Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The RIMS Apprentice: Day 4

Hello Lucky People Who Are Still in San Diego,

It is 3:00 a.m. and I am finally home in Philadelphia, Pa. What an incredible journey. I will do a final recap later. For now, my final day at RIMS:

We all got up very early for a breakfast meeting at 8 a.m. Ed Troy, the CEO of GAB Robins, spoke at our school a few weeks ago, and we made plans to meet up for breakfast at the conference. All of our students and our professors met up with Ed and Andrew Miller, his co-worker, for an informal breakfast.

Ed talked a bit about his experiences in life, and offered advice to us students. He really had some inspirational messages. He told us to love what you do every single day, and to always act with integrity. He also encouraged us to network and meet as many people as we could and to never lose contact. It really is an amazing experience to have the CEO of a company take time out of his busy schedule to sit down and talk with you face to face, with no schedule or rushing.

After our breakfast meeting, we headed down to the exhibit hall. It was HUGE!!!! I saw the massage booth, and I was ecstatic! Mind you, we are college students, so we were sleeping 5 people to a hotel room at the Best Western. Read: Crammed. Plus, I had a 6+ hour flight still stuck in my neck, so the kind workers at Dubai made my day! I teamed up with 2 other students, and we checked out almost every single exhibit. There were a lot of neat giveaways, and a lot of ... interesting ... ones. My personal favorite was the zebra print bag from Vericlaim! I am using it for everything from now on!

It was interesting to see people's reactions when they heard I was a student. Some were very excited, and told me what a wonderful industry I was entering and how there were so many opportunities! Others were actually kind of rude; basically, they told me they had nothing of interest to me, weren't hiring, and to move along.

Mind you, I have already accepted an internship, and I am not job hunting! I was there to meet new people, network, and see what kind of companies are out there for my future. Those companies gave me the impression that they only cared about the bottom line and money, not their employees. So to all you companies out there who attend conventions: be careful how you treat the people who visit your booth ... they may be your future employees or customers some day, even if they are young now!

For the most part, the exhibit hall was amazing. There were some very interesting companies. I was running out of business cards, but I dropped mine in to try and win the spy kit! I'm assuming that I did not win :-(

Another neat idea was the magician, David. We hung out there for quite a while seeing all of his tricks. Some of them were amazing! I don't know how someone can read my mind, but he did it! Also, one of the companies had Rock Band, which was amazing. For those of you old heads out there, Rock Band is a new video game that comes with instruments, and you play them along with the music. I was on drums, and another student played guitar, and we rocked out! We actually had quite a crowd gathered by the end that was cheering and clapping! I was definitely a fan of that booth.

I was visiting the exhibit for more than free stuff! I met so many industry people from so many states and countries, it was such an incredible experience. As I was walking, a cardboard airplane zoomed past my head and I had to duck to avoid a collision. A lady who worked at the Alinter booth came over and apologized, and handed me an invite to their company party later that night. I went over to talk with the company, and met Francisco Xavier Casanueva Perez. I know, long name, but doesn't it just roll off of your tongue? As it turns out, Francisco works out of Mexico City, and hablo un poco español! (I speak a little spanish). He began telling be about possible internships in Mexico City, and recommended I come to the party later. Gracias, Francisco!

I stopped by the Risk & Insurance booth, and got my picture taken. I had a green sweater on under my suit, so my shirt looks like it is actually printed with part of the harbor! I love it! I am probably going to hang it up in a nice frame and trick my guests into thinking I was actually on the cover! My friend and I also got our Hawaiian-themed picture taken, complete with a surfboard!

After we finished visiting as many booths as we had time, all of the students met up for the educational round table. OK, as a blogger, I will give my honest opinion: I was not a fan. I missed an amazing speaker at 2:15 to play "imaginary broker" for 2+ hours. I skipped classes to come to the conference to meet people, see speakers, and hear about insurance issues. Instead, I ended up back in class. I guess it would be a good session to attend if you didn't have an insurance background, but oh well.

After the session, we rushed back to the hotel to pack up our suitcases and get ready. We were supposed to be at a party at 5:30, but by the time we got to the hotel in Old Town it was 5:15! We were rushing to get changed, showered, packed, etc. and FINALLY made it to the Omni hotel for the Bermuda party around 6:45. We ran into a few other students, as well as our friends RPost. We mingled around the party, but kept away from the rum drinks the wait staff was peddling ... they were SO STRONG! I guess that is how they do things in Bermuda! By the time we left that party, the Alinter party at the Ivy had started.

The Temple crew and the RPost crew headed over to the Rooftop at the Ivy and WOW is all I can say. Apparently, the hotel had just been built and it was incredible. The roof had a HUGE fire pit and plentiful heat lamps so I didn't regret my outfit choice! I quickly learned that we were pretty much the only Americans there. It was amazing to meet people who literally hailed from all over the world.

I accidental mistook a man named Richard Snow for someone I had met earlier, but he didn't mind. He ended up introducing me to his friends Stephan and Edoardo, who were brokers from Zurich (the actual city of Zurich, although they do business with the company Zurich).

After chatting with them for a bit, the RPost crew invited more of their RPost friends, bringing the American count up to about 10. We were about to leave and head over to the Aon party at the House of Blues, but I got a text from a student from another school saying it was packed and they weren't letting more people in until other guests left. Back to the Ivy we went! I ended up talking to a man named Graham who worked for Arthur J. Gallagher in London. Of course, he introduced me to all of his friends, who introduced me to their friends, and next thing I knew there was a huge group of us laughing and having a great time.

The party at the Ivy was by far the most fun I had at RIMS. It was a smaller party at a great location, so I really had the chance to meet almost everyone there. It was amazing to meet people from other countries and hear about how the insurance industry is different where they live.

After speaking with all of the British guys, I am definitely going to focus my efforts on getting an internship and full time job in London. They spoke of the industry with such passion and had made lasting relationships through their jobs. The way I see it, I am young and unattached. If there is ever a time to pack up and change my whole life, it is now. I would love to live in another country and change my life. I am young, I'm not married, I have no kids, and the only thing really tying my here is family and friends. I am ready to move on to bigger and better things. I was in London over Thanksgiving break, and absolutely loved it. Maybe I will be blogging from there next summer, who knows!

After the party, I went home and wrote last night's 3 a.m. blog. A cab came for us at 6 a.m., and I was flying pretty much all day. I finally got back to my house in Philadelphia around 9 p.m. I had A LOT of homework to catch up on, so it is now 3 a.m. and I am again finishing up a blog.

Tomorrow, I will post a final reflection on my whole RIMS experience. I am SO jealous of everyone who is still at the conference! It is cold in Philly, and it is supposed to rain tomorrow.

Until next time,

Chelsea

Exhibit Hall: On the Tchotchke Patrol

Really, now, who comes up with what carriers, brokers and vendors decide to purchase to draw attention to the booths in the RIMS exhibit hall? And how much do they spend … or look like they spend? (Not much, in many cases.)

The booth item selections are, at best, uneven. The need to police this part of the trade show has never been greater. It’s time these products come under some scrutiny. Thus, we at Risk & Insurance would like to introduce you, the reader, to the first self-appointed tchotchke patrolman.

Be warned. This cop’s packin’ …. pens, in both breast pockets.

Don’t care if your items are made of wood, or of plastic, aluminum, cardboard, leather, or nylon.

Don’t care if your paraphernalia contains a propylene glycol, a methylparaben or a fragrance.

Don’t care if your goodies are made cocoa, monosodium glutamate, or organic milk.

Don’t care if they’ve been “regifted” because they failed to move at CICA, or at LOMA or at IASA, or at PRIMA, or because nobody, absolutely nobody showed any interested in them – zip, zilch, nada.

The only criteria is how likely risk managers are to pick up your trinket – and we’re not talking about trade show hangers-on, trinket trolls, and card-carrying members of Freebie Nation.

We only care whether serious, professional risk mangers like Wayne Salen of Labor Finders Intl., Scott H. Beckman of Advocate Health Care and Robert A Meyerhoff of Boeing Co. might give these items half a thought.

Nor should anyone think, not for a second, that the trinkets business isn’t cut-throat. It thus deserves our attention.

“It’s always a competition,” said Heather L. Suttle, the Texas-based marketing manager for EFI Global. “It’s an unstated competition.”

Indeed it is, hence the need for the tchotchke patrolman, who’s unafraid to make a decision about which trinket deserves to go free, and which ones deserve to sink to the bottom of San Diego Bay.

We figured that now that the booths have all been taken down to clear the way for the convention center’s next trade group client, we won’t run the risk of getting beaned in the head with a stress reliever.

So here goes … We’re going to arrange this listing in a “hits and misses” format. But because we’re all in San Diego, and we’ve probably ordered fish at least once this week, we’re listing items based on whether they can swim or sink.

Trinkets that pass muster with the tchotchke patrol deserve to “swim.” Items that don’t we’ve left to “sink.”

Before we start, the obligatory disclaimer is in order. This is a most unscientific survey.

Some companies are mentioned in the SWIM and SINK category because the trade booth was hawking more than one product.

Here we go, now, hold your breath.


SWIMS:
Sunscreens: We’re in San Diego, the earth is warming and a good number of attendees are on the golf course. Risk manages need sunscreen, even in April.

Luggage tags: Risk managers spend more time in airplanes and airports than they do with their significant others. Their luggage is at risk of being misplaced or lost.

Green bags: Bags are always good, just what you need to carry trinkets to bring home to tot. Kudos to one vendor for choosing reusable bags by Earthwise. Green is good … and we’re not talking about money, for a change.

