Meet the Money Conference Set for May 3-5 in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA—Encouraging signs of a thaw in the worst recession in decades are the rationale behind this year’s optimistic theme, “Unlocking the Game-changers for the Coming Recovery,” for the 2010 Meet the Money® conference.

This year’s event, which marks its 20th consecutive year, will be held May 3-5, 2010, at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel (top left photo)  near LAX in California.

“We expect attendees at this year’s conference to fall into two distinct categories,” said conference founder Jim Butler, (middle right photo) author of www.HotelLawBlog.com and chairman of the Global Hospitality Group® of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP.

 “There will be investors with cash who are gearing up for an active acquisition run over the next several years. We expect to see a large number of opportunity funds, especially as the bid-ask spread is narrowing.

“On the sell side will be troubled hotel owners who are seeking ways to work through these unprecedented economic times,” he noted.

 “Rounding out the group will be representatives from dozens of banks, institutional lenders and private investors who will update attendees on the availability of capital. Industry experts suggest that it will take at least three to five years to resolve the significant number of hotel work-outs in process and the tsunami of CMBS loans coming due.

"This will be a period of both tremendous opportunities and a tremendous amount of pain.”

Meet the Money® will feature some 100 industry leader speakers, in more than 25 sessions. Major emphasis will be placed on CMBS loans, receivership, financing and investment strategies, revenue management, repositioning, public-private partnerships, timeshare and asset management.

“In the past two decades, the conference has seen two major economic cycles,” Butler said.

 “The world of finance and the issues associated with ownership have become increasingly complex, which is reflected in the way the format of the conference has changed over the years. We began as an extended breakfast meeting sitting around a table in 1990.

" We now are a three-day event attracting more than 400 people from throughout the U.S., as well as overseas. This will be the most dynamic group we’ve had in the conference’s history.”

Registration fee for the conference is $950. For more information about the conference, to register or learn how to become a Meet the Money® sponsor or exhibitor, please visit http://www.meetthemoney.com/  or contact Diane Phillips at (310) 785-5320 or at dphillips@jmbm.com.

Contact: Jerry Daly, Chris Daly, Daly Gray Public Relations, (703) 435-6293