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
Showing posts with label The RIMS Apprentice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The RIMS Apprentice. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
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
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
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.
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.
Monday, April 28, 2008
The RIMS Apprentice: Day 2
Wow, all of these insurance people are a lot crazier then I expected!
Yesterday, all of the Temple students headed over to the convention center to finish our registration. Just from registration alone, I can tell how huge this event is! Everyone loves the spray hand sanitizer ... the way to reel in students is definitely with freebies!
After registration, we walked around the Gas Lamp district and went shopping. A few of us went to a bar called Whiskey Girls for lunch, then our adventure began! We found a guy who told us how to get to Pacific Beach and he put us on a trolley. One of the girls with us didn't realize you needed a ticket (in Philly, you pay once you are on the train) and almost got us a huge fine. We met a guy on the trolley who told us we should get on this one bus, so we jumped on there.
The buses in San Diego are FILLED with crazies! There was one 90 year old guy dressed up like a sailor with a a pirate eye patch, a guy looking at some ... questionable ... material in public, and another who followed us off the bus and down the street! About 45 minutes later we FINALLY made it to the beach, just to have to turn around and go back to get ready for the opening reception.
The reception was AMAZING! It was so neat to see all the cirque dancers, and the food and drinks were exquisite. I met so many people from all over the country, and the world! My friend Erica and I met some guys from Argentina, Brazil and Italy so it was nice to speak some Italian and Spanish with them.
After talking with them, I am definitely moving to one of the aforementioned countries! An open bar definitely brings out the best in the higher ups. Some of the stories they told me were hilarious! We were invited to so many parties, it was hard to make it to them all, so sorry if we met and I didn't make it out to your event!
After the reception, we followed the masses over to the AIG Dessert Party, where my life became complete. Mini cheesecake ... fondue ... tarts ... ice cream cones. I was in heaven! While indulging my sweet tooth, I mingled with people from many different companies. I don't know if anyone saw, but I kicked butt in the batting cages; I didn't miss a single pitch! We also met and danced with the Friar, and mingled with everyone.
I was very excited to meet Peter Ambler from Towers Perrin Claytons in London. I accepted at Towers for the summer and he told me many great things! I also met David Fuhrman from Willis, who invited us to his party tonight. Willis does a lot of recruiting from Temple University, but not on the West Coast, so we are trying to change that. This may be a shameless plug, but Temple University has one of the premier programs in the country. We have more than 450 students majoring in Risk Management, Actuarial Science and Healthcare Management. Last summer, we had over 160 interns all over the country. If any of you out there are looking for summer interns and want the cream of the crop, you should definitely contact me at CBalerno@gmail.com, or our faculty advisor R.B. Drennan at RBDrennan@aol.com.
But enough of that! We left the AIG party for a bit to go to the SMARTDRIVE party on the roof deck bar of the Marriott. It was quite a sight: there was a giant fire pit and amazing views of the whole city! I met many more people there, and hopefully SMARTDRIVE will be hiring some of our interns.
All of the guests decided I was the most social actuary and made quite a few jokes about how us actuaries are all nerds. Not true! I like math, I'm an actuary, and I am fun!
We went back to the AIG party to round up more of our troops, and ended up rediscovering the fondue room. Who can say no to free flowing fruit and chocolate! Once the party started closing up shop, we went to a bar down the road that was giving salsa lessons and had a few cocktails and a few dances.
Overall, it was an amazing night. I met so many incredible people from all different walks of life. Thank you to the fine people from the following companies for sharing your stories with me:
Towers Perrin, BDO Consulting, Consentium Search, Advisen, Aon Global, SMARTDRIVE, Scania, Adara, Pirelli, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, Willis, AIG, Marsh and any others I may have left out.
Today, I am going to head over the the convention center and attend some sessions. I will probably go to the awards luncheon as well.
At 4:00, we are going to the Miller party at Hotel Solamar Around 5:30 I am going to the Willis party at PETCO Park From there, the night is pretty open. I will probably find out the dirt from this blog, or from people I meet at the parties!
I will be able to access my email for a bit longer, so e-mail tips to CBalerno@gmail.com!
Hopefully I will have time to write before leaving for the parties, otherwise I will write late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
See you around!