Ice cream: Always a hit, particularly in Southern California’s hot climate. In fact, this tschotchke patrolman loves ice cream so much that if you’re desperate for your trinket to float to the top, he’s open to bribes – in the form of more ice cream, of course.

Cell phone/PDA accessories. Risk managers spend more time on their cell phones and Blackberries than with their spouses or children. A flashlight attachment would have come in handy for risk managers fumbling about for a phone number in a darkened alcove at Stingaree. Anti-slip pads to prevent cell phones from slipping off dashboards or tables are a good idea, though the tschotchke patrolman isn’t sure jut how long these would last. Still, we’re willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

SINKS:
Stress Relievers: Risk managers don’t stress in a soft market because prices are flattening out or dropping. The only ones likely to panic are the brokers and the carriers. Stress relievers in the shape of Emperor penguins just don’t fly in San Diego. Couldn’t they’ve at least chosen a grey whale, or a shark? And the pink pigs with wings and shades … wassup wit’ dat?

Technology: The kind of minimal “giveaway” technology we’re talking about here is pretty basic and rudimentary. Often it doesn’t work as advertised, but it’s even more frustrating and self-serving when the technology is locked and key drive files with promotional material can’t be erased.

Coasters: Risk managers shouldn’t be drinking on the job. When they do, they’re usually drinking wine at white-linen restaurants.

Wallwalkers and other gooey gimmicks: A definite no-no. Cheesy, sticky, weird, infantile, and worst of all, in bad taste. The next time the trinket patrolman catches a vendors in such flagrant violation of the rules of decency, the vendor’s name will be made public!

Candy: The stuff’s for kids. Stay out of their cookie jars


Hot tchotchkes this year seemed to be the hand sanitizers.

But tchotchkes on the wane appeared to be golf equipment – ironic given San Diego is home to Torrey Pines. A couple of vendors saw fit to give away tees, and BDO decided chocolate golf balls were good enough to make the cut.

A veteran of the tchotchke circuit, speaking from a hidden location blocks away from the convention center and only under condition of anonymity, said that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d laid a finger on a tchotchke.

The items that are worth keeping, according to this source, those that risk managers really deserve, are part of the “private stock.” Brokers and carriers stash away the goods in the drawers or behind the trade booth curtains.

The tchotchke world spins on its own axis. There doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to the trinkets that make it to the booths. Why is it, for example, that there are so many more tchotchkes at a society for risk managers than there are at trade shows for disability managers?

At the Disability Management Employers Coalition, for example, conventioneers rarely touch tchotchkes, according to Joseph A. Daee, national sales manager for Allsup, a firm that helps plans recover disability and workers’ compensation overpayment dollars.

At RIMS, tchotchkes help attract the curious like nectar attracts birds. “You need good stuff to attract people to your booth,” said Daee.

Well that’s just about it from the exhibit floor of this year’s RIMS conference. This patrolman’s pen has run out of ink … but there’s time to leave you all with one more thing. “Tchotchke” is Yiddish, and it means “a little piece of crap.”

Hot Topics: Hot Parcels

Now, doesn’t that just burn you up!

Last October, when the San Diego area sustained more than $1 billion in insured losses from seven deadly wildfires, managers with a Texas-based company by the name of The First American Corporation, called up one of its largest clients, Citibank, with an urgent bit of news.

Citibank, the First American managers said, had about 1,200 properties at risk from the fires that scorched parts of San Diego County, according to David Rogers, marketing director of First American.

The number, large as it was, wasn’t about to threaten the company’s quarterly earnings, not when the company had a subprime lending crisis on its hands and it’s former CEO, Chuck Prince, was about to step down.

But within weeks of the fires, said Rogers, Citi got another call, this time from its insurance carrier. The carrier, according to Rogers, told the bank it was holding mortgages of as many as 14,000 properties at risk of damage in the so-called burn polygon.

How was such a large discrepancy – about 12,800 properties – possible? “They were going by the zip codes in areas supposedly affected by fires,” said Rogers. The carrier simply didn’t have the granularity of First American, he said.

In itself the discrepancy may not have amounted to much. But the only way to check whether a house had suffered any damage was to send inspectors in a car, at the cost to Citibank of $50.00 per property.

Cost of inspections to Citi based on 1,200 properties: $60,000. Cost of inspections to Citi based on 14,000 properties: $700,000.

OK, we’ll admit that First American is getting good press in this blog post. But hear me out as to why First American deserves some attention here.

For decades, the company’s been supplying mortgage lenders with property data, down to the latitude and longitude of the location of a home. As a result, the company has what it believes is the most accurate property data in the nation because drills down to the very parcel on which the property stands.

But it’s only in the past two or three years that information at the parcel levels has been available, in part because of geospacial information systems. So now, looking to expand into new markets, First American will soon release what it calls its Riverine Flood Risk Score.

The tool, a sort of FICO score for homes and businesses, will help underwriters pinpoint how much a property is exposed to potential flooding.

The model applies hydrological principles to risk data, according to Kevin Madden, senior vice president of business development for First American, and provides a more accurate understanding of property risks faced by homes and businesses in and around flood zones.

Data quality has always been an issue among the carriers. Many use data supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine the exposure of properties to flooding, but that data isn’t always up to date.

“With insurance carriers, you may not know how current the data is,” said Rogers. “So there’s billions of dollars in unrecognized exposure out there because tools have not existed.”

There are other data vendors who assess the risk of flooding, of course, and some of them buy the data from others like First American. But what makes First American different is that it has spent decades compiling data on individual properties. It will soon own data on more than 100 million of about 114 million land parcels in the U.S., Rogers said.

Prime-Time Events: The Job Market

Good news, risk managers. The market is hot for you. C-suites love them some risk managers. If you're not getting the love now, it's your own fault. That was the message of Richard Meyers, head of his own eponymous talent search corporation.

I took some great notes on the session on Wednesday afternoon upstairs in the conference session, held by RIMS to discuss its RIMS Fellow designation and for Meyers to explain the job market and demand for risk managers. But these notes are trapped on my laptop, along with fantastic, titilating quotes from Meyers, because the desktop in the press room here does not read my thumb drive. Read Erin's post from earlier this week about the state of the RIMS press room.

Anyway, I can delve into my short-term memory, which is not entirely shot, and give you the gist of what Meyers said. And later on, I had planned to post again about the opportunities that risk managers have in today's world, according to folks I've spoken with in San Diego, and how if you are not getting your love in this world then it's your own fault.

Basically, Meyers knows that risk managers are in high demand by the C-suite because he works with C-suite suits to help them find talent for their organizations. They've allowed him to pick their brains about they need, what they're looking for. At least that's what he claims.

Go with it, though, folks. He had nothing but good things to say for risk managers who are wanting to seize this moment. Surely, not all of you are ambitious enough to do so. But for those of you who are, Meyers said that you will have to scour the national market for job opportunities. No longer can you just look in your local market for new opportunities, for positions that are a 10-minute commute from home.

To expand your horizons, you must be willing to travel into the horizon in any direction to find the position that will help you grow your skills, your resume, your experience, your connections.

If I had my thumb drive working, I could share a little bit more of Meyers wisdom. But this was the most important part: You want a new job, it's out there.

Your current employer stink? Give them the pink slip.

Session INS 201: Trends in D&O - Say it Ain't So

Litigation connected to the collapse of the subprime market, more institutional investors deciding to opt out of class action lawsuits, and more aggressive prosecutions by state and federal authorities has led to an increase in the severity and frequency of directors’ and officers’ liability lawsuits, according to ACE USA’s chief counsel.

“The end result is that executives and corporations today are faced with defending more complex litigation on more varied fronts, which is costly and compromising,” according to Zacharias, author of a recent report on the subject. “D&O litigation is back, and appears to be poised to continue unabated in the near future.”

The percentage of cases settling for more than $100 million has grown from 1.7 percent in 1998 to 5.2 percent in 2003 to 8.1 percent in 2007, according to her study, titled “The Return of D&O: Trends Driving Increasing Costs and Frequency of Litigation Against Corporate Directors and Officers.” The report was released at the annual conference of the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. in San Diego.

Excluding settlement of more than $1 billion, median settlements in 2007 increased by 37 percent, $9.6 million from $7.0 million in 2006, and average settlements increased 46 percent, to $33.2 million in 2007 from $22.7 million in 2006.

While the volume of cases settling for less than $10 million, there are a higher percent of cases setting in the higher damage brackets, said Zacharias.

Another trend, said Zacharias, was the increasing likelihood of institutional investors to opt out of the class action status, in an attempt to seek retribution on their own. Zacharias blamed the heavy lobbying efforts of plaintiffs lawyers.

Institutional investors opt out because they can get a larger settlement on their own, they can negotiate lower attorneys fees, and they feel a duty to investors to recover as much as they can rather than settle for cents on the dollar. In the case of public pension funds, it may even be a way to jockey for political attention, she said.

The early opt-out case used as a benchmark is Worldcom, in which eight institutional investors who decided to opt out recovered $651 million. The Worldcom case was followed by AOL-Time Warner with nine opt-out institutional investors recovering $795 million. In the Qwest case, the entire class of plaintiffs settled for $400 million, but some of the opted-out institutional investors settled for $411 million, according to the report.

Some industries are at higher risk of litigation than others: One quarter of the 2007 cases filed were brought against technology companies, 13 percent were filed against pharmaceutical companies, and 21 percent were filed against the banking/brokerage/financial services sectors, the report also found. CEOs and CFOs are sued more often than other executives in securities class actions. Committees are much less likely to be sued.

