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Rural & Small - A First Timer ’ s View
An awesome conference with even better members .
I
’ m happy to report that I survived my first Rural and Small Conference , held in Hutchinson , KS on January 24th – 26th . Going into it I wasn ’ t sure what to expect , but my vision sat squarely between the movies Cedar Rapids and Animal House . Turns out that it may have been a bit tamer but a good time was had by all . Below are my highlights from the conference :
1 . Pre-conference Hutchinson Agency Visits : Prior to the conference , I was able to make a few agency visits to the Fee Insurance Group and KFSA . It ’ s always good to visit our members . We talked about a wide-range of topics including cyber liability , how KAIA / AScK can assist with hard-to-place accounts , the benefits of an E & O audit with Will Larson , and how the Big ‘ I ’ Virtual Risk Consultant may help the agency . Let us know if you ’ d like a visit from KAIA / AScK staff and we ’ ll get it on the calendar .
2 . Young Agents Cornhole Tournament : Big thanks to the Young Agents Committee for putting this on . Cooper Chapin and Brock Elliott did a great job of keeping the tournament on track . Gary Alford , my friend from EMC , and I partnered up and made a heck of a run only to finish in second place to the Hefner boys ( Russ Hefner and Chock Hefner ) who refused to miss during the championship game . Tough loss , but on a positive note I was able to play against our ultra-competitive President , Lyle Davidson . You can check the KAIA Facebook page to find out the outcome of that match !
3 . Shrimp and Crawfish Boil : It took two days for my lips to stop burning from the shrimp and crawfish regardless of how much beer I poured on them . I appreciated the lesson on how to eat crawfish and I ’ m happy to reciprocate with a Chesapeake Bay blue crab , which is more my specialty .
4 . Industry Partner Meeting : KAIA has 45 Industry Partners , the vast majority of whom were present at the conference . We wanted to take advantage of our IP ’ s being in one place and use the time as an opportunity to thank them for their support and recognize that as an organization we could not do what we do without them . We held round table discussions with the IP ’ s to find out what they liked about being a part of the Industry Partnership Program and how we could bring even more value . I really enjoyed connecting with them . If your company is not an IP , talk to Nicole Schings about getting onboard so we can help get you connected to KAIA members .
5 . Education Classes : I heard really good feedback about our instructors this year . I even heard Corey Wilkins was able to make the topic of life insurance interesting ! I attended some of the E & O class and the Lloyd ’ s class . The E & O class was standing room only . I heard from many attendees that it was the best E & O class they ’ ve been to and that they loved Kent Anthony ’ s and Will Larson ’ s sharing of real world experiences . One point made during the E & O class was the importance of agencies having a stand-alone cyber policy as well as offering it to customers . AScK can provide your agency with a really affordable cyber quote and has cyber markets for your customers as well . Swiss Re / Westport ’ s data breach coverage in their E & O policy is a nice feature , but in today ’ s world you need a stand-alone cyber policy . I enjoyed Pat Talley ’ s Lloyd ’ s 101 class . If you ’ ve never seen the unique architecture of the Lloyd ’ s building in London , it ’ s worth Googling ! AScK is a market access point to Lloyd ’ s for our members so it was fun to learn more about the history and stability of their program .
6 . National Alliance Conferment : Along with Education Chairman , Doug Smart , I was honored to be able to recognize the hard work and dedication of our members that received CIC , CISR , and CSRM designations . These designations highlight their commitment to the insurance industry and adding value to their customers . I encourage all of our members to stay committed to learning and to be strategic in their professional development needs . It ’ s not just about CE credits , it ’ s about advancing the agency and serving customers . Be sure to check out KAIA ’ s education calendar .
These are just a few highlights from my first Rural and Small . My absolute favorite part was getting to spend time and build relationships with KAIA members . I met a lot of good people and I want to make sure you know that we are here to help your agency in any way we can . Most importantly I survived !
Until next year – cheers !
DAVID HULCHER KAIA Executive Director
4 KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER | January - February 2017 |