Here are the top 8 reasons to register for VAR’s 88th Convention & Expo:

1. It’s the Perfect Opportunity…for a tax deductible family vacation.
2. You like hanging out with geeks
3. You want to know the REAL REASON people talk aboutyou.
4. You have less money for holiday gifts this year and our exhibitors want to give you FREE stuff.
5. VAR’s special counsel Lem Marshall makes the connection between football and bankruptcy (and there’s no bookie involved).
6. You want to know how speed dating can help your business.
7. You want to give a piece of your mind to the people who forgot to schedule VAR’s convention in Virginia.
8. Laptops work anytime, anyplace, but there’s only one chance this year to have coffee with the best in Virginia real estate.

Register online before July 18 and save up to $80 instantly at www.VARConvention.com.

A story in today’s New York Times reports that bankruptcies were up 18 percent in February. Of particular note:

Americans filed for bankruptcy in growing numbers in February, buckling under the combined weight of rising energy prices, a weakening housing market and sky-high personal debts.

An average of 3,960 bankruptcy petitions were filed per day nationwide last month, up 18 percent from January and up 28 percent from a year earlier, according to Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, a bankruptcy data and management company.

 February was the busiest month for filings since Congress overhauled the bankruptcy law in 2005. Bankruptcy experts said the rise was particularly worrisome because those changes made filing for bankruptcy more complicated and expensive.

 “This number of bankruptcies may be under-representative of the true financial distress consumers are feeling because of the steps Congress has taken,” said Jack Williams, a scholar in residence at the American Bankruptcy Institute and a professor at Georgia State University.

The latest figures show the financial pain is spreading from states like California and Florida, which exemplified the housing boom and subsequent bust, to those along the Eastern Seaboard like Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, which were among the 10 states with the largest percentage increase in filings in January and February. “You are seeing a good-size uptick everywhere,” said Mike Bickford, president of Automated Access.