“The size of a company is not necessarily a determinant as to whether the company will be subject to a securities class action,” the report also said.

Sessions: Surviving a Workplace Shooting...and a Boring Session

Things I learned in Session RMG 203 "Lightening Strikes: Surviving an Active Shooter-Hostage Event in the Workplace":

1.) False Advertising: What is contained in the RIMS Conference Guide should be taken with a grain of salt. Sessions often do not live up to their cool titles and descriptions. Sessions also tend to be a bit more basic and elementary than their experience levels would suggest.

2.) Blind Leading the 20/20: Session speakers don't always represent their field's most brilliant minds. Those attending sessions can be disappointed to discover that they possess more knowledge about the topic than those standing behind the podium. These folks need to approach RIMS about leading sessions of their own in the future--we would all benefit.

3.) PowerPoint BS: When a topic demands you step outside the PowerPoint, do it! For example....

This particular session sounded engaging and exciting. Others must have shared my opinion because the room was packed. I was disappointed to hear some of the survival strategies though. They included such earth-shattering concepts as:

"The best way to survive is to be where the shooter is not."
(Really? I always thought murders could use a nice bear hug)

"Find a room that locks, block the door, and be silent."
(Hmm...I was under the impression that standing behind a potted plant half my size, like I do when I play hide-and-go-seek with my niece, would suffice)

"Assume that his intentions are lethal."
(But maybe he's just looking for a partner at the shooting range?)

"Remain calm."
(The response to this is so obvious, I can't mention it)

All half-jokes aside, the session led (disappointingly) mostly by PowerPoint presentation, did address one issue that many risk and safety managers have a difficult time grasping. In an active shooter situation, when no other options are available, you must confront the shooter. Session leader, Randy Spivey, director of the Safe Travel Institute, said companies often clam up when he broaches the subject.

"Some people wouldn't even discuss that in a corporate environment," he said. "My response is, how can you ignore that?"

Spivey pointed to the most well known example of the strategy, United Flight 93, whose passengers decided to take matters into their own hands on Sept. 11, 2001. Of course, we all know the plane crashed, but other than those on board no lives were lost. Spivey said confronting an attacker takes a group effort and a total commitment is necessary to be successful. Taking action, instead of freezing in place, is what Spivey terms giving oneself a "mental permission slip."

It seems that many people lose that permission slip, however. Spivey said research indicates that folks trained to respond in such shooter-hostage situations vary dramatically from untrained individuals when put in an actual event. He claims 10 percent of untrained individuals will respond well in a crisis, while 10 percent of trained individuals will screw it up. I find those numbers a bit difficult to believe.

I've taken a self-defense course, but does that mean when approached by an assailant from behind, I would have the clarity of mind to recall my training and be able to jab that elbow in a calm, calculated manner and hit my mark? Much more likely, I would flail about in a desperate and hysterical manner.

For now, I think I'll be able to sleep tonight, with the peace of mind that I am well aware of the emergency exits closest to my cubicle at the Risk & Insurance office building. And when no other options exist in an active shooter scenario, I think I'll try the bear hug tactic. That, and a piece of candy from the dish on my desk. That should sweeten the deal, don't you think?

Tradeshow Floor: Insurance Gnomes Unite!

Bob Horkovich has been coming to RIMS for almost 20 years, since 1989 to be precise, and he has never seen it like this. Horkovich, the New York-based attorney who heads the insurance recovery group for Anderson Kill & Olick, PC, said he senses from talking to risk managers that they are getting a whiff of an opportunity that they have never had before.

The opportunity is coming in the guise of the adjustments that have occurred in the financial sector over the past seven months as the mortgage-backed securities and some of the other investments bundles crafted by Wall Street’s whiz kids have turned into financial hand grenades: hand grenades with Super Glue on them.

Call them mentally leaden, call them arrogant, but the residents of some of this country’s C-suites are finally looking at their corporate phone directories and realizing that they have someone who has been on their payroll all along who can actually help them avoid getting their hands blown off, financially speaking of course: it’s called a risk manager.

“All these financial geniuses out of Wharton and the Harvard Business School, how did they get themselves into all this trouble? Wasn’t there somebody who could have warned them not to do this and then ‘Bingo, oh gee, this is risk. We’ve got somebody in our company who is responsible for risk,’” said Horkovich, his eyes bugging.

Horkovich said that callousness to reality and to being able to find it within one’s three-piece-suited self to seek the advice of someone who you’re actually paying to help you avoid losses is breaking up this year more than it ever has previously. And risk managers, a dour, overworked, troubled lot if their countenances as they roam around the San Diego Convention Center are any indication, are feeling a tinge of something unusual in their chests, and it’s not the after-effects of Tuesday’s Aon-sponsored wine and cheese party: It’s called hope.

“I have been doing RIMS since 1989 but this is the first time I really get a sense from the risk managers that there is a real potential here for them here to play a significant role within a corporation,” said Horkovich.

Previously, according to Horkovich, risk managers were shuffled off to dingy corners and treated as “insurance gnomes”. That is, one whose sole purpose in life is to buy more coverage cheaper than they did the year before.

“I’ve seen over the years the risk managers unfortunately put in the position where companies are chiefly concerned with paying less premium for more coverage and not even really that concerned about getting claims paid. No risk manager that I’ve ever known ever got promoted because a claim was paid or a claim was denied,” said Horkovich, as, visibly conference weary, he balanced a tall cup of the ever-present Starbucks on his knee on the showroom floor on Wednesday noonish.

Speaking of the exhibition floor, Horkovich said he noticed something else at RIMS this year that was different. He said more and more, the risk managers that attend the conference and the booths that populate the exhibition space are concerned with risk-avoidance techniques and processes and not so much the purchase of insurance.

“Just walking around I’ve seen a lot fewer major booths for insurance companies.”

Sessions: INS209: By reading this, you agree to the indemnification provisions contained herein

The voices of the three presenters at the INS209 session fade out ... and their last point is pulling me off into my own little la-la land. (At RIMS, I really haven't had too much time to go there, so I've really been missing my la-la land.) The topic of discussion in the session (and sorry for not giving you the full title for this session, it's really long) was how contractual indemnification agreements can be designed so that a subcontractor would have to indemnify a third party for the mistakes of the contractor.

Say contractor A is doing construction and takes the wrecking ball, by accident, to the building next door to the worksite ... and then has his architect subcontractor be responsible for it (and the subcontractor's insurance company). Roughly speaking, that's what the speakers were talking about as the session faded onto the back burner here, and instead I am wondering how I can use these indemnification agreements on my own life ...

And I can't. Because I never make a mistake, so there's no need to have somebody on the hook for them.

But let's say I did make mistakes ... I could start making everyone I meet sign a contract that says they are on the hook should I screw up while dealing with them, directly or indirectly, or as long as they know me. If I had enough people sign these contracts, and then I pissed off my wife, say, I could whip out one of my contracts and say, "Look, honey, John Schmoe here agreed to indemnify you in the event I made a mistake so please ask him to do the dishes and put away the laundry." If John Schmoe balked, I'd whip out another contract signed with somebody else, then another, until I found the push-over who'd do my chores for me.

Here's another example: I've been forgetting to wear my wedding band during RIMS ... during the day, during the night ... and no, I am not false advertising, Gail, or revealing some sort of unconscious weakness in morality or fidelity, Erin. It's because I am bouncing from one meeting to another, to a session, to the computer to blog, to a lunch meeting, to another interview, to another interview ... so my brain can only focus on 30-minute intervals throughout the day until I make it to the latest nighttime party at Stingaree and shut down my brain completely. (Great place, Stingaree. I could go to an insurance party there every night the rest of this year and not wonder at all how many other excellent restaurant and bar venues in the city of San Diego I'm missing out on.)

But my point is: Let's say my wife were to find out that I haven't been wearing my wedding band, and let's say she then uncharacteristically turned terribly vengeful and decided not to speak to me for a whole week or two after I get home (I say uncharacteristically because she'd only maybe not talk to me for a day, maybe a weekend).

Were I to have all of my interviewees, all of my session speakers, all of my co-workers and especially all of my bosses sign these indemnity provisions, then I could return home comfortably sleeping on my red-eye flight knowing that my wife would then have to not speak to one of them, not me. Through my indemnity obligation (and the words of someone speaking in the session are seeping into my consciousness now), I could transfer the risk of my own forgetfulness to some other party, any other party, and my wife would be forced to put up with me and curse under her breath at them.

But I'd first have to check PA state laws ... some states would prohibit John Schmoe from indemnifying her because of something caused by my own stupidity and laziness.

Yes, laziness is involved here too. Yesterday morning, I remembered that I forgot my ring ... but only after having walked 8 flights down the stairs in my hotel, and with 4 more flights to go, I sure as hell was not walking back up those 8 flights to get my ring. It's only a ring, people! And I surely wasn't even going to think of taking the elevator to get up there.

The elevators in my hotel do not stop at any floor where someone is waiting for them. They might not stop at all. They merely rush up and down, without pausing anywhere for a lit down button or a glowing up button, whooshing past each floor loud enough so you can hear them come and go, passing you over and over and over and over.

Any takers on indemnifying the hotel should I kick in their elevator doors?

The RIMS Apprentice: My experiences at RIMS

Editor's note: Another Temple University student volunteered to guest post for us here at RIMS. His name: Jonathan Leather. But let's not keep you waiting. Here's Jonathan ...

The first thing that I have to say is that as a student, RIMS is what you make of it. Physical presence is not enough; in order to get the most out of it you have to be outgoing and social.