Yesterday, all of the Temple students headed over to the convention center to finish our registration. Just from registration alone, I can tell how huge this event is! Everyone loves the spray hand sanitizer ... the way to reel in students is definitely with freebies!
After registration, we walked around the Gas Lamp district and went shopping. A few of us went to a bar called Whiskey Girls for lunch, then our adventure began! We found a guy who told us how to get to Pacific Beach and he put us on a trolley. One of the girls with us didn't realize you needed a ticket (in Philly, you pay once you are on the train) and almost got us a huge fine. We met a guy on the trolley who told us we should get on this one bus, so we jumped on there.
The buses in San Diego are FILLED with crazies! There was one 90 year old guy dressed up like a sailor with a a pirate eye patch, a guy looking at some ... questionable ... material in public, and another who followed us off the bus and down the street! About 45 minutes later we FINALLY made it to the beach, just to have to turn around and go back to get ready for the opening reception.
The reception was AMAZING! It was so neat to see all the cirque dancers, and the food and drinks were exquisite. I met so many people from all over the country, and the world! My friend Erica and I met some guys from Argentina, Brazil and Italy so it was nice to speak some Italian and Spanish with them.
After talking with them, I am definitely moving to one of the aforementioned countries! An open bar definitely brings out the best in the higher ups. Some of the stories they told me were hilarious! We were invited to so many parties, it was hard to make it to them all, so sorry if we met and I didn't make it out to your event!
After the reception, we followed the masses over to the AIG Dessert Party, where my life became complete. Mini cheesecake ... fondue ... tarts ... ice cream cones. I was in heaven! While indulging my sweet tooth, I mingled with people from many different companies. I don't know if anyone saw, but I kicked butt in the batting cages; I didn't miss a single pitch! We also met and danced with the Friar, and mingled with everyone.
I was very excited to meet Peter Ambler from Towers Perrin Claytons in London. I accepted at Towers for the summer and he told me many great things! I also met David Fuhrman from Willis, who invited us to his party tonight. Willis does a lot of recruiting from Temple University, but not on the West Coast, so we are trying to change that. This may be a shameless plug, but Temple University has one of the premier programs in the country. We have more than 450 students majoring in Risk Management, Actuarial Science and Healthcare Management. Last summer, we had over 160 interns all over the country. If any of you out there are looking for summer interns and want the cream of the crop, you should definitely contact me at CBalerno@gmail.com, or our faculty advisor R.B. Drennan at RBDrennan@aol.com.
But enough of that! We left the AIG party for a bit to go to the SMARTDRIVE party on the roof deck bar of the Marriott. It was quite a sight: there was a giant fire pit and amazing views of the whole city! I met many more people there, and hopefully SMARTDRIVE will be hiring some of our interns.
All of the guests decided I was the most social actuary and made quite a few jokes about how us actuaries are all nerds. Not true! I like math, I'm an actuary, and I am fun!
We went back to the AIG party to round up more of our troops, and ended up rediscovering the fondue room. Who can say no to free flowing fruit and chocolate! Once the party started closing up shop, we went to a bar down the road that was giving salsa lessons and had a few cocktails and a few dances.
Overall, it was an amazing night. I met so many incredible people from all different walks of life. Thank you to the fine people from the following companies for sharing your stories with me:
Towers Perrin, BDO Consulting, Consentium Search, Advisen, Aon Global, SMARTDRIVE, Scania, Adara, Pirelli, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, Willis, AIG, Marsh and any others I may have left out.
Today, I am going to head over the the convention center and attend some sessions. I will probably go to the awards luncheon as well.
At 4:00, we are going to the Miller party at Hotel Solamar Around 5:30 I am going to the Willis party at PETCO Park From there, the night is pretty open. I will probably find out the dirt from this blog, or from people I meet at the parties!
I will be able to access my email for a bit longer, so e-mail tips to CBalerno@gmail.com!
Hopefully I will have time to write before leaving for the parties, otherwise I will write late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
See you around!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The RIMS Apprentice: Student Welcome Reception
Today, I arrived in San Diego around 11:30 a.m. The weather is AMAZING! We got some lunch and then headed over to the Student Welcome Reception. Once there, we mingled with other students and met people from all over the country, and even Canada. Al Gorski, the chief risk officer for the Orange County Transportation Authority, introduced himself to me, and pointed out everyone in the room whom I should talk to. He also gave me some important advice that I will keep in mind throughout the trip:
1) Talk to as many people as you can.
