Seminar Agenda

9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Registration

1 – 1:15 p.m.

Welcome & Introductions

1:15 – 2:30 p.m.

General Session: Industry Outlook
Back by popular demand, this year’s seminar will kick-off with an informative presentation by industry expert Dr. Robert P. Harwtig, president, insurance information institute. This presentation will provide a comprehensive overview of the outlook of the property-casualty insurance industry.

Dr. Robert P. Hartwig, Ph.D., CPCU
President
Insurance Information Institute
New York, N.Y.

2:30 – 2:45 p.m.

Break

2:45 – 4 p.m.

General Session: Fads, Trends, and Principles
So what does the future hold for those in personal lines insurance? How much of the industry will be automated? How will manufacturing & construction change over the next ten years? Would it be possible for insured items to actually be in constant communication with their policies, virtually bypassing the underwriter? Will the constant flood of information keep us so distracted that nothing much will get done? Futurist David Zach asks some funny questions. In his thought-provoking tour of modern times he’ll offer some useful answers that will get people talking. With a friendly style and a few down-to-earth suggestions, he’ll help you face the future with a solid sense of hope and inspiration.

David Zach
Futurist
Milwaukee, Wis.

4 – 4:15 p.m.

Break

4:15 - 5:30 p.m.

General Session: Roundtable Discussions (part 1)
Join other personal lines professionals in roundtable discussions focused on industry changes and emerging issues. These interactive groups will allow you to discuss topics that you may be facing every day with peers. E-mail discussion topic ideas to Lauren Spencer at lspencer@namic.org.

5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Networking Reception

7 - 9:30 p.m.

Optional Tour—Chicago Highlights Tour
Hop aboard a Chicago trolley for an introduction to Chicago like no other. On this informative, narrated tour, we will travel around the lively city and discover all of the fascinating sites and hear its unforgettable history. As the journey begins, you will view the trilogy of attractions making up the Museum Campus, which includes the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Alder Planetarium & Astronomy Museum. See the site where the Great Chicago Fire started and explore some of the many ethnic neighborhoods which make Chicago a “city of neighborhoods”. Then head south to The University of Chicago and view Rockefeller Chapel, one of the finest examples of neo-Gothic architecture in the U.S. along with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House. And next travel down the “Magnificent Mile”, Chicago’s shopping Mecca. Chicago is truly a cosmopolitan, world-class city which provides something for everyone.

7:30 p.m.

Optional Dinner at Devon Seafood Grill
Join your colleagues for dinner at Devon Seafood Grill. Located at the corner of Chicago and Wabash, 2 blocks from the Sofitel, the Devon offers simply prepared premium seafood, an impressive cellar and handcrafted, signature cocktails mixed by bar chefs well practiced in the art of mixology. The service is seamless and the atmosphere offers a unique blend of the upscale and comfy chic that truly sets it apart from other Chicago restaurants.

7:30 – 8:30 a.m.

Breakfast

8:30 – 9:45 a.m.

Concurrent Sessions

1. Social Media Arrives on the Insurance Scene
   Once considered a strategy “only for consumer companies,” social and digital media strategies are now seen as mission critical for business-to-business companies and insurers. Join Jennifer Prosek to discuss how insurance companies are implementing digital strategies to broaden their reach and adapt to a changing media landscape. She will give an overview of social and digital strategies, provide tools and tactics for implementing strategies, and give case studies of what some insurance companies are doing to support their brand on social media.
   
   Jennifer Prosek
   Managing Partner
   Cubitt, Jacobs, and Prosek Communications
   New York, N.Y.
2. Trends in Liability Litigation
   Join Paul Dispensa, vice president liability services & membership, Liability Insurance Research Bureau, to discuss the newest personal lines casualty/liability case decisions, review recent personal lines court opinions affecting current policy provisions, and identify emerging casualty insurance coverage/litigation trends that may be of help to personal lines underwriters.
   
   Paul Dispensa
   Vice President, Liability Services & Membership
   Liability Insurance Research Bureau
   Downers Grove, Ill.
3. Creating a Legacy of Leadership
   One of the major factors facing most organizations today is the development of their future leaders. With the ever changing, performance focused, environment we live in; how do we encourage newer leaders to look beyond their performance and focus on the success of those around them? Join Bill Luxmore as he discusses how to identify common threads of exceptional leadership and explore how to more effectively develop tomorrow’s leaders today.
   
   Bill Luxmore, CPCU
   Vice President, Insurance and Educational Development
   Dale Carnegie Training
   Lansing, Mich.