Many of my felow students took the approach that they have already accepted an nternship or full-time position and therefore don't need to network. I took a different approach; I already had accepted an internship, but still wanted to meet as many people, do as many things, and learn as much as I could for the time I was there.

I must say that it was the people I met that made this one of the best experiences of my life.
I can't provide any names at the moment, since my luggage containing business cards was lost at the airport.

What I was most impressed by was the caliber of the people and events that contributed to my experience. I accumulated a stack of business cards about two inches thick, and I can honestly say that I held a great conversation with every person I met.

There were three things that impressed me most with both RIMS and the risk management and insurnace industry.

First was how friendly everyone was. I took every opprotunity to speak to anyone I could meet, and was surprised to find that most of them remembered me when I ran into them at various events. I was under the impression that I was only a student, and would be forgotten as soon as the conversation ended. The fact that more often than not people remembered who I was is incredible. As a student, it is the most amazing feeling to have any industry professional, especially executives such as CEO's and Senior Vice Presidents remember you and greet you by name. On top of that, everybody was willing to take the time to speak to me, a student, no matter how buisy their schedules or how many important clients they had to meet.

Second was the size of the event. I have never been in so many nice buildings and I have never attended an event of such caliber. The RIMS conference its self is impressive; I managed to visit many of the booths and events, but what was most impressive to me was the parties hosted by different companies. It seemed as though each party outdid the last. The food and drink was exceptional; I can honestly say I had the best desserts at the AIG party, the best Chinese food at the Willis party, and the best time at all of them. The places where the events were held and entertainment (Hootie & the Blowfish) was incredible. This was my first experience at an event like this, and it was overwhelming. I cannot fathom how much time and money went into the parties, and it is hard for me to imagine getting a large enough return on investment by hosting a party.

Third was how much I learned. In class we learn concepts and theories, but at RIMS, I started to learn how they are applied. The knowledge I gained by atending sessions, visiting booths, and meeting people gave me a glimpse of the actual complexity of insurnace, opening my eyes to how much there is that I don't know.

As well as meeting industry professionals, I had the opprontunity to meet Risk Management students from other Universities and Gamma Iota Sigma Chapters. It was interesting to see the differences in our approaches to learning; for everything that I knew that they didn't, they knew something that I didn't. I had a great time meeting my peers and forsee a long relationship with more than a few of them.

It seemed as though each booth had something both unique and cutting edge to offer, much of what I learned was by having people explain what their company does, and how it differentiates its self.

Overall I was very impressed with the program, having only a few regrets.

First was the location of our hotel. We (Temple University Students) stayed at the Best Western Hacienca Old Town, which was about six or seven miles away from the event. I would have preferred staying closer, since it was a hassle to deal with the trolley, or figuring out a ride incase we wanted to stay out after the trolley stopped running.

Although the vast majority of attendees were professional, there were a few, including students, that had too much of a good time. Occasionally I would meet a professional, and more often I would meet students who seemed more concerned with indulging in drink than they were in meeting people, socializing, and having a good time. There were a few students who occasionally lapsed in their professionalism; I hope that they did not influence the opinions of people they met. I feel as though we were guests at this event, leaving us no room for unprofessional behavior.

Lastly, I was dissapointed with the conflict of school and RIMS. RIMS is always held a week before our finals, meaning that I came later, and left earlier than I would have liked, and had to worry about schoolwork as well. If finals were two weeks earlier or RIMS two weeks later, I (and my classmates) would have been able to relax a bit more, stay a bit longer, and hopefully gain a bit more knowledge and a few more friends.

Overall, I had the best time of my life. I fully intend to attend next year's RIMS event (Orlando?) and I plan on staying the whole time. I believe that I made friends and contacts that I will have for a very long time, and that knowledge I gained will influence my career positively.

Thanks for Reading,
Jonathan Leather
Jonathan.Leather@temple.edu

Session: Human incubators and other upcoming al-Qaeda attacks

The next big Bin Laden attack could occur on the 10-year anniversay of 9/11, according to John Cloonan, president of Clayton Consultants and a 25-year veteran of the FBI who's personally interrogated the al-Qaeda member who brainstormed the plane attacks into the World Trade Center.

On that 10-year anniversary, he said, the attack is likely to be one meant to cripple our already beaten-down economy, perhaps one involving biochem. He explained that al-Qaeda is already experimenting with using human "incubators"--suicide "bombers" infected with some painful, debilatating, deadly vector who then are sent on a tour of America -- up elevators, through malls, into subways, onto airplanes -- all in an effort to spread the bio weapon into as much American airspace as possible before they themselves succumb to it. Imagine that.

You should. According to Cloonan, it is going to happen. Not if. When. It was a horrible session that Cloonan spoke at -- Tuesday afternoon in RMG305: Terrorism 2008 Update: Domestic to Al-Qaeda.

Not horrible in the sense that Cloonan was clueless. He knew exactly what he was talking about. And it was terrifying. You had the sense that the audience was in pain, in silent anguish, hearing what they knew to be true but, as Americans, living in American la-la land, we'd rather not think about, let alone enunciate in public.

It's been the only session I've attending where no one left mid-session. We couldn't. We were trapped, stuck, listening to some Nostradomus-esque prediction of how our society will be battered, slashed, sucker-punched, pricked, slapped, bled, generation after generation. Religious, ideological terrorism is a risk that we have no answer for. This is coming from an intel expert who specializes in handling kidnap and ransom situations, interrogations and other terrorism-related situations.

"They think very very long term," he said. "They will take years to get revenge, and they will get it."

The problem for commercial interests, and the risk managers who protect them, is that this revenge is targeting upon business and public victims, as much as it was on military and governmental ones.

The other problem is -- and before I say this, let me report that Cloonan did a very delicate and excellent job of staying apolitical when discussing the war on Muslim fundamentalism -- and I repeat, the other problem is we are NOT good at stopping terrorists.

"We're not that good," he said, adding that more terroristic attacks have occurred since 9/11 than before.

We have 36 FBI agents who speak Arabic beyond a vocab of five words. Our embassy in Baghdad has 6 staff who speak Arabic. Our human intel capabilities, in other words, suck. And we're fighting an organization, a movement, an idea based entirely on killing Americans and their allies.

If it makes you feel any better, Cloonan recalled how, when eavesdropping on Bin Laden during phone conversations with his mother -- yes, Cloonan is a bad ass --he'd heard the most wanted man in the world complain to his mom about sore throats and other nonsense that grown men still call their moms to whine about.

"He's a momma's boy," reported Cloonan.

Yes, a momma's boy who helped to launch a movement of thousands dedicated to killing Americans, destroying their businesses and properties, and sinking our economy and our society.

The RIMS Apprentice: Day 3

Hello All,

I know this post is a bit late, but this is literally the first time I have been in my room in about 24 hours. Unlike all you business folk, I am a measly student with no blackberry or wireless Internet, and my hotel is a 15-minute cab ride from the convention center, so I have no way of accessing my laptop.

I will write about yesterday's events today, and today's events tomorrow so I have time to catch up!

Yesterday, Monday, was quite a long day! I woke up and wrote about 900 e-mails to mostly everyone I had met the day before. Many industry people responded almost immediately; it was nice to have a response back. All of the Temple students then headed to the luncheon, which was fantastic. There was a doo wop band after, and everyone sang along!

After lunch, we went to a session on captives. Of course, we walked right up and sat in the front row, at which time one of the speakers said "A ha, you must be students, students are the only people who ever sit in the front row!"

It was nice to chat with the speakers one on one before the presentation. The presentation was very interesting. The other students and I were contained in the 5 percent of the people in the room who didn't own or operate a captive. I find captives to be a very interesting market, so it was interesting to hear other people in the industry's takes on the captive markets.

We took the trolley back to the hotel to get ready, then the night truly began. Everyone has been joking that I seem to know where all the parties are, but it is the truth. I have a habit of meeting people who will be hosting the parties that night just in the nick of time.

My friend Tiffany and I began the night at the Miller party at a bar/lounge. There was quite a large turnout. It was very nice, because Tiffany's aunt's best friend (if you can follow that!) actually runs the Bermuda office for Miller. It is definitely true what is said; the insurance industry is a very small industry. Sure, there are offices and people in every corner of the globe, but everyone seems to know everyone! Six degrees of separation definitely applies, and usually it is only 2 or 3 degrees!

David Fuhrman of Willis had invited us to a party at PETCO park, so that was our next stop. Another friend of ours from Temple, Jon, met up to mingle with everyone from Willis and their guests. It was incredible, hosted up in one of the suites on the third floor. There were all kinds of self serve food stations, including one complete with Chinese take out boxes that you could fill with Asian delicacies.

David introduced me to Frank Beuthin, the Vice President of Property Risk Solutions at Willis, and I was very excited to find out that he was originally from Berlin, Germany! Ich liebe Deutschland! I have been there a few times, and it was great to talk with someone who knew the area.

That is another thing I have learned over the trip: Once you have made a connection with someone and formed some sort of common ground, it is very easy to network and get along.

Much to the moaning and groaning of the Willis party attendees, we had to leave to go to the Marsh party at Dick's last resort (sorry guys!). The party was very crowded, but I recognized a lot of people I knew.

My friend Erica and I ended up meeting Paul Funchess and Kyle Bassett from RPost, a neat company specializing in registered email, who we hung out with for most of the party. They introduced us to a lot of their friends and clients as well.

Once they closed up the Marsh party, all of us rushed over to the Convention Center to see Hootie and the Blowfish. The show was intense; they played many amazing songs. I may be young, people, but I still know who Hootie is!

