Many of you flat-landers out there will be surprised to hearthat I left the ACORD LOMA Forum in early May, came home and skied.Snowbird Ski Resort, which sits majestically about 7,000-feet abovethe Salt Lake Valley in Utah, is our "local mountain." Long afterthe destination resorts of Deer Valley and Park City Mountain haveclosed, the locals turn their attention to "the Bird", where ifthere is snow and folks to ski and ride it, the resort will be openinto June.

This is that special time of year when the hard-core golfers aregolfing and the hard core skiers are skiing. Locals have been knownto do both on the same day. It's that time of year when you comedown out of the mountains to discover that the rest of the countryhas moved on from winter, through spring and into early summer.

It is also conference season, when insurance professionals shakeoff the long cold nights and head somewhere (often south) for theirannual IT and business get-together. This year ACORD LOMA was inLas Vegas, and IASA will be in Washington, D.C. These events areinteresting bellwethers of the state of our industry, reflectingtechnology, business, and economic trends.

The fact that after several years of recession, depression, andlackluster recovery these events are still viable