That's more like it - the kind of Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. party we know and love. Bathed in end-of-day salutes and smiles with the sun going down over the Pacific, the entire opening reception affair was awash in the glow of impending success. So began the opening reception of the annual RIMS annual convention.
Among the risk manages, there was much laughter at this year's gathering. And there was much relief among officers of RIMS, comfortable once more with what looked to be very robust attendance numbers after a couple of lean years in Honolulu and New Orleans. The last time RIMS held it's annual bash here was four years ago.
Judging by the smiles of RIMS leaders in the welcoming party, this conference appeared to be loaded with promise thanks in part to the Southern California venue of the San Diego Convention Center overlooking San Diego Bay and Coronado Island beyond.
Opening reception convention guests were blessed this year with a view of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, one of the U.S. Navy's latest pieces of billion-dollar Nimitz-class naval hardware. The carrier, based in San Diego, is undergoing routine maintenance at the Navy's North Island facility. In the middle distance, two America's Cup-style sailboats advertising Zurich North America's blue-and-white logo in their sails tacked back and forth all day.
RIMS conventioners love San Diego. The hotels are close, and the amenities all within walking distance. The convention center itself is small enough to get around, yet not so large as to host multiple shows. That means conventions like this, one of the city's largest, get the attention they deserve.
San Diego, always "easy on the eyes," in the words of one convention-goer, seemed even more welcoming that it was the last time around: More hotels, more transportation and more development in the shadow of Petco Field, home to the Padres and the AIG opening night reception.
Warmth and the spirit of renewal, exemplified by young risk management students Yelena Veretennikova and Samit Shrivastava, both of Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business, pervaded the opening ceremonies.
Veretennikova and Shrivastava, having traveled from Atlanta just to rub elbows with some of the most influential risk managers in the country, said they were looking forward to the next four days and what they hoped to learn.
Shrivastava, a student expected to graduate with an M.B.A. at the end of 2009, already had pricing and risk commoditization issues on the mind, even with sessions 18 hours away.
A house band, after introducing current and former RIMS leaders, played the cover staples including material from - who else? - the Beach Boys. OK, so even if the opening ceremonies weren't as extravagant as last year's toga-themed opening night party in New Orleans, it wasn't for lack of trying.
Who could ignore the trapeze artist dressed as a mermaid spinning and gyrating 15 feet above the ground, to the delight of the conventioneers, at least those people who managed to unglue their eyes for just a moment from the brilliant sunset.
... which has always been the draw of San Diego: A warm sun and the city's pleasant pace is more than enough to get us all to come back. Note to RIMS: Has the leadership ever thought of signing a two-year deal with the city?
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