March Meeting: Employee Retention

The March Chapter Meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Plymouth Meeting, PA. The Board of Directors will meet at 5:00 pm; the general meetings starts at 6:30. The guest speaker will be management consultant Harry L. Beisswenger of Beisswenger Associates Inc. who will talk about Hiring And Retaining The Best People. A graduate of Lafayette College, Mr. Beisswenger's first company, Compute-R-Systems, was acquired by Control Data Corp. in 1984. Renamed Quorum Systems, it became the largest provider of automated billing and financial software to the legal industry. Subsequently, Mr. Beisswenger has helped other companies hire, and retain the best employees through the use of personality, honesty, and integrity assessments. The program qualifies for one hour of ASA Continuing Education Credit. Dinner is $35 per person for members and guests. Make checks payable to ASA Philadelphia Chapter 35. Please RSVP by March 15 to Executive Secretary Joanne Paciello by mail to 8 Terrace Rd, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462, email, phone (610-277-1366) or fax (610-277-1366).

May: Ivory and Its Look-A-Likes

The Philadelphia ASA Chapter will sponsor an all-day hands-on seminar in which participants will learn to distinguish Ivory and Its Look-A-Likes on Friday, May 16, 2008 from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm at the Historic Joseph Ambler Inn at 1005 Horsham Rd, North Wales, PA 19454  . Instructor Shirley Sue Swaab, ASA, who is a member of the International Ivory Society, has appeared at museums and historical societies from New Jersey to Florida, from Washington, DC to California. Her hallmark is the use of items from her own collections to create hands-on presentations.

Ms. Swaab will use the morning session of Ivory and Its Look-A-Likes to explain the basics of ivory identification. The afternoon session will be devoted to hands-on identification of ivory, real and fake, from over 150 samples. Participants may bring in their own samples for examination, and should come equipped with a magnifying glass.

This hands-on seminar costs $175 for ASA, AAA, and ISA members, $195 otherwise, and includes Continental breakfast, lunch, and morning and afternoon snack breaks. The program qualifies for 7 hours of ASA Continuing Education Credit. For more information and to register, please view the seminar brochure, then call Ms. Swaab at 215-635-2260.

April: Business Valuation Seminar

The Philadelphia ASA Chapter is sponsoring a daylong Business Valuation Seminar on Friday, April 18, 2008 starting at 8:30 am (registration: 8:00 am) at the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel in Plymouth Meeting, PA. The seminar will covers tools and techniques, contemporary analyses, and case studies in evolving areas of business valuation.

A synopsis of the program follows. (Full details are in the seminar brochure.)

8:00 AM: Registration

8:30 AM: Theory and Application of the Van Vleet SEAM Model

Daniel R. Van Vleet, ASA, Managing Director at Duff & Phelps in Chicago, will discuss his SEAM Model for S Corporation valuation. A nationally recognized expert on the valuation of businesses, fractional equity interests, S Corporations, and other pass-through entities, Mr, Van Vleet is the author of many articles on advanced business valuation concepts and a contributor to several valuation textbooks.

10:15 AM: Coffee Break

10:30 AM: Van Vleet SEAM Model Cont'd

12:15 PM: Lunch Break

1:15 PM: Blockage Discounts -- Where Theory & Practice Meet

Lester Barenbaum, Ph.D., Managing Director at Financial Research Associates in Bala Cynwyd and Professor of Finance at La Salle University, and Walter Schubert Ph.D., also a Professor of Finance at Lasalle University, will discuss blockage discounts and the recent Court decisions that have pushed the concept from a notion to an empirically determined discount. Popular guest speakers, Messrs. Barenbaum and Schubert are, with Robert Feder, co-authors of The Family Lawyer's Guide to Stock Options published by the American Bar Association (2007).

2:30 PM: Coffee Break

2:45 PM: Trapped-In Capital Gains

John J. Barton, ASA, the Principal of Brandywine Valuation Consultants in Lyndell, PA, will discuss trapped-in capital gains in the valuation of C and S Corporations and partnerships. Active in the ASA, Mr. Barton currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Business Valuation Committee, and has taught ASA valuation courses around the world. A frequent speaker at professional meetings and conferences, he has written for Practitioners' Publishing Company.

4:00 PM: An Insider’s Understanding of Real Estate Appraisals

John E. Doyle, MAI of Doyle Real Estate Advisors in Philadelphia will examine real estate appraisals from a business valuation viewpoint. Licensed in 11 states, Mr. Doyle serves as a reviewer of commercial appraiser reports for HUD. He has also has provided legal testimony and case management service for many of Philadelphia's largest law firms.

5:00 PM: Seminar Closes

Business Valuation Seminar Registration Fees
	ASA Members	Non-Members
Individuals	$245	$275
Same firm, multi-party	$220	$250

Registration includes Continental breakfast, full buffet lunch, and morning and afternoon snack breaks. The program qualifies for 7 hours of ASA Continuing Education Credit. Seating for this popular seminar is limited, so please register early to avoid disappointment.

Please mail registration checks -- payable to "ASA Philadelphia Chapter" -- to Executive Secretary Joanne Paciello at 8 Terrace Rd, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 by April 4. The registration form and full details of the seminar are contained in the seminar brochure. Additional information is available from Ms. Paciello by email, phone (610-277-1366) or fax (610-277-1366), and from seminar coordinator Robert M. Haas, Jr., ASA by or phone (215-887-6500).