Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 7, 2009—that’s the date of New England Condominium’s first annual New England Condo Expo, a one-day trade event featuring over 120 exhibitors from all over the region. Boston’s Seaport World TradeCenter is the setting for a full day of networking, educational seminars, valuable prizes and giveaways, and opportunities to meet with professionals from every corner of the multifamily housing industry.

Under One Roof

The exhibitors at this year’s Expo include property managers, landscapers, general contractors, environmental and energy companies, attorneys, accounting, insurance and financial advisors, lending institutions, and maintenance contractors, just to name a few. All will have representatives on-hand to answer questions, distribute information, and offer advice to attendees throughout the day. If your condo or HOA has been in the market for a newCPA or landscape architect, you can put down the phone and log off the Web—just come to the Expo, and meet prospective vendors face-to-face, all in one day at one convenient location.

More than Just Booths

Along with the assembled industry professionals, The New England Condo Expo offers the rare opportunity to enrich your core knowledge of building or association administration with a roster of stimulating educational seminars. For the show’s inauguralyear, a quartet of hour-long presentations are available.

The day’s first seminar, presented by Dedham-based Goodman Shapiro & Lombardi, LLC, a law firm with offices in Massachusettsand Rhode Island, will focus on resolving conflict between both boards of trustees and residents as well as between warring neighbors. The seminar will cover how arbitration and mediation between arguing parties can avoid the cost and acrimony of litigation, and will offer boards and managers tips on how to work together to defuse conflict in their communities.

The second offering, presented by financial services company Rockland Trust, which serves Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod, focuses on finding financing in today’s volatile market. Speakers will discuss the impact of the mortgage crisis and subsequent ongoing recession, and will offer condo administrators tips on how to protect their communities' assets during this down period. They’ll also discuss alternative methods of raising capital for maintenance and improvements, and discuss what new loan products are coming online that might offer some help to struggling associations.

Next up, New England Condominium will sponsor a discussion of the new “green” developments and innovations that have so many in the industry so excited these days. Speakers will discuss retrofitting options for existing buildings and how developers are incorporating more environmentally-friendly methods and materials into the residential landscape.

Condos and HOAs will also benefit from a seminar on how to get the most out of Internet-based resources. This informative seminar will present the advantages and conveniences of putting HOA and management functions online — everything from concierge services to documents and forms, service requests and board business. Speakers will discuss trends and specific applications and tools to get the job done.

Multiple raffles and random prize drawings will also take place throughout the day, and don’t forget to visit our free advice booths that are staffed by legal, management, building and financial professionals.