For close to three decades, on one special Sunday in November, CNYC members from all parts of the city have come together to explore a wide variety of issue of importance to their cooperatives and condominiums at CNYC’s Annual Housing Conference, the premier educational event of the year for housing cooperatives and condominiums – an opportunity to learn, to share, to grow, and to find answers to tough questions.

At CNYC’s 29th Annual Housing Conference at Baruch College on Lexington Avenue at East 24th Street on Sunday, November 15th, 76 information-packed workshops and seminars will explore a broad gamut of topics of interest to the boards and resident owners of New York cooperatives and condominiums. Topics range from House Rules to Green Roofs. The speakers are leading professionals in the field of cooperatives and condominiums as well as seasoned volunteer board members sharing their experience.

Eighteen timely new workshops and two updates that are new each year – Marc Luxemburg’s review of Significant Legal Issues of the past year and Greg Carlson’s New Codes in NYC -- join fifty-six time honored classics at this year’s Conference. Several are previewed in the pages of this Newsletter.

Participants new to board responsibilities will find courses in all of the basics—financial, legal, physical plant and ‘people’ issues, board responsibilities, policies and procedures—while experienced board members can explore specific issues of interest, whether its many sessions on Green issues and Energy Conservation, or insights into Fannie Mae lending guidelines, or Creating a Policy Manual for your Coop or Condo or Cashing In on Hidden Assets. Classes vary in length from fast, targeted one hour sessions to in-depth three-hour presentations.

EDUCATION CREDIT FOR PROFESSIONALS
The Conference includes two classes designed specifically for attorneys new to the field of cooperatives and condominiums. They carry continuing legal education credits as does CNYC President Marc Luxemburg’s annual class on Current Significant Legal Issues. Accounting professionals can receive credit in five of the classes at the Conference.

UHAB EXPERTS PRESESENT CLASSES
There is also a series of workshops presented by experts from the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), which has developed more than 30,000 units of affordable cooperative housing in New York City in the last 35 years and provides training and services for the resident owners of these cooperatives. UHAB president Andy Reicher discusses way to Keep Housing Affordable, Ann Henderson talks about Violations and How to Cure Them and attorney Larry McGaughey will discuss HDFC Resale Policy.

NEWMAN VERTICAL CAMPUS OF BARUCH COLLEGE
The Conference will be held at Baruch College on Lexington Avenue at East 24th Street on the 9th and 14th floors of the Newman Vertical Campus beginning at 8 AM. Each registrant can attend three to four workshops in the course of the day and can visit the Exhibit Hall before and between their workshop sessions and the Reception at the end of the day.

Plan to arrive at the Conference well before your first workshop, to be sure to get your registration materials and find your classroom before the session starts. Enter the Newman Vertical Campus on the northeast corner of 24th Street and Lexington Avenue. Security will have a list of all registrants; have your photo ID ready to facilitate entry. Proceed to the 14th floor. Coats can be checked adjacent to the elevators. If you are pre-registered and have received your name badge and workshop tickets, you can grab your Conference packet and badge holder from the desk opposite the elevators. Late registrants should proceed to CNYC HEADQUARTERS in Room 14-280 to the left of the main elevators to register and receive these materials or to collect tickets held at the door. The Conference Program contains diagrams of the 14th and 9th showing classroom locations, a list of workshops and their classrooms, speaker biographies and a Directory of Products and Services.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR EACH WORKSHOP
Each cooperative and condominium that is a current member of the Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums can send one person to the 29th Annual Housing Conference at no cost. Cooperatives and condominiums that were represented at CNYC’s 2009 Annual Meeting received certificates which can be exchanged for a second free registration. Free registrations must be received in the CNYC office by November 5th. Modest rates apply for additional registrants from CNYC member buildings and for Professional Subscribers to CNYC. Members of sister organizations, NAHC, FNYHC, UHAB, CCC, ARC and the Mitchell Lama Council are invited to attend at member rates. The public is welcome, too, but at higher rates. One all-day fee admits registrants to all activities, including the Exhibit Hall

The Conference brochure, inserted opposite page 10 of this Newsletter contains a registration form. Each registrant must indicate on this form the specific workshop that they wish to attend in each time period. Tickets will be sent to registrants in the week prior to the Conference. Tickets will be held at the door for any registration received in the CNYC office after November 11th. Meticulous records ensure that passes can be written for anyone whose tickets are lost in the mail or forgotten at home.

COLOR CODED TICKETS
Conference workshops are conducted in classrooms on the 14th and 9th floors of the Newman Vertical Campus. Tickets in shades of blue and green are for the 9th floor and those in shades of red and yellow are for the 14th floor. Each ticket has the name of the workshop, the time and the room where it is presented.

EXHIBIT HALL
If your cooperatives needs a new intercom system, or is considering installing storage units or seeks to refinancing its mortgage or wants information about energy conservation, or if your condominium needs to upgrade its elevator or find a new fuel provider, then you will certainly want to spend time in the Exhibit Hall on the 14th Floor of the Newman Vertical Campus. There 45 exhibitors will show their products and services, offering you the opportunity to ask questions and collect literature from those that are of interest. The Exhibit Area opens at 8 AM. Please plan to arrive early in the morning to have plenty of time to visit all the exhibits before your first workshop and plan to return to those of interest during your breaks. Many of the exhibitors are offering door prizes to be awarded at the Convocation at the end of the day, including an IPod from Barrett Capital Assets, custom Eco-Smart shades from Gordon’s Window Decor and a copy of the 2010 Apartment Management Checklist..

For individuals interested only in visiting the Exhibit Hall, there is a complementary ticket on the cover of this Newsletter. Additional Exhibit Hall tickets can be purchased for $5 either before the event or at the Conference in CNYC HEADQUARTERS on the 14th floor of the Newman Vertical Campus.

FOOD & BEVERAGES
Complementary coffee and tea are available throughout the day outside the Exhibit Hall where snacks and box lunches are available for sale. At the end of the day, refreshments will be served at a Reception in the Exhibit Hall.

RECEPTION
At the end of the day, all Conference participants are invited to gather in the Exhibit Hall on the 14th floor of the Newman Vertical Campus for refreshments followed by a remarks from CNYC leaders and from Rohit Aggarwala who heads the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability. Door prizes will be awarded at the end of this event.