.
That’s a trend many volunteer-based organizations are noting unless staffed by retirees, and I know of what I speak as I do volunteer on a community level. Furthermore, online meetings are not nearly as stimulating as in-person meetings, there’s reduced interaction of a positive sort and you can’t relax and shoot the breeze with your colleagues after the meeting so its harder to forge working and personal relationships.
There are those who will blame OAHI leadership for the decline, the same as some complained about a one-day workshop rather than a three-day conference. To those detractors I have a simple answer, volunteer!
Assume some of the load of running a professional association working in your best interests. Learn to work with others! Organizing a conference doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time and effort, as does changing the bylaws to reflect modern needs or paying the bills or writing this newsletter or organizing education offerings or negotiating with the many stakeholders in the inspection business. Please click here for more information on the positions, requirements, and the path to volunteering.
Personally, I am tired of seeing the same old volunteer faces, their numbers are dwindling and I’d like to see some new ones. Not that I don’t appreciate those older faces, they have done yeomen duties on behalf of OAHI and its members, and for that I thank them whole heartedly. All of the people I remember from the earliest years are retired or if still practicing members, they have moved from OAHI to concentrating on their businesses, families, and health. I plan to join them in the immediate future.
The annual general meeting will be coming soon with a budget to approve and bylaw revisions to approve that will allow us to move forward efficiently. It will be held online in the morning and it won’t take long, so delay that home inspection until the afternoon and participate; there are no excuses to not vote on any of the matters before the membership, as a lack of volunteers creates a need for paid help, and as we cannot operate at a deficit, expect dues to rise.
Education
The 2024 OAHI Winter Workshop was a success as judged by the members in attendance. The four educators were first class and the RHI panel went over very well with many topics dear to home inspectors’ hearts and minds discussed and debated. Thanks to our sponsors and exhibitors and please support them. Congratulations to the prize winners! And a big thank you to the EPC volunteers, RHIs all: Bob Brander, James Buren, John Hansen, Alrek Meipoom, and Tom Rando.
The EPC is planning a similar one-day offering in the fall of 2024, but first sign up for the Pool Inspection Course being offered May 25 and 26, and increase your knowledge and revenue stream. Register today.
Regards,
Andrew Dixon, RHI
President
Ontario Association of Home Inspectors (OAHI)
president@oahi.com
OAHI - Ontario’s Authority For Home Inspectors - The Law Since 1994 (Bill Pr158)
