2010 TMA Annual Convention Preview

Our association’s 2010 Annual Convention is being staged in the midst of a time of tremendous change in our industry. The surge in high yield debt activity and the tactical use of loan modifications, extensions and covenant relief have led to default rates falling to back to pre-recession levels.

The 2005 changes to the Code have made bankruptcy processes faster and accelerated the trend toward transactions at the expense of the traditional operational reorganization. Together, these trends are leading to fundamental shifts in the practice of turnaround management and corporate restructuring. The convention program has been developed with an eye toward understanding this evolution and the opportunities that will be created for those of us in the industry. We’ve brought together leading experts to provide insight into real estate restructurings, prepackaged and pre-arranged bankruptcies, and the current dynamics of the lending and equity markets.

Our program also includes a judge’s panel discussing the availability of credit bidding, a distressed investing expert panel providing insights on the future of distressed capital markets, and an ethics panel including first-hand experience from a former white-collar criminal. We are excited to also be joined by our outstanding keynote speakers, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former Harley-Davidson CEO Richard Teerlink.

Also, as always, TMA will have plenty of first-rate networking opportunities and activities around the Grande Lakes resort to make the Convention experience a special one. Finally, I’d like to thank our conference chairs Ira Genser and Noel Boeke as well as their entire committee and the dedicated TMA staff for all of their hard work in staging the Convention. I’d also like to thank our sponsors for their financial support of TMA and this Annual Convention.

Again, welcome, and I hope that you enjoy the conference and spread the word about all that TMA has to offer.

Welcome to Turn the Page

Welcome to Turn the Page, a new blog that was developed to serve as an interactive communications resource for the Turnaround Management Association and its members. As chairman of TMA, I will author Turn the Page and will provide insight about the corporate renewal industry, share TMA information and discuss topics that are relevant to the TMA membership. In addition, additional guest authors also will share their thoughts from time to time.

I encourage you to subscribe to this blog and visit the site often for frequent postings and to share your own comments. I'd like Turn the Page to be as interactive as possible and want to make sure we're writing about the topics that mean the most to you. So if you have any suggestions or topic ideas, please feel free to share them with me.

With the 2010 TMA Annual Convention taking place next week, Oct. 6-8, in Orlando, I will be blogging about the event throughout the week from Florida. For those of you unable to make it to Orlando, this will be a great opportunity to learn more about TMA's annual event.