Are you ready for the Condo Expo? If you haven’t yet registered to attend this information-packed event on Tuesday, May 24, you’ll want to register soon — by visiting www.ne-expo.com. Along with the online registration, which will  save you time when you arrive at the Seaport World Trade Center, the Expo  website offers an up-to-date listing of Exhibitors, an interactive floor plan,  seminar schedule and other information that will help you plan your day.  

 And a plan is a good tool, because the Expo, running from 10 am to 5 pm, is  jam-packed with exhibits, seminars and free advice tables all designed to help  your association run more smoothly. Where else can you get free advice from the  region’s leading condominium professionals, free seminars with question-and-answer  periods, and free entry for board members into a $2,500 Reserve Fund Drawing  that will put some handy cash into the bank for one lucky association?  

 You’ll also have an opportunity to talk to industry professionals in fields from  cleaning to conservation, roofing to reserve studies, and pest control to  playground equipment. More than 150 exhibitor booths will spotlight the goods  and services that keep associations running.  

 Seminars Running All Day

 Free seminars are open to all attendees and will run all day long from 11 am to  4:30 pm. In one of the sessions, we look at community and management websites  and offer tips on how to make your board, community association or management  company more responsive in their use of websites and other social media. This  seminar will also explore Massachusetts’ new data protection law.  

 A seminar sponsored by the MA and RI-based law firm of Goodman, Shapiro & Lombardi, LLC, will touch upon how communities enforce their rules and collect  common fees. These legal experts will also discuss ways of dealing with owners  who don’t think the condo rules apply to them, including what to do before calling a  lawyer and legal sanctions to bring homeowners into compliance.  

 And we’ll also take a look at changing bylaws and how to keep them current for today’s complex times. A panel of experts will also discuss maintenance problems  common to condos today and offer solutions to some of the more vexing issues  related to parking lots, roofs, exterior walls, siding, windows and doors,  decks, porches, balconies and other maintenance areas.  

 Last year's seminars attracted standing-room-only audiences, so be sure to get  to the Expo early.  

 Who Said You Can’t Get Something for Nothing?  

 Don’t forget to visit our free advice booth tables for words of wisdom from leading  professionals in the fields of management, law, insurance, finance, board  operations and building maintenance. Got a tough question you need answered?  Here at the Expo, you can sit down in person with accountants, attorneys,  insurance and management pros and maintenance experts to get answers to all the  questions plaguing your co-op, condo or HOA.  

 The final roster of experts and time slots will be posted the day of the show.  The free advice booths are located on the Expo's main floor, so follow the  signs and bring your questions! Stop by and get answers on the house, and off  the clock.  

 Three Giveaways Featured

 No trade show is complete without giveaways. This year, three major prizes – two of them new -- will be offered. JnR Gutters, one of New England's leading home improvement specialists, will be offering one lucky  association a $2,000 credit towards exterior services, which could include  gutters, decks, siding, roofing or windows. JnR has four Massachusetts  locations and three New Hampshire offices.  

 Essex Management Group (EMG), serving a client base ranging from Southern New  Hampshire to Boston's Northern suburbs, will offer a $2,000 credit on  management and consulting services to a winning condo. As a full-service  property management firm founded in 1989 and based in Haverhill, Massachusetts,  EMG provides complete maintenance, project supervision and financial management  services.  

 This year will also mark the return of the Reserve Fund prize drawing, courtesy  of New England Condominium and Yale Robbins, Inc. One lucky board member will  win a $2,500 contribution to his or her building association's reserve fund.  

 All offers are subject to terms and conditions. For complete terms and  conditions of the show offers, go online at www.ne-expo.com/conditions.  

 This issue of New England Condominium also includes a special Expo Pull-Out Guide on page 23 to help you plan your Expo day. Come prepared — because there’s so much to see and do, you won’t want to miss a thing!