But in all seriousness, was anyone else severely freaked out by the floor shaking? Will Nagel of riskproducts.com and I were laughing at how ironic it would be if the floor caved in at a risk management conference. It was literally shaking and pulsating to the music. I tried to stick near the edge, figuring that if the floor collapsed, it wouldn't be near me. Or since I was on the edge, if I collapsed in too, my fall would at least be cushioned by everyone in the center who had already fallen! Just kidding, I know that is morbid.

The ACE party was of course amazing. The food, lighting, decorations, and of course music was phenomenal.

After ACE, Tiffany, our faculty advisor Dr. Drennan, our professor Mike McClosky, and I took a cab to the Zurich party on the other side of the harbor. It was quite a sight to see: we were greeted with flashing necklaces and waitresses carrying rum drinks! We mingled with everyone at the party, and I made some new friends out on the deck. A big thank you to Eleanor Barnard, who put us on her private guest list!

I looked all over the bar for a family friend of mine who helps run the Zurich Philadelphia office, but alas he was nowhere to be found! I especially loved all of the floating advertisements (aka yachts) for Zurich. I was dying to go for a sail on one, but no one would take me :-(

They said they were for advertisements only, but someone has to be on the boat steering, right?

We finally finished up the night and headed back to my hotel in Old Town. We had an early meeting the next day, so I had to get to bed.

It is now 3 a.m. in San Diego, and I am such a devoted blogger that I am up typing. Did I mention that I have a taxi picking me up to take me to the airport at 6 a.m.? Oh well! I will write my blog all about today (well, technically yesterday) tomorrow (again, technically today) either in the airport or when I get home to Philadelphia.

Until then, Goodbye, Ciao, Auf Wiedersehen, Adios, etc.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Tradeshow Floor: A Great Emptiness

I don’t know where the 10,000 attendees at RIM’s annual conference were on Tuesday afternoon, but they certainly weren’t on the exhibition floor.

Innumerable bowls of chocolate remained uneaten, promotional personal battery operated fans and other show floor free booty remained unused, and sales people and other company representatives seemed to be huddled in nervous clutches, like Emperor penguins who just got wind that there might be a leopard seal prowling in their midst.

At one end of the exhibition space, at the dozens of tables set aside for insurance buyers and sellers to eat their conference floor lunches, lone wolves in rumpled shirts sat one to a table, staring at the anti-social screens of their laptop computers.

At the other end, those lunch tables were slightly more populated, but in between it was a grisly scene. There were so many sales people standing around with nothing to do that a passerby had to avert their gaze, more out of compassion than anything.

Now and then one of the more aggressive booth workers would lurch out at a pedestrian, coming on like a barker trying to lure a drunken sailor into a peepshow, but they quickly got the message. There are so many of you, and there is only one of me, and I’m afraid you’re going to rend my garments in your desperation.

One service provider reported that foot traffic as of mid-afternoon on Tuesday was off more than 90 percent from the previous day.

So where was everyone? Were they all sitting raptly in RIMS sessions? Had Tuesday’s more humane temperatures lured them out onto the region’s beaches and golf courses?

No one was sure. All they knew was that it was slow, painfully slow, in the exhibition space on Tuesday afternoon.

Live Blog: Risk Management Belongs in the C-Suite

12: 40 p.m.
This is a live blog from Tuesday's luncheon keynote address, "Risk Management Belongs in the C-Suite." Today's speaker is Lauralee Martin, CFO and COO of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

1:13 p.m.
Martin sees the C-suite as becoming crowded. It's no longer a place solely for the CEO, COO and CFO.

1:15 p.m.
Current events point to the need to put risk management at the top. The credit crisis proves that the basics of risk management were forgotten. "Where were our risk managers," Martin asks.

1:20 p.m.
The rules have changed, says Martin. "Not only about how you play the game but how you win."
What's different about today's risk environment than the one Martin grew up in is that companies have more to lose today if they don't experiment with risk management strategy.

1:25 p.m.
Back to the credit crisis. Martin says she is continually shocked by what transpired. The sorting out of what went down is still going on because of the reluctance by some companies to embrace transparency. Interestingly enough, Martin says she is convinced that the C-suite will pay attention now more than ever. Its members may not have much time or patience, and they clearly want answers. But their ears are open, she insists.

1:32 p.m.
"I believe we'll be required to do more risk transfer," Martin says. "We can't be experts in everything." Involving others who are experts in certain fields means you'll be getting it right.

1:35 p.m.
Comforting to know, this CEO and COO says risk management processes cannot be just a report gathering dust on your desk. "It must live and breathe" throughout your organization, Martin says.

1:40 p.m.
Leaving attendees with some parting thoughts, Martin again insisted that risk management indeed belongs at the top of an organization and that those C-suite-rs will listen to concerns about their company's risk management program. But before she left the podium she issued a challenge to the audience. "I'm told you guys are the best." What she meant was, here's the kick in the pants risk managers need to speak up to their superiors. After all, change can't occur in the C-suite if risk managers remain silent.

1:44 p.m.
As applause followed Martin from the stage and audience members rose to gather their belongings and head down to the exhibit hall for a much needed wine and cheese reception, there was some positive chatter among those departing. One risk manager attendee was impressed that RIMS booked a C-suite-r to speak for the keynote address. He was also pleased that Martin's observations were pretty spot-on. Communication between the risk manager and C-suite is the key, he said. As long as you've got the data and the research to put in front of your CEO, they will listen to you. They will do their part, he said, if you do yours.

Sessions: Are You Passionate?

The light went off in Robert Pastore’s head when he analyzed 10 years of Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s pay-outs and pay-ins on its insurance program. You know what the difference was? 1 percent.

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, 1 percent.

That’s just one more occasion when it hit Pastore, the director of global risk management for the mammoth retailer that hit $375 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year; why was he paying for insurance when he could use his company’s massive financial strength to self-insure in at least some cases?

Pastore was laying down this creed in a RIMS session on self-insurance on Tuesday morning, but when you think about the financing of insurance in this respect, it’s really no different than what financial consultants and sages remind you about your own money management.

For after all, what do they say about taxes? It is far better to hold onto as much of your tax payment money throughout the year as you can and realize the benefits of investing it in a money market account or some other instrument, than have the U.S. government hold your money for the year and issue you their patronizing tax rebate at some point every spring.

Warren Buffet and others have been very clear on this concept for years, haven’t they? It’s not the profits on the underwriting, they say, it’s the fact that they get to hold onto other people’s money for them and profit by investing it: profit greatly by investing it, we might add.

But how was Pastore, who has only been in risk management for a few years, to get to that holy place where he could put his theories about self-insurance into practice?

For one, he had to overcome, or at least engage, to be fair, a corporate culture at the Arkansas-based retailer that tended to look at risk management as a dyed-in-the-wool budget item, not the fluid hybrid of art and science that some practitioners believe it to be.

“We were looked at for the longest time as a budget item,” Pastore explains. The degree to which Wal-Mart’s corporate culture took that approach was a little shocking. Employees in Wal-Mart’s garden centers would leave plants outside in heat waves, with the expectation that they company had insurance for some losses, so why not use it?

Pastore has changed all of that line item thinking, and boy are the petunias happier.

“We haven’t had a plant loss in three years,” he said. And he said insurers are welcoming his new approach.

“They don’t want to be swapping dollars anymore than you want to be,” Pastore said.

In getting to the place that Pastore has arrived at, one needs to take a much more active role in assessing the financial strength and corporate culture of one’s company, according to David North, the president and CEO of Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc., who shared some podium time with Pastore on Tuesday in San Diego.

That means, according to North, that you need to be able to assess management’s appetite for risk, understand the financial strength of the company, its administrative competence, and what North called executives' “emotional readiness” to take on risk.

It’s not something you do in your sleep. It means being active about what you are doing, and in fact being passionate about what you are doing.

“The concept of self-insurance and retaining risk is not easy,” is the way North puts it.
But just look at those numbers that Pastore unearthed: 1 percent, over 10 years, at the biggest company anyone can think of.

So now we just have one question for you gentle readers. To quote from the album title by Neil Young, “Are You Passionate?”

Sessions: The Future Is Now, Risk Managers

Peter Breitstone, managing principal and CEO of Aon Environmental Services Group, broke the tension in the room after his presentation with a, "I'm a fun guy, right?"

He'd spent the last 20 minutes or so in the Tuesday morning session titled "The Future is Now: Upgrading from ERM to Sustainability" talking about how the "intangibles" now make up 71 percent of the balance sheet for corporations. Risk managers better "embrace" the intangibles, he said. Otherwise, their company's sustainabiliy officer will decide that tacking on "insurance buying" onto their to-do lists would be better than paying a whole other person's salary (hint, hint ... your salary).

"Once we turn into insurance buyers, we're marginalized. We know that," he said.

Intangibles? They're green consumerism, governments, activist shareholders, vendors/suppliers, the dreaded media.

Embrace intangibles, and the sustainability that comes from doing so. Breitstone said that
"embracing sustainability offers risk managers to broaden their role."

"Be a sponge, not Sponge Bob," he said, adding that sustainability is fun and it's good business.

