| NATIONAL DIRECTOR’S PAGE |
Updates from the January 2019
IIABA Winter Board Meeting
Cindy Hower
KAIA National Director
C
ontrary to past years gathering, the winter
IIABA Board Meeting has been held in a
warmer climate, but this year we visited
St. Louis during one of the heaviest snow
storms in some time. Great news was our warm
climate friends got a taste of the Midwest at its finest
in January.
Highlights to the board meeting were as follows:
Finances and Budget
Financially, IIABA is on solid footing. With corrective
measures taken the past couple of years and ongoing
efforts, new programs and services are being developed.
Changes and Opportunities
continue to improve governance going forward. All
changes will be implemented at the Spring board
meeting in May 2019.
Resources
At each national meeting, the committee chairs
dedicate an hour or so together to discuss how each
committee may lend their knowledge or resources
to others to build a better association. KAIA is our
absolute go-to resource for all things insurance, but
did you know that as a member of KAIA you have
access to many other value added IIABA benefits?
Reminding our members of resources was a topic of
discussion. Do you know about:
An inspiring message about the IA channel was
presented by our guest speaker Tyler Asher,
President of Independent Agency Distribution,
Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance. He spoke
on closing the market share gap between IAs and
direct writers. While the market share needle has
moved slightly in the direction of IAs, we have a long
way to go, and Liberty/Safeco are very bullish on
the opportunities at hand. Forward thinking about
products and new ways of helping agents thrive in a
digital market place are top of the list. • The Virtual University: An unlimited resource of
insurance expertise and library of knowledge.
IIABA Governance Improvements • ACT: Technology resources at your fingertips
We heard a report from the recently appointed
IIABA Governance Task Force. Bob Fee, our Kansas
Executive Committee member was a leader on the
task force. Findings to streamline meetings — and
the overall governance of the association — were
reviewed. In the end, it was determined that nothing
was really broke, but some small improvements
such as eliminating the Robert’s Rules of Order
and replacing it with Modern Rules of Order were
adopted. The Steering Committee will be larger and
more robust and tasked with monitoring IIABA’s
governance and making recommendations to
• Big “I” Hires: A robust hiring tool kit that
includes learning paths, HR resources, sales-call
reluctance testing and job posting — to name a
few of the benefits.
• Legislative Advocacy: Tirelessly working to protect
our members on taxation and regulation, often
providing member webinars about recent changes.
• Trusted Choice/TrustedChoice.com: Marketing
resources/digital leads
These are just a few of the member benefits for you at
IIABA.com. What are you waiting for? Check it out.
Be sure to read the May/June issue of the magazine this
summer for my updates from the next IIABA Board
Meeting, which will be in Washington DC at the National
Legislative Conference, May 8-10, 2019.
| January - February 2019 | KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER
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