For the fourth version of IASA’s Executive EDGE Conference,attendees will travel to our nation’s capital to take part in aprogram dedicated to growth and excellence through education.

The program will be held from Sept. 18-20 at the GaylordNational Hotel in National Harbor, Md., a suburb of Washington,D.C., according to Mary Ellen Freyermuth, director of MIS with theCatholic Mutual Group and an IASA volunteer with the executiveeducation program.

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“We fully expect even better attendance this year than in thepast,” says Freyermuth. “We tweaked the program a bit to addanother session which we thought would be interesting for everyone.And as we’ve done in the past, we tried to secure some top-notchspeakers. We feel really good about what we’ve put together thusfar. It’s shaping up nicely.”

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The extra session this year deals with leadership and thesoft-skills side, according to Freyermuth. The session is called“Navigating the Seasons of Change: New Thinking for the 21stCentury.” The speaker is James P. Harris.

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“He has an interesting perspective on how the seasons of theyear affect leadership and change,” says Freyermuth, who has heardHarris speak in the past. He has been a speaker for nearly adecade, entertaining audiences as he discusses the differences ingenerations and what those differences mean for corporations,communities, and the nation.

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Two Keynotes

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The opening keynote address is always a major event at theExecutive Edge Conference, according to Freyermuth, and this yearthe speaker is the famed author and journalist Bob Woodward, whosetopic is “The Obama Wars.”

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“We wanted to get someone who was familiar with the Washingtonscene,” says Freyermuth. “But we didn’t want to try and draw toomuch from a defined political party. We wanted to try and getsomeone we thought would appeal across the board to everyone andwould have an interesting story to tell.”

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Woodward made his name as a young reporter with theWashington Post as he and partner Carl Bernstein uncoveredmany of the major details around the cover-up of the Watergatescandal that brought down President Richard Nixon in 1974. Theirsubsequent book, All the President’s Men was a best sellerand was turned into a successful film starring Robert Redford andDustin Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein.

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He still writes for the Post and has authored severalbooks

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“In the past we’ve tried to bring in speakers who can share alot of interesting information with the group,” says Freyermuth.“Certainly Bob Woodward falls into that category. We’re thrilled tohave him on the program.”

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Another change in the program this year is the addition of asecond keynote address. This event will feature Michael Durant, aformer helicopter pilot for the United States Army who crashed hishelicopter in Somalia, became a prisoner of war, and was one of thesubjects of the book and movie, Black Hawk Down.

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“We felt a second keynote would be a nice way to start off thesecond day,” says Freyermuth. “We wanted everybody to be upbeatbefore we start breaking in to the nuts and bolts sessions. Weagain wanted to bring in someone we thought would have aninteresting story to tell; someone who had to deal with leadershipissues. We wanted someone who was dynamic. We thought MichaelDurant was a great choice. He’s going to have an interesting storyto tell. Beside his story he’s an interesting gentleman.”

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Breakout Sessions

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In addition to the panel discussions, the conference committeehas put together a senior executive panel to discuss the state ofthe industry, according to Freyermuth.

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“They are going to talk about pricing, regulatory issues,opportunities, and how technology impacts the insurance industry,”she says.

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There also will be the annual point/counterpoint session, whichFreyermuth explains has been successful in the past.

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“We bring in CIOs, CTOs and CFOs and have them interact anddiscuss the relationships they have with each other and how theyimpact one another—negatively as well as positively,” she says.

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On the second day, following the Durant keynote, the committeeis bringing in a yet to be determined speaker that Freyermuth hopeswill speak on what the future holds and things that impacteveryone’s lives.

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Following that will be breakout sessions, which Freyermuthreports are always well received.

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The CIOs and CTOs will go in their own area and the CFOs, COOsand the chief investment officers will get together.

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“We plan to have a facilitator with each of those groups,” saysFreyermuth. “We also solicit information from the attendees on whatthe topical issues are and the kinds of things they want to talkabout. It’s a great sharing of information. Because it involvescarriers as well as vendors it is interesting to get the variety ofperspectives.”

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Freyermuth believes the Executive EDGE Conference is anopportunity for insurance executives to come together to talk aboutthe things that are most important to them.

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“We think it’s a great educational offering and it has taken offso well from the first year,” she says. “It’s a nice continuum fromthe annual IASA conference itself.”