Dan Anderson, professor of risk management and insurance, University of Wisconsin-Madison, gave the audience some techniques of strong sustainability:

-- it has to become a top management priority
-- it has to be CEO driven
-- ERM should be expanded to include sustainability risk
-- consider producing a sustainability report, first thing by figuring out where you're at. About 67 percent of the largest 200 global companies have made sustainability reporting part of their risk manageemnt
-- waste reduction. DuPont made a 74 percent reduction in toxic releases and cut annual waste tratement bill by $200 million
-- prevention and reduction of pollution and emissions
-- increase water efficiency
-- voluntary reductiuon of greenhouse gases

"There's a very high probability in 2009 that we'll have rules, regulations, requirements," he said about the three presidential candidates.

Companies should also figure out their "triple bottom line" -- their financials minus their environmental risks and social responsibility performance risks.

All this sound expensive? Anderson cited the Stern Report from the British government, which calculated the cost of mitigation of global warming at 1 percent of gloal GDP ... but without mitigation, global warming will lead to loss of 5 percent to 20 percent of GDP.

If that's not enough, the panel also included John Vargo, who manages risk for Johnson Controls. Sustainability has become one of his company's five vore values, as well as integrity, customer satisfaction, its employees, and innovation and improvement.

Track down Vargo if you want proof that sustainability -- including making global warming a priority -- works.

"If you align yourself with what society wants and what your customers want, your're going to do better," he said.

Sessions: EMP 202: Workplace Bullying

This isn't an issue just for high school locker rooms. Bullying is an issue in the workplace and it concerned enough RIMS attendees that they packed the room for Session EMP 202 "Workplace Bullying: The 'New' Type of Harassment" on Tuesday morning.

Adeola Adele, a senior vice president and EPL practice leader at Marsh, set the record straight at the outset, confirming that "bullying" is not illegal in the United States. However, when she surveyed the audience to see who knew about the risk associated with the issue, well over half the room raised their hands.

She shared some interesting statistics from the National Workplace Bullying Institute, stating that 37 percent of Americans--54 million people--have been bullied in the workplace. In addition, workplace bullying is four times more prevalent than other types of harassment, including sexual and racial harassment. Women are the targets of the behavior, more often than men. By the same token, women were the perpetrators of workplace bullying in 71 percent of cases.

Johan Lubbe, partner at Jackson Lewis, said during his presentation that when he defends workplace bullying claims in the U.S.--and yes, there are claims being made despite the behavior not being expressly prohibited by law--he asks the employers if the bullier singled out the individual or group that he or she bullied.

"I am usually pleased to find out that the perpetrator bear hugs everyone, is touchy-feely with everyone," said Lubbe. This defense is known as the "equal opportunity harassment" defense, or as Lubbe prefers to call it: the "equal jerk" defense.

Lubbe was quick to point out that this defense is falling by the wayside. "Whether the person does it to everyone is irrelevant," he said. "It's really whether or not this behavior has occurred, period."

While legislation is being looked at in several states, Lubbe said much of his research has covered European countries where workplace bullying is increasingly being looked at as a type of harassment. The crux of what constitutes workplace bullying is that the behavior causes chronic stress and anxiety that causes a person to lose their dignity. The challenge in identifying when workplace bullying has occurred is that the line between a tough management style and abuse can be a fuzzy one.

Although no legislation has passed yet in the U.S., Lubbe said there have been attempts to look at workplace bullying from an OSHA standpoint, or to apply it to existing statutes. A case this year in Indiana involving a bypass surgery support staff member who sued a bullying doctor went in favor of the victim. The jury awarded the person $325,000, and it was the first time that workplace bullying was rolled into the concept of intentional infliction of emotional distress, Lubbe said.

The "Healthy Workplace" bills that have been making their way through various stages of legislature intend to make unlawful employment practices that subject an employee to an abusive work environment. A cap of $25,000 on emotional distress damages could be seen as attractive to legislators, Lubbe said. However, bullying could be seen as just one of several causes of action.

"In my perspective, it only adds $25,000 to your financial risk," he said. "I think it will take one state to be bold and to pass this legislation. Other states will follow."

Catherine Padalino, a vice president and national EPLI product leader at Chubb Specialty Insurance, said that even though workplace bullying is not illegal in the U.S., underwriters are continuing the monitor the issue as an emerging exposure.

"The frequency of claims will increase," she said. "We don't view this as a severity issue, but simply because of the media attention and the legislation activity this will be another cause of action that will be brought."

Padalino said that as an underwriter, one of the surprising statistics to her was that in 62 percent of cases, when made aware of bullying employers worsen the problem or do nothing. "One of the reasons I think that number is alarmingly high is because it is tough to determine the difference between a tough management style and bullying," she said.

From the underwriter's perspective, Padalino said that the term "bullying" does not have to be mentioned expressly in an employment practices policy, but that companies should certainly have broad language that covers any non-sexual harassment. Adele said that as a broker, she would prefer that bullying be mentioned explicitly so that the client is covered whether the behavior has been deemed illegal or not.

"Just because workplace bullying is not illegal doesn't mean the behavior won't be alleged," she said. "Claims will come and you need to at least be able to cover your defense costs."

These bits of advice came at the end of the session, during which Lubbe expressed his prediction that bullying will take on a life of its own, even before laws pass to make the behavior illegal.

"I think you will see a standalone 'bullying' case before legislation is passed because of all the attention being brought to the issue," he said.

OK risk managers. Start reviewing your employee handbooks and EPLI policies.

Sessions: RMG 211: Global warming's gonna getcha

Don't read this if you don't believe in global warming. Keep your head in the sand ... until your beach gets eaten by the sea and you have no choice to face your climate change crisis. Or perhaps where you live, climate change will lead to desertification, and then you'll have even more sand to shove your head into.

On the other hand, if you want to know about how your whole company, your top product line, or your hometown could become obsolete because of the effects of climate change, if you are concerned about the thousands of billions of dollars in conceivable exposure that could result from climate change, read on about session RMG 211.

David Dybdahl of American Risk Management Resouces LLC spoke at this Monday afternoon session titled "Global Warming Litigation's Impact on Insurance Coverage and Risk Management" with a calm that did not match the profundity of the facts, figures and notions coming out of his mouth. It was a dry wit and matter-of-fact presentation with the message: "we're screwed."

Dybdahl brought up the village of Kivalina in Alaska, which is bringing suit against 23 U.S. companies for the damage done to their community because of global warming. Why those 23 companies? Because they are putting out 22 percent of the world's CO2.

The village is demanding $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 to pay for relocation costs. The community is becoming obsolete … and not in 2100. Today. They want out of the coast.

Dybdahl talked about Topsail, North Carolina. It's already eroding into the sea, he said, and is a top 10 hurricane spot on top of it. Yet the 850 people who live there own property with $1.3 billion in appraised value. Is that the American can-do spirit at work? Gotta love it.

The effects of global warming are visible today, not decades from now as the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Global Warming contemplated in its report, said Dan Anderson, professor of risk management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Anderson said climate change is happening and human activity is helping it along. The science is not nearly as vague as some "experts" would like you to believe. Instead, the scientific consensus points to scary stuff. The U.N. report is actual conservative in its take on global warming, Anderson said. Do you disagree with all these Ph.D.s? Why? Because your town had its coldest winter last season in years? Those arguments only show your ignorance and perhaps inability to grasp the argument. You probably also argue that evolution is only a "theory."

So risk managers, you best have listened up to Dybdahl when he listed the major risks of global warming. There are property risks (increased risks of catastrophes), but the truly scary risk is that of obsolescence -- places, towns, cities, states, all that can become impossible to sustain.

Take Atlanta and its long-lasting drought. There is no way to get water there if they run out, and they are running out. Anderson said that Atlanta has only months of water in its Lake Lanier reservoir. What happens at your company in Hotlanta when there's no water for your toilets, your fountains, your business operations? Or how is Nevada going to get its water if they don't eventually run a pipeline to Lake Michigan. Lake Mead is not bottomless.

For companies, the problem could be product line obsolescence … or legislated obsolescence.

And the question with all these risks, and the risk of global warming litigation, said Dybdahl, is: When did you know or when should you have known that you activities were causing harm? In other words, when did you start to try to reduce your CO2 emisions (the best and perhaps only way at the moment to mitigate your global warming exposure, according to Anderson).

As it stands now, we know what is happening. Some people tend to argue against global warming. They can't get their head around the idea. They don't believe the scientists. They cling to doubts about climate change that are as obsolete as their businesses and communities may soon be.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Prime-Time Events: A Hootin' Good Time

There's something sexy about Darius Rucker. Maybe it's the well-worn cowboy hat. Or maybe it's the tight black shirt with the top few buttons undone, exposing just a hint of curly black chest hair. Or maybe it's just the fact that he's a damn good singer.

Whatever it was, there were plenty of music lovers singing and gyrating along to the lyrics at Monday night's Hootie & The Blowfish concert, part of ACE's Customer Gala held in the convention center's pavilion.

Risk management and insurance folks, young and old, male and female, took an hour or so to let down their hair. What a great way to unwind after a long day at the RIMS conference. Plenty of hardcore Hootie fans rushed to the front of the stage to stake their spots as soon as ACE opened the doors to the show.

But the crowd was mostly comprised of those who were just looking to throw back a few drinks and enjoy some easy listening. After all, they may not be your favorite band (for instance: a convention center staffer who was directing concert goers admitted that Earth Wind & Fire's show last week was much more his cup of tea), but it would be difficult to argue that listening to Hootie's hits of the 90s doesn't make for an enjoyable evening.

The band is known best for its debut album "Cracked Rear View" from 1994, which sold 16 million copies. The quartet, which formed when the members were freshmen attending the University of South Carolina, obliged the audience Monday night by singing hits "Hold My Hand," "Let Her Cry," and the slogan printed on ACE's posters, "Only Wanna Be With You."

