Time Flies

Janet E.H. Wright, ABC, APR | Managing Editor

I wanted to work at NAMIC since I first learned about it in 1970. I had just begun working for a member company. As public relations assistant at Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Co., Indianapolis, I had the opportunity to attend a few NAMIC seminars and actually went to the 1971 convention in Miami Beach as a “delegate.”

A fugitive from the retail advertising world of J.C. Penney, I learned more about my new trade in insurance from those educational experiences, and discovered that I sure did like the people who made up the NAMIC spectrum, both staff and members. In fact, I kind of fell in love with the whole package – and have never lost the feeling.

When the late Bill Stefanic, former NAMIC vice president of public relations, recommended to Hap Walters that I be hired in 1974, he promised a lot of hard work, some travel, interesting people, and a fair amount of fun. He wasn’t exaggerating on any of it. Through Bill and NAMIC’s nurturing, I saw places I never would have seen; met unbelievable people and enjoyed mountaintop experiences I would have missed; learned my trade and uncovered talents I didn’t know I possessed.

I know it’s just not professionally cool to stay at a job for 33 plus years, but when you have a job like mine, and work with and for the people I have, it’s hard to find another pursuit that measures up. I wouldn’t change a thing.

However, I am changing something on September 28. It’s ironic that our convention this year takes place in Grapevine, Texas – the Dallas area. My first convention in 1974 also took place in Dallas. I think it’s quite fitting that my time with NAMIC comes full circle there.

My husband, Johnny, has earned a new lease on life, thanks to medical science and miraculous strides in heart surgery. We’ve decided to embark on a new era together, deciding where we want to ultimately hang our hats and doing the exploring we’ve dreamed about. We’ll start out wintering in our Ft. Myers, Florida, home, and take it from there. There will always be a warm welcome there for NAMIC friends.

There are no adequate words of thanks for the blessings of these precious years. May our paths cross again, and may God continue to bless the world’s greatest insurance association, its staff, and its fabulous members!

Posted: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:24:45 PM.

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We are 1,400 property/casualty insurance companies serving more than 135 million auto, home and business policyholders, with more than $196 billion in premiums accounting for 50 percent of the automobile/homeowners market and 31 percent of the business insurance market. We are the largest and most diverse property/casualty trade association in the country, with regional and local mutual insurance companies on main streets across America joining many of the country’s largest national insurers who also call NAMIC their home. More than 200,000 people are employed by NAMIC members.