* If conference attendance is any way to measure the growth of a market, then the distressed debt market is on fire. This latest conference brought in so many attendees that delegates had to sit on the couches and chairs that lined the walls of the designated conference space.
* "Value is kind of like beauty. It exists in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder is the guy with the cash."--Deborah Hicks Midanek, principal at Glass & Associates, explaining the wide disparities between parties evaluating a distressed company.
* One speaker in particular offered candid and humorous insights into the how the restructuring process should be handled. "What is a success in a restructuring? Get more than the other guy as soon as possible," said Eric Johnson, v.p. of distressed securities investments for Conseco Capital Management. He also explained how liquidation is sometimes the best option. "There are companies and assets that should be put out of their misery," he said.