2) Get business cards from everyone.
3) Enjoy the entire experience of RIMS.
I exchanged cards and numbers with a bunch of students, and we made plans to meet up throughout the next few days. After the Reception, the Temple University students and I went out to dinner with our faculty advisor.
Tomorrow morning, we are going to register for sessions around noon. I will post my schedule then! At night, we have the Opening Reception and the AIG Dessert Party.
1) Talk to as many people as you can.
2) Get business cards from everyone.
3) Enjoy the entire experience of RIMS.
I exchanged cards and numbers with a bunch of students, and we made plans to meet up throughout the next few days. After the Reception, the Temple University students and I went out to dinner with our faculty advisor.
Tomorrow morning, we are going to register for sessions around noon. I will post my schedule then! At night, we have the Opening Reception and the AIG Dessert Party.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The RIMS Apprentice: Student Blogger Alert!
Editor's note: We've decided to open up the discussion at the Risk at RIMS 2008 blog by inviting risk and insurance students into the mix. Not only for their much-needed youthful vigor and enthusiasm. But the industry, desperate for the next generation of talent, needs to know what these students' are thinking if they hope to recruit, train and promote them.
Below is the first post from Chelsea Balerno of Temple University. She'll be posting daily from RIMS. About her expectations for the conference and her future profession. About her experiences. And about all of you whom she meets in San Diego. You'll be able to recognize future posts from Chelsea by the headline and topic category, "The RIMS Apprentice." Now here's Chelsea ...
Hello, everyone!
My name is Chelsea Balerno, and I am new to the Risk at Rims 2008 Blog. I am a junior Actuarial Science major at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. At Temple, I am the vice president of membership development for the Sigma chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma. For those of you out there who haven't heard of GIS, Gamma Iota Sigma is the International Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science Collegiate Fraternity. My position as the VP is basically to help our members transition from students to young professionals. We plan resume reviews, mock interviews, enrichment workshops, social events, etc.
As for work experience, I have had a few jobs and internships over the years. All through high school, I worked at Sentry Insurance, filing, answering the phones and completing other administrative tasks. This past summer, I interned at SMART Business Consulting in Devon, Pa. I worked as a P/C actuarial consulting intern, using Excel, Access, Visual Basic, etc. to complete many tasks such as completing loss triangles, projecting losses and IBNR, creating loss reserve templates, completing research and working on other various tasks.
This summer, I have accepted an internship at Towers Perrin in Philadelphia, Pa., in their retirement practices division. I am very excited, as I love the consulting world and having the opportunity for client interaction.
Enough about me ... let's get back to RIMS! This will be my first trip to RIMS, and I am beyond excited!
I am looking forward to all of the opportunities at RIMS! I hear that over 10,000 people will be there. I can't wait to meet people from all different walks of life and all different sectors of the industry. I will be looking for another internship next summer, and I am dying to relocate somewhere for the summer, maybe the West Coast, or even abroad (I have been to both London and Germany and LOVE both countries). Maybe I will get lucky and meet someone at RIMS who is in need of an intern for Summer 2009? We shall see!
I am most looking forward to the networking experiences. I love meeting new people, and RIMS is full of great opportunities. I am also looking forward to spreading the word about Temple's Risk Management, Insurance, Healthcare Management and Actuarial Science programs (we have one of the largest and highest ranked programs in the country!).
We have so many opportunities for industry to get involved with our students, and I hope to help create some new, strong, long-lasting relationships between companies and Temple University. I also hope to give people in the industry some perspective on the life of a student ... yes, there are some of us out there who actually go to college FOR risk management and insurance by choice! Hopefully, they will be pleasantly surprised by how knowledgeable we are about the industry, and how eager we students are for opportunities.
