The Professional Insurance Agents of New York State said it willhold an education forum in October that will feature sessions onreal-time technology and flood insurance.

The Glenmont, N.Y.-based group said it expects more than 250persons to attend the Oct. 11 annual Hudson Valley RegionalAwareness Program (RAP) at the Holiday Inn in Suffern, N.Y.

PIANY said the RAP will feature a panel discussion, titled “Getresults with Real Time: What's available now,” as well as a floodinsurance education program.

The Real Time forum in the afternoon, PIANY said, will featureexpert speakers offering ideas on how real-time technology candirectly benefit an independent agency's operations.

Keith Savino, CPIA will moderate a panel with representativesfrom AMS, AMS SETWrite, Applied Systems, Ebix, EZLynx, Fiserv,IVANS Transformation Station and SeaPass Solutions.

The discussion will focus on where the industry is today, howreal-time can be a part of a feasible agency workflow, and howreal-time benefits can be directly posted to the agency's bottomline. Mr. Savino serves as PIA National's liaison to ACORD, thetechnology standards group.

PIANY said the Real Time session has been submitted for New Yorkand New Jersey continuing education credits.

Donna Chiapperino, chair of Hudson Valley RAP and PIANYtreasurer, said for agencies, “using multiple carrier sites to ratenew business has become a complicated task. By learning how toincorporate real-time into an agency's day-to-day operations,customer service representatives can complete previouslytime-consuming tasks in a much shorter period.”

The flood insurance session covering the basics of the NationalFlood Insurance Program will be led by expert Sheldon Hansen.

PIANY said the flood course is approved for continuing educationcredits and meets the Federal Emergency Management Agency's legalminimum training and education requirements for insurance agentswho sell Standard Flood Insurance Policies issued through theNFIP.

Besides education sessions, the Hudson Valley RAP also willfeature an awards luncheon with a keynote address by PIANYPresident Martin Koles and the presentation of the Hudson ValleyRAP Executive of the Year award. A trade show and the New YorkYoung Insurance Professionals' networking reception will also bepart of the meeting.

The cost to attend the event is $80 for PIA members and $95 fornonmembers. Registration is available through PIANY's ConferenceDepartment at (800) 424-4244 or online at the PIANY Web site(www.pia.org) by typing ED16603 in the Quick-Link box.