But the audience seemed just as excited about the songs played from the band's 2005 album "Looking for Lucky," as they sang and danced along to "Hey Sister Pretty," "Get Out of My Mind" and "One Love." Also crowd pleasers were covers of R.E.M's "Losing My Religion," and Led Zeppelin's "Hey Hey What Can I Do."

This may have been the most well-attended event of the RIMS conference this year. In the hour before the band took the stage, ACE kept people happy with plenty of snacks and beverages, served by what appeared to be an army of bartenders. Overall, the show had a steady crowd, though as time went on some of the dancing got a bit too ridiculous, inappropriate or just plain embarrassing. On that note, there were no medical emergencies during the show, just some people who only appeared to be having seizures. They were, in fact, dancing. I think.

Hats off to ACE for throwing what so far has been the most entertaining party during RIMS. Other companies be forewarned, this will be difficult to top.

Sessions: INT 201: Product Liability and Product Recall – Intel Corp.’s China Experience

Locked deep in the electronic vaults of Intel Corp. is a master map of every factory, every research plant and every design center owned by the world’s leading manufacturer of microchips.

What stands out about this map isn’t the familiar position of the seven continents – or five continents depending on how you count them. What makes these particular maps unique are the numbers found on them.

In China, for example, it’s the number 68, or in the lingo of Intel executives, Fab 68, the company’s fabrication plant under construction in Dalian. Intel doesn’t have 68 factories, far fewer. But the reason for No. 68 is that when pronounced in mandarin, the sound means good luck, according to Diane R. Labrador, Intel’s assistant treasurer and director of risk management.

Intel’s plants in Israel, Fab 18 and 28, are so designated because tradition there considers the numbers 18 and 28 special.

“We don’t look at China any differently than any other manufacturing organization,” she said. But there are habits and customs specific to foreign countries that deserve special attention if you’re going to do business there.

Fab 68 is a recognition of that, which Intel has learned after 23 years of doing business in China.

“Embedding a corporate culture is the No. 1 issue,” said Labrador. “If you’re going to embed quality in your products, then you need robust corporate culture so our Pudong facility has the highest quality ratings of any of our test facilities.”

Intel employs more than 6,000 employees in China, and for the past two decades has stuck to assembly and testing there only. But beginning in 2010, Fab 68 in Dalian will be Intel’s first manufacturing facility in China, adding capacity outside of the United States, Israel and Ireland.
The manufacturing specs for the new factors will have to be exact … and Labrador means exact.

Over the past 30 years, Intel has managed shrink the transistor to such an extent that it can now pack 400 million transistors on a chip the size of a fingernail.

Intel measures its products in units of measures called nanometers, which is the size of bacteria, so product recall issues when dealing with technology so advanced is top-of-mind among Intel’s risk managers.

Exacting are the demands of retaining consistent processes from one factory to another that plants are reproduced exactly – down to the position of toilet paper stored in the bathroom.

That’s because the potential changes in chemical properties in factories built to different designs and specs could affect the performance of the chips coming off the production line. “To manufacture at these levels and produce at these levels requires a lot, a lot of discipline,” said Labrador. Just in case, the company carries global product liability coverage.

The Chinese are more than capable of adopting Intel’s corporate culture. Intel’s Pudong facility, for example, has the highest quality ratings of any of Intel’s test facilities around the world, Labrador said.

As the Dalian factory prepares to stamp out more chips two years from now, they still won’t be Intel’s leading-edge chips no matter how rigorous the manufacturing process. That’s because of the U.S. government’s export controls, which prohibit the production of Intel’s latest technologies. “In China we process N-2, which means two generations behind what we make elsewhere,” said Labrador.

N-2 is still valuable technology and Intel does all it can to protect its intellectual property, she said.

“At some facilities we have armed guards, in other places we don’t depend on them,” she said. Choosing how much firepower to give guards depends on the community in which Intel operates, she said, as Intel needs to protect its relationship with host governments as well as its need to protect its economic interests in the marketplace.

Sessions: INT 201: Product Liability and Product Recall – The China Syndrome

The vast promise of China isn’t without risk. Readers will recall the following misfortunes to have befallen several manufacturers:

Item: Pottery Barn: 185,000 units, candles, exterior coating can ignite.
Item: Cranium Inc.; 38,000 unites; Game Die, paint on die contains excessive lead.
Item: Dollar Tree Stores; 253,000 units; glue guns, possible short circuit causing smoke and possible fire.
Item: Mattel; 18 million units; toys, possible lead contamination
Item: Wenzel Corp.; 3,900 units, airbed inflators; can overheat when engine is running.
Item: Husky; 233,000 units, air compressor, cover not made of flame retardant material.
Item: The Gift Wrap; 600 units; picture frames, surface paint excessive lead.

The incidents, compiled by Kevin J. Murphy, senior vice president of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs, have cost companies millions. Worse yet, the physical recall of products is the least of a risk manager’s problems.

“The manufacturer in China rarely has product liability coverage that responds in the United States,” said Murphy.

What to do?

“In many cases, I would advise clients to buy foreign manufacturers coverage,” he said. “There are programs in today’s market from big-name insurers that you can put together for makers of products. It’s a master policy and you can charge back the cost of the policy back to the manufacturer.”

China’s role in supplying the United States with consumer products is growing. China’s exports to the United States grew 12.6 percent in 2007 over the previous year, said Murphy.
By comparison, exports from Canada, long the U.S.’s most important trading partner, grew just 3.1 percent over the same period.

Murphy also said that incidents of tainted food products have also received attention from the press, and he noted that there are about 450,000 food processing companies in China with fewer than 10 employees sending food to the United States.

The Chinese government’s recent execution of the nation’s top food regulator, said Murphy, was meant to send a signal to the rest of the world that China was serious about cracking down on corrupt and incompetent bureaucrats. But other nations have managed to export tainted food products.

“If you’re not protecting the raw ingredients, you have to take control,” said Murphy. “You really need to employ as many risk management techniques as you can.” Even when a company’s done its due diligence, “you still have to go down a few layers,” he said.

He advised risk managers to have top flight controls in place and a good claims handling operation because when a product recall strikes, “it’s your face, your reputation and your assets that are at risk.”

The risk management piece of it is completely within your control, at least in how your program is set up.

Hot Topics: Fireman's is Windmilling

Fireman’s Funds' John Barnwell has got a gleam in his eye and it is mostly green. The New York-based vice president and ocean cargo product executive has made it a priority to expand the company’s business in Delay-in-Start-Up coverage.

DSU, as many of us may know, is coverage should a manufacturer or some other entity fail to realize the income it had planned for due to delays in the delivery of the parts needed for a particular enterprise. The niche seems to expanding and becoming attractive at this time for several reasons.

The establishment of an ever-increasing global supply chain being one of them, and the tendency of U.S. companies to locate manufacturing facilities and other pieces of their operation overseas being another.

In particular, Barnwell and Fireman’s are focusing on those alternative energy projects that companies across the globe are getting into in the race to outrun the global warming that many say is the chief threat, not only to our economy, or human civilization, but much of the rest of the planet.

As global energy companies construct wind farms, nuclear power plants, coal refuse plants, ethanol plants and solar panels as fast as they can make them, they are increasingly exposed to the risks that the parts they are ordering from around the planet might not arrive quickly enough for the plant or project to produce revenue in the timeframe that its investors need it to.

“Obviously the wind farm aspect of it is attractive to us. That’s green, that’s kind of what we’re trying to do, Allianz (Fireman’s parent) is trying to do that too. So, yeah there are a lot of projects that are happening now even though the economy is constraining. And this is a global play, it’s not a U.S.-only, this is people who have projects in the Far East, the Middle East, anywhere.”

Anywhere and everywhere, that’s where Fireman’s wants to be in DSU, helped by capacity from its German parent, Allianz AG.

“So this is an area that we are going to expand into and kind of rejuvenate and say now we are a market and we can offer $100 million of capacity which not many other players can really do.”

Although Fireman’s has U.S. competitors in this business, most notably AIG and Liberty Mutual, Barnwell says this type of business has traditionally been something found in the London market, not the U.S. and certainly not traditionally with Fireman’s Fund.

“What historically happened with this type of business was that it would go to London because they could build huge capacity for the coverage. The U.S. market is not so much a quota-share market where everybody signs and takes a piece, it’s more of a ‘Hey I’ll write the whole thing.’ The London market is more like everybody takes their little piece and you can build huge capacity, so a lot of U.S. business would migrate over to the London market. And the London market is good at this, but most of them don’t have the in-house loss prevention team that we do. So our thought was this is a niche that isn’t as affected by the soft market and we have all of the ingredients to do this.”

In a soft market, Fireman’s, like many, is looking for places to expand business without damaging profitability and DSU is Barnwell’s pet project.

“It’s pretty exciting. If I had to categorize which of my initiatives I wanted to push from a marketing and also from growth potential this year, this is it. There is other stuff that we have that we’re working on but this is the one that I could see has the biggest payoff,” Barnwell said.

Fireman’s parent company Allianz is doing all it can to get in covering green building and other earth-friendly projects, according to company spokesman Atle Erlingsson, who joined Barnwell and I on a day when those very ocean-going carriers Barnwell works to insure plied the bay behind the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina.

Barnwell says projects like wind farms have big exposures to startup delays, and with the growth in alternative energy projects worldwide, the premiums might line up in sizable quantities.

“You’re not talking about $50,000 premiums, you’re talking about premiums that could get upwards of seven figures. You could have big chunks of premium, big exposures, but big chunks of premium depending on the size of the project.”

