The NMHC Technology and Innovation Committees are NMHC member committees that inform the Council on issues including technology, telecommunications, cybersecurity, data privacy and protection, and innovation. The OPTECH Planning Committee is included with Technology and Innovation Committees and supports content and event planning for the annual NMHC OPTECH Conference.
The committees serve as an advisory board to NMHC staff on their specific area of expertise. All committees will assist in some manner with the planning of the annual OPTECH Conference. They may also assist with the creation of NMHC resources, surveys, events, webinars, etc. In addition, they may create their own program of work which NMHC will assist with. All committees will also serve as a resource to the NMHC Government Affairs team on advocacy issues related their specific area of expertise. They also serve as a resource for media inquiries received by NMHC.
Participation on the committees is a member benefit for NMHC members only. NMHC prioritizes engagement between members of multifamily owner, developer, and property management companies. There may be opportunities for NMHC members who are not apartment owners, developers, and managers to join a subcommittee that is formed for a specific purpose, i.e. an industry survey, white paper, event, etc.
As stated above, committees are open to NMHC members employed by apartment owner, developer, and/or property management companies. In addition, 75% of the membership of the committees is required to be comprised of NMHC Executive Committee or Board of Directors level members.
The term for membership is three years. If a member matriculates into a committee leadership role (Chair or Vice-chair), their term may be extended by two-years for each role.
Committee members can anticipate several one-hour long conference calls distributed throughout the year. The amount of calls will be determined by the annual program of work for each committee but could range from 3-4 or more. In addition, all committees will meet in-person at the annual OPTECH Conference. If committee members elect to, NMHC will facilitate additional in-person meetings.
Members can be reconsidered for membership after a one-year break after completion of their three-year term or their term(s) in leadership. If a member is chosen for committee leadership, their term is extended per the rules for leadership tenure.
All members are expected to attend the OPTECH in -person meeting, attendance at other meetings are optional. If a committee member misses more than half of the annual committee conference calls and does not attend the annual in-person meeting at OPTECH will be removed from the committee.
Conference calls are not open to non-committee members. Every committee will have one meeting per year that is open to non-committee members.
All committees can decide on the optimal size for their committee; however, all committees shall have a minimum of 7 NMHC members (Chair, Vice Chair and 5 members) and a maximum of 20 NMHC members (Chair, Vice Chair and 18 members).
NMHC receives more volunteers than can be accommodated on the Technology and Innovation committees. We seek as much diversity as possible on every committee to assure we are receiving the full spectrum of industry opinions. We seek to find the industry’s best and brightest talent while providing opportunities for as a broad a spectrum of companies and people as possible without overrepresentation from any one-member company. All candidates are vetted and approved by the NMHC President before being invited to the committee.
In alignment with NMHC broader mission and the selection process outlined above, NMHC staff will appoint committee leadership. NMHC looks for members who have proven an interest and willingness to engage with NMHC and attend NMHC events, including the OPTECH Conference. All committee chairs are vetted and approved by the NMHC president before being invited to serve as Chair and must be NMHC Executive Committee or Board of Directors level members.
The Vice Chair will serve as chair-elect who is a chair-in-waiting. In the case when there is no Vice Chair, NMHC committee Chair is traditionally chosen from the committee membership.
NMHC works with the committee Chair to select a Vice Chair using the same criteria used for selection of the Chair. NMHC seeks as much balance and diversity among committee leadership as possible. All committee Vice Chairs are vetted and approved by the NMHC president before being invited to serve as Vice Chair and must be NMHC Executive Committee or Board of Directors level members.
As outlined above, this Vice Chair position will automatically advance when the term of the Chair is up.
Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs serve for two years in each role. The role of Vice Chair also serves as a chair-in-waiting. This position provides for automatic succession when the term of the chair is up. Thus, if a member matriculates to a leadership role, their full-tenure on a committee could be seven years.
Committee chairs coordinate with NMHC staff to set the agenda for conference calls and meetings, run all conference calls, and serve as the NMHC point person for their area of expertise. They will have significantly more contact with NMHC staff than committee members.
The Vice Chair coordinates with the Chair and NMHC staff to set the agenda for conference calls and meetings, along with the Chair, they serve as the NMHC point person for their area of expertise. They will have significantly more contact with the NMHC staff than committee members. Importantly, the Vice Chair serves as the committee representative on the annual OPTECH Planning Committee, so the Vice Chair position has more responsibilities than the Chair and committee members.
The Vice Chair ascends to the Chair position and the Chair and NMHC work together to select a new Vice Chair. The new Chair finishes the term of the exiting Chair and then serves their full two-year term.
Yes, given the specific purpose of the OPTECH Planning Committee and the distinct and time-sensitive program of work, the rules are different for this committee. The committee will be comprised of all of the Vice Chairs from the other Operations and Technology committees as well as up to six other members selected by the NMHC Director of Programming. Information about the OPTECH Planning Committee can be found here on the NMHC website.