Well, I should get back to doing my homework! But before I go, in case you want to find me and other Temple students in San Diego, here's my tentative schedule:
My flight gets in to San Diego at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, and I will be attending the Student Welcome Reception at 5 p.m. that night. On Sunday, I am going to a Padres game with some friends! At night, I will be going to the AIG Dessert Reception. On Monday, I will be attending the General Session and Keynote Address at 10:00 a.m. and the Awards Luncheon at 12:15 p.m. On Tuesday, myself and other Temple students will be having breakfast with Ed Troy, Andrew Miller and some other colleagues from GAB Robins. Then we will attend the luncheon and the education roundtable, and finally visit the Exhibit Hall Reception. On Wednesday, my flight for Philadelphia departs at 8:30 a.m. :-(
I will update again once I finalize my schedule. I can't believe how soon RIMS is. Hopefully, I will meet some of you readers there!
Sincerely,
Chelsea Balerno
Below is the first post from Chelsea Balerno of Temple University. She'll be posting daily from RIMS. About her expectations for the conference and her future profession. About her experiences. And about all of you whom she meets in San Diego. You'll be able to recognize future posts from Chelsea by the headline and topic category, "The RIMS Apprentice." Now here's Chelsea ...
Hello, everyone!
My name is Chelsea Balerno, and I am new to the Risk at Rims 2008 Blog. I am a junior Actuarial Science major at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. At Temple, I am the vice president of membership development for the Sigma chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma. For those of you out there who haven't heard of GIS, Gamma Iota Sigma is the International Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science Collegiate Fraternity. My position as the VP is basically to help our members transition from students to young professionals. We plan resume reviews, mock interviews, enrichment workshops, social events, etc.
As for work experience, I have had a few jobs and internships over the years. All through high school, I worked at Sentry Insurance, filing, answering the phones and completing other administrative tasks. This past summer, I interned at SMART Business Consulting in Devon, Pa. I worked as a P/C actuarial consulting intern, using Excel, Access, Visual Basic, etc. to complete many tasks such as completing loss triangles, projecting losses and IBNR, creating loss reserve templates, completing research and working on other various tasks.
This summer, I have accepted an internship at Towers Perrin in Philadelphia, Pa., in their retirement practices division. I am very excited, as I love the consulting world and having the opportunity for client interaction.
Enough about me ... let's get back to RIMS! This will be my first trip to RIMS, and I am beyond excited!
I am looking forward to all of the opportunities at RIMS! I hear that over 10,000 people will be there. I can't wait to meet people from all different walks of life and all different sectors of the industry. I will be looking for another internship next summer, and I am dying to relocate somewhere for the summer, maybe the West Coast, or even abroad (I have been to both London and Germany and LOVE both countries). Maybe I will get lucky and meet someone at RIMS who is in need of an intern for Summer 2009? We shall see!
I am most looking forward to the networking experiences. I love meeting new people, and RIMS is full of great opportunities. I am also looking forward to spreading the word about Temple's Risk Management, Insurance, Healthcare Management and Actuarial Science programs (we have one of the largest and highest ranked programs in the country!).
We have so many opportunities for industry to get involved with our students, and I hope to help create some new, strong, long-lasting relationships between companies and Temple University. I also hope to give people in the industry some perspective on the life of a student ... yes, there are some of us out there who actually go to college FOR risk management and insurance by choice! Hopefully, they will be pleasantly surprised by how knowledgeable we are about the industry, and how eager we students are for opportunities.
Well, I should get back to doing my homework! But before I go, in case you want to find me and other Temple students in San Diego, here's my tentative schedule:
My flight gets in to San Diego at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, and I will be attending the Student Welcome Reception at 5 p.m. that night. On Sunday, I am going to a Padres game with some friends! At night, I will be going to the AIG Dessert Reception. On Monday, I will be attending the General Session and Keynote Address at 10:00 a.m. and the Awards Luncheon at 12:15 p.m. On Tuesday, myself and other Temple students will be having breakfast with Ed Troy, Andrew Miller and some other colleagues from GAB Robins. Then we will attend the luncheon and the education roundtable, and finally visit the Exhibit Hall Reception. On Wednesday, my flight for Philadelphia departs at 8:30 a.m. :-(
I will update again once I finalize my schedule. I can't believe how soon RIMS is. Hopefully, I will meet some of you readers there!
Sincerely,
Chelsea Balerno
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
