Congratulations to the American Society of Appraisers, which enjoyed its largest-ever, standalone national business valuation conference this week in San Diego.  Over 500 attendees gathered to review, in the words of general-session presenter Jay Fishman, how BV has grown from a “gypsy” existence to a recognized, reputable profession, with all its attendant privileges and responsibilities.  “Clients are not willing to pay for an appraiser's learning curve as a generalist," he said.  The clear trend is toward more specialization in each of the particular valuation “worlds,” where the profession and individual practitioners will continue to have far-reaching influence.

Most notable among these brave new frontiers: fair value for financial reporting.  “No topic has so dominated the BV world or had such an impact,” said Bruce Bingham, in his introductory remarks (see next item for more from the FASB speaker).  BVResources sent a full team to cover “one of the biggest and more important conferences we’ve ever had,” according to ASA BV Committee Chair Terry Allen.  As is our practice, we’ve dedicated most of this BVWire™ to reporting the event’s news, information, and inside tips.