President's Letter
Alan D. Holtz, CIRA
Dear AIRA Members:
It was great to see so many of you in Chicago for AIRA’s 23rd Annual Bankruptcy and Restructuring Conference in early June. By the measure of attendance, this year’s conference was a huge success, with over 300 registered participants. I’m happy to say that by all other measures, the conference was also a huge success – interesting panels, productive networking opportunities, fun extracurricular activities and great weather! We have received many favorable comments about the conference and always appreciate the feedback.
Of course, the success of AIRA’s Annual Conference was no accident. It is the product of the leadership of the event co-chairs, Bob Morris and Keith Shapiro, the contributions of those on the planning committee, the wisdom of the panelists, the financial support of our sponsors, the participation of all attendees and the hard work of the AIRA staff. My personal thanks, and those of the organization, go out to all of you for the part you each played.
As I begin my second year as AIRA’s president, I am very excited about what we have in store for 2007-08. In particular, I want to highlight our New York Advanced Plan of Reorganization Conference on Tuesday, September 18. This annual one-day conference has quickly become one not to miss – and we look forward to honoring Bankruptcy Judge Judith K. Fitzgerald this year.
For those looking to travel a little further than midtown Manhattan, join us on October 21 -24 in Shanghai for our Investing and Restructuring in China Conference. With a first-rate lineup of topics and speakers, this is certainly going to be a great chance to learn about the world’s fastest growing major economy and what opportunities it may present to those in our profession.
Finally, although this year’s event is just behind us, we already look forward to AIRA’s 24th Annual Conference in Las Vegas, from June 4 – 7, 2008. Further details on these and all of our events can be found on the association’s website at
www.airacira.org.
Warm regards,
Alan
Author bio:
Alan Holtz is a Managing Director with AlixPartners based in New York. He has spent close to 20 years as a corporate restructuring and reorganization specialist and has managed all aspects of the financial restructuring process. Alan has provided services to companies, management teams and boards of directors, as well as to financial institutions and creditors’ committees, across a wide variety of industries. A frequent speaker on the subject of bankruptcy and reorganization, Alan holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and is a CPA and a CIRA, for which he received the 1992 CIRA silver medal from AIRA.