Sessions: FIN302: MBAs are ruining the world

Let me start off by saying I have friends who are MBAs. Plenty. I know guys in Wharton at this very moment. I have beers with them when I can.

That being said, after sitting (or actually standing in the back corner) through the Monday afternoon session titled "A Buyer's Guide to the Risk Finance Bizaar," I am convinced that MBAs and their ilk of uber financial consultants, upper level management types and academics are ruining the world. Perhaps they already have.

Kevin Kelley of Lexington fame spoke about the $250 billion to $950 billion (perhaps trillion) loss that is expected to come from the financial meltdown in which we now find ourselves. He said that when you can't even calculate a CAT loss -- hence, the wide range of estimates to the loss -- how can you expect to know how well you're counterparties are faring in the mess ... and thus how can you know how exposed you are?

Whereas look at how the insurance industry handles its CATs -- there is certainty there. It might take the modelered and ISO a few weeks (or months) to come up with the final loss estimate, but right off the bat people can look at their insurance contracts and at least have a certain idea what they can expect. In that way, Kelley said, insurance is like the first responders, arriving on the scene of disaster with liquidity.

Can't say the same for other financial service institutions.

Their idea is to not lift up the rock to inspect the scum underneath it should everything be honky-dorey, should profits be rolling in and bonuses being doled out on Wall St, said Bill Panning of Willis, a former academic.

Panning talked about MBA text books that say there are two types of risk, the kind you don't want to do something about (the systematic) because it's a shareholder's job to diversify and protect himself from it, and the nonsystematic--the kind of risk you can't do anything about. Hence, academics teach MBAs that risk doesn't matter. Panning went on to say that these text books are being re-written to suggest that risk matters after all, as a matter of preference.

But has the damage been done? Can today's risk managers--armed with ERM--prove that risk matters, and that it can actually add value to an organization (rather than just consume resources)?

After all, risks are not like roaches, he said. Some risks are worth taking. Not all need to be stamped out.

Perhaps it's the MBAs, or the way they are taught to think, who are more like roaches. But like I said, I have plenty of friends who are MBAs. I'd hate to see them stomped on. I'm counting on them all to get very rich later on in their career and treat me to dinners and drinks.

Hot Topics: Is the Hot Streak Over?

Prices are soft, everyone knows that.

The property/casualty sector may well not be profitable in underwriting by the end of 2008, everyone knows that too.

But here’s a little something we may not know: It’s that there’s been an uptick in noncatastrophe-related risks.

Y’all may not have noticed, but it’s something to keep an eye on, according to Shivan S. Subramaniam, chairman and CEO of FM Global.

There were some nasty tornados in February and March, and the insured losses they caused were more than $1 billion. The spinners aren’t any more powerful than they used to be, but there are a lot more commercial properties standing in their way, whether they’re located in “Tornado Alley,” in Oklahoma, or in the more moist climes of the Southeast.

A billion dollars here and a billion dollars there isn’t quite enough to make much of a dent in the wallets of the property/casualty coffers, so the nasty spinners in themselves aren’t anything to get too bothered about.

But if you couple that with the normal frequency levels of natural catastrophes, then you’ve got a problem. “You combine all of those and you wonder that in 2008, it’s almost certain to have an underwriting loss,” said Subramaniam.

Oh yes, then there’s the subprime issue, but that’s a whole other story. Suffice it to say that after two very good years, 2008 could put a sudden end to the hot streak. Ouch. Taking a bite out of the bottom line might mean subbing in a pickup band for the A-list entertainment like Hootie and the Blowfish.

While it’s true the industry might swing to an underwriting loss, it’s still a little bit early to tell. Analysts, as we know, love “forward looking” thinking. But they’re often guilty of looking too far forward.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

Tradeshow Floor: Let the Floodgates Open!

And so it began this morning, at 10 a.m. An impatient crowd had gathered in front of the exhibit hall doors. Many tried to slip past the dozens of gatekeepers, only to have their efforts thwarted. I know, because I was one of them. Instead, I waited for about 15 minutes and commiserated with those around me about how frustrating it is to wait.

One gentleman tried three separate times to sneak his way around the staff. First he tried the innocent foreigner bit (he is an Italian, with company headquarters based in Milan). The charming accent failed to impress. Next, he made a break for it, assuming that speed would be on his side. No dice. His final attempt was to piggy-back on another broker who had the coveted Exhibitor-Only badge. Thrice denied.

When the floodgates finally opened, there was a collective sense of relief. And a sense of urgency for those attendees who love to shop the showroom floor. I headed straight to the far end of the hall, to work my way backward in an attempt to avoid some crowds. I found myself first at the Gitter & Associates booth, California-based workers' compensation settlement specialists.

It was a rather unremarkable booth in a not-too-desirable location. But passers by were sucked in by the appearance of two extremely attractive, extremely buxom San Diego Chargers cheerleaders. Explained Director of Marketing Gregory Oswell, "Cheerleading is a job with a lot of physical activity, a lot of risk." Nodding his head in the direction of the giggling girls posing for photos with attendees, he added, "We're looking out for them."

Passing next by the RIMS Massage Station, there was already a line forming at 10 a.m. A couple folks waiting for a co-worker to be finished with his massage commented on the fact that their friend made a beeline for the booth once the exhibit hall opened. "He has a lot of stress," one attendee said by way of explanation. The masseuse chimed in on the conversation, "I can tell by all the knots in his back," she said. Imagine that, a stressed-out risk manager?

At the PMSI booth, a young college student named Robbie was on a pedestal, solving a Rubik's Cube with a couple flicks of the wrist. His ability raised some eyebrows, but he downplayed his talent by saying there are lots of cube-solving competitors such as himself out there and they are by no means a lot of geniuses. Somehow I find that hard to believe.

Attendees roaming the hall during its opening hours hit up Zurich's booth for a free Starbucks fix, or watched an entertaining comedian/magician at MedRisk's booth, or got a book signed by RIMS keynote speaker Christopher Gardner, or ogled a sexy female pool shark sinking balls one after another at the Prime Health Services booth, or made a fool of themselves playing fake musical instruments in the Rock Band video game at Aon's booth.

Popular booth giveaways could be seen hanging on the arms of many an attendee--tote bags! Some of the more noticeable included Bermuda's puke-green colored bag, and VeriClaim's many animal print totes.

Comments shared among passers by varied when it came to exhibit hall feedback. One attendee almost seemed to be whining when she said to her companion, "There are NO fun toys! This is really sad." Others were more upbeat, including Alicia White, a business development executive with Bowen, Miclette & Britt Inc. A first-time RIMS attendee, she carried three tote bags filled to the brim, as well as a stuffed backpack, all which threatened to whack any fellow attendees who weren't aware are their surroundings.

But despite the volume of her tradeshow booty, she claimed to be selective about what items she grabbed and what items she left behind. What's hot? Sturdy tote bags for yourself and co-workers, and toys for the kids. "You got to have things you can use," she said. "No more stress balls!"

It's too bad White spoke ill of one of the most prominent tradeshow tchotchkes. Stress relievers came in all shapes, sizes and colors: globes, alligators, bones, beach balls, tennis balls, baseballs, footballs, brains, penguins--even little pigs with wings.

After an exhausting two hours walking around the exhibit hall, tomorrow I might be passing up the stress balls myself, but not the massage booth. I plan on being there bright and early with all the rest of the risk managers complaining of knotted-up backs and tense necks.

Prime-Time Events: RIMS Awards

Walking into the San Diego Convention Center ballroom that hosted the RIMS annual award luncheon on Monday was a little like entering the floor of a political convention.

The table placards with their state chapter identifiers, and the sheer volume of the population in the room brought that to mind.

What that also brought to mind is how much more well qualified the various RIMS chapter members might be to elect a presidential nominee than the politicos that will find their way to the two party system’s party conventions this late summer and fall.

After all, risk managers are practical people who have some knowledge of how the world works−right? And politicians, well the jury is still out on that one and is likely to stay out for the near future.

Chapters across the country ended up doing well in the awards ceremony that followed the string of piped in Beach Boys hits and the excellent yellow string beans that accompanied the luncheon chicken, but some chapters did better than others.

In individual triumphs, Charles Magazine, the risk manager for the city of Boynton Beach, Fla., was the winner of the Richard Bland Memorial award for the chapter member who displayed the most prowess in 2007 in legislative affairs.

Margaret Accordino, the director of risk management at National Financial Partners Corporation and the vice president and director of RIMS New York chapter was awarded the Ron Judd “Heart of RIMS” award. This award is based on nominations from individual chapters who felt the nominee contributed tons to the growth of the profession in 2007.

Judd, as many might remember, was the director of RIMS for a 22-year stint.
Debra Hinton, the assistant director of risk management at the University of Virginia, also picked up the Christy Award for getting the highest marks on the three exams required to earn the Associate of Risk Management designation.

When it came to the Chapter awards. There were a handful of chapters that just dominated. That raises the question, were these particular chapters all that awe-inspiring, or were they just more organized in applying for the awards?

Whichever way the answer to that question breaks, the chapters that got all the glory on Monday were Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, San Diego, Orange County and Greater Quad Cities. The only outsider to break into that hallowed circle was the Golden Gate chapter, which managed to muscle into the Outstanding Chapter Programming award with those others.
Rounding out lunch were those heroes of every classic car cruise and oldies music pig roast, The Coasters.

With tunes like “Poison Ivy” and “Love Potion No. 9,” the Coasters proved that you’re never too old to rock, even if it’s only for 15 or 20 minutes.