9:45 - 10 a.m.

Break

10 – 11:15 a.m.

Concurrent Sessions

1. How to Power Up Your Online Presence
   A website can be your most powerful tool to build reputation and relationships. Join Chris Knopf to learn how websites can be transformed from “brochurewave” into business builders. It’s not about bells and whistles. It’s about understanding how the sales channel and customer base seek and use information, what engages them, and why they come back. Chris will discuss how to leverage technology to marketing’s advantage, how to project your brand in the digital world, and what to look for and avoid from a digital design and development company.
   
   Chris Knopf
   Chairman and Executive Creative Director
   Mintz & Hoke Communications Group
   Avon, Conn.
2. Portfolio Optimization Panel
   Join our experienced panelist, Kenneth Selzer, executive managing director, Vinita Saxena, managing director, and Randall Brubaker, managing director, to discuss portfolio optimization. The panelists will examine the fundamentals of portfolio optimization concepts, why it is important, the range of tools that are available and how mutual companies are applying these concepts. In addition, the panel will discuss important topics surrounding portfolio management including accumulation management, risk and catastrophe loads, and capital allocations. The panel will also answer your questions regarding this important topic.
   
   Kenneth Selzer, Moderator
   Executive Managing Director
   Aon Benfield
   Chicago, Ill.
   
   Vinita Saxena
   Managing Director, Head of Portfolio Optimization
   Aon Benfield
   Chicago, Ill.
   
   Randall Brubaker, FCAS, MAAA
   Managing Director
   Aon Benfield
   San Francisco, Calif.
3. Understanding the Buy Buttons in Your Customers’ Brain
   Drawing from the latest findings in neuroscience-- the science that studies how the brain works—this is the first Neuromarketing workshop of it’s kind. Neuromarketing, an emerging new branch of marketing, enhances all the fundamentals of sales and marketing by increasing their actual impact on the brain of your customers, employees, and even potential investors. This unique approach is proven to create and deliver compelling messages that will help you to accelerate your sales cycles, close more business (through any marketing channel—field or phone), and trigger faster decisions. Dean Minuto and Mark Lange will offer unique insights into how decisions are made by the human brain, unveil the only six stimuli that will directly impact and persuade, define the four critical steps that every organization or individual should master to sell effectively, and teach revolutionary techniques that will allow you to convey the message in a unique, memorable and meaningful way to your agents.
   
   Dean Minuto
   Partner
   SalesBrain
   West Chester, Pa.
   
   Mark Lange
   Partner
   SalesBrain
   Canton, Conn.

11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Lunch

12:15 – 1:30 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

1. Product Innovation and Increasing Speed to Market
   Speed to market has never been as important as it is today. A soft market, ongoing premium pressure, and the desire to attract, retain, and satisfy customers is pressuring insurers to be more innovative in their products and product development lifecycle. Join Steve Discher, executive vice president, Robert E. Nolan Company, to learn how the industry is viewing the problem and practice examples of how companies are increasing their ability to deliver new products to the market – faster and with more agility. By participating in this session, you will be able to identify whether speed to market is a challenge for your organization, learn practical approaches that other insurers have used to address this challenge, see how one insurer redesigned their product lifecycle process, and learn how to begin to apply these techniques and approaches within your company.
   
   Steve Discher
   Executive Vice President
   Robert E. Nolan Company
   Dallas, Texas
2. Personal Umbrella Exposures, Loss Trends and Potential Coverage Gaps
   What liability exposures do your customers face today, and are they adequately covered in the event of an unexpected loss? This session will review every day risks that could present large liability exposures, touch on some of the loss trends we track on excess liability, and discuss potential gaps in coverage that insureds may face without a Personal Umbrella product. Exposures covered will include a look at recent loss trends, youthful and elderly drivers and the unique characteristics of these segments in addition to personal injury exposures associated with the Internet.
   
   Karen Meyer, CPCU
   Vice President
   General Reinsurance Corporation
   Chicago, Ill.
3. Time Management
   As managers, how can you help your direct reports learn how to recognize and prioritize activities that use our most valuable resource—time. During this session, Tom Meier, human resource consultant, will cover the basic framework for assessing the time-management return on investment related to daily tasks. He will also discuss a quick, practical methodology for transitioning decision-making power from the manager to the employee to free up the wasted time associated with constant “checking in” and decision paralysis. Managers will leave the session able to identify direct reports strengths and development needs related to time usage, help direct reports manage their time more effectively by focusing on high- priority activities, assist direct reports in developing techniques to eliminate “time-wasters” and assist direct reports identify a framework for making decisions.
   
   Tom Meier
   Human Resource Consultant
   Equis Consulting
   Indianapolis, Ind.

1:30 – 1:45 p.m.

Break

1:45 – 3 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

1. Selling on a Shoestring: Small Ad Budget, Big Results
   How is a small mutual to compete with large carriers that spend tens of millions on their advertising and other sales promotions? Denis O’Shea will share the strategies that helped a small specialty insurer grow their client base while competing with national carriers armed with mega buck ad budgets. A massive advertising budget isn’t necessary for success. This session offers cost-effective solutions to help you make the most of your marketing dollars.
   
   Denis O’Shea
   Vice President, Corporate Communications
   Hartford Steam Boiler inspection and Insurance Company
   Hartford, Conn.
2. Leveraging Sophisticated Homeowners Pricing to Maximize Profit and Grow Strategically
   In today’s personal lines market, the use of sophisticated pricing and underwriting techniques has evolved from a practice used by innovative carriers to gain a competitive edge to one that most carriers now consider to be essential for their success. While many insurers first leveraged predictive modeling techniques to enhance pricing for their personal auto business, homeowners has followed closely behind. The competitive landscape in homeowners continues to evolve, and while some carriers are only now introducing first-generation predictive modeling, those who initially took advantage of these opportunities aren’t resting on their laurels. It seems clear that these leading carriers will continue to acquire and mine new data to stay abreast with or surpass their competitors in their ability to attract profitable risks and send less desirable risks to the competition.
   
   The question is how carriers will take the next steps in pricing sophistication to gain (or maintain) this competitive edge. Join Alex Laurie, consulting actuary, Towers Watson, to explore the keys to achieving success in today’s homeowners market, outline a general approach to implementing a next-generation predictive model, discuss certain challenges that often arise along with potential solutions and preview some of the data sources and predictive modeling applications that are likely to shape the competitive landscape in the years to come.
   
   Alex Laurie, FCAS, MAAA
   Consultant
   Towers Watson
   St. Louis, Mo.
3. Financial Regulatory Reform: What You Need To Know
   In early December 2009, after almost a year of debate, the House of Representatives passed its version of comprehensive financial services regulatory reform, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. Within this legislation are several offices that will directly affect our industry, but how will this affect you in the personal lines market? Join Neil Alldredge, senior vice president of state and policy affair with NAMIC to give you an update on the new programs and guidelines that could come with this potential legislation, how this could affect you, and NAMIC’s efforts on this issue.
   
   Neil Alldredge
   Senior Vice President—State & Policy Affairs
   NAMIC
   Indianapolis, Ind.

3 – 3:15 p.m.

Break

3:15 – 4:30 p.m.

General Session: Roundtable Discussion (part 2)
Join other personal lines professionals in roundtable discussions focused on industry changes and emerging issues. These interactive groups will allow you to discuss topics that you may be facing every day with peers. E-mail discussion topic ideas to Lauren Spencer at lspencer@namic.org.

6 p.m.

Optional Dinner
Make plans to join us for an evening of fellowship and fabulous food on a Chicago Dine Around. This progressive dining tour offers a unique and exciting way to experience Chicago dining at its finest restaurants. Guest will be chauffeured around the city to enjoy hors d’oeuvres, a main course, and dessert at different restaurants and get a tour of the Windy City under the Chicago lights.

7:30 – 8:30 a.m.

Breakfast

8:30 – 9:45 a.m.

General Session: Executive Panel Discussion
This is your chance to learn from leaders about their experiences and “lessons learned”. Find out what keeps these CEO’s and executives awake at night and emerging trends in the industry.

Don Adams, Moderator
President
Bear River Mutual Insurance Company
Murray, Utah

9:45 – 10 a.m.

Break

10 - 11:30 a.m.

General Session - Delivering Difficult Conversations
We will discuss the unaviodable issue of handling emotions during difficult conversations. Most crucial conversations typically stem from a situation in which a customer is upset, delivering constructive criticism to a direct report or manager, or having a difficult conversation with an employee. Emotions impact everyone attempting to resolve a situation or take part in a critical conversation. Join Tom Meier to discuss how to recognize and separate emotions and establish boundaries, learn techniques to reduce the emotion that comes up during an interaction, and how to engage in communication that focuses on a resolution.

Tom Meier
Human Resource Consultant
Equis Consulting
Indianapolis, Ind.

11:30 a.m.

Seminar Concludes