The annual Senior Living Innovation Forum kicks off this weekend, and it is a great meeting to talk openly about how we can do things differently, and better, to both survive and thrive.

I am heading out to the annual Senior Living Innovation Forum this weekend, and I just can’t wait. It is relatively small, around 200 people, and is designed to be an open discussion with C-suite executives in a casual format. But the discussions focus on ideas that may shape the industry in the future. Or disrupt certain aspects of it. Or lower costs in an environment where many providers are being challenged both with costs and with revenues.

I have been tasked to lead a session called “Capital vs. Providers: Time to have a discussion.” My assumption is that the room will mostly have providers in it, and the goal is to create a dialogue about the relationship between capital and providers: how to improve it, how to communicate better, what do providers need to change, and how does capital need to change.

Given some of the financial turmoil in the past few years, there are certainly a lot of bruised egos out there. Providers have lost control of properties and sometimes their entire company, while REITs, lenders and investors have lost money on some investments, and a few of them have lost their jobs.

Are expectations too high on both sides of the table? Do they even know what is expected? It seems like now is a good time to have a discussion, but two years ago would have been even better. I can’t wait to report back on what I find out.