"This is probably one of the first chances that most people havehad to gather in a setting like this and to ask questions ofindustry leaders regarding the outlook for the capital markets,"Kelley says. "At last week's RealShare Inland Empire, everybody inthe audience was raising their hands and asking about what is goingon in the capital markets and what the outlook for the industryis."

RealShare Orange County's fifth annual conference is set to runfrom 7:30 a.m. through a noon networking luncheon on Tuesday, Aug.28 at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine. The crowd this year isanticipated at 400 or more, up from last year, according toRealShare group conference manager Colleen McShane.

Both McShane and Kelley point out that Orange County is aperfect venue for discussions about the current credit crunch. Thecounty was a center of activity for the subprime mortgage industryat its peak and the home of one of its biggest players, New CenturyFinancial Corp., which went bankrupt in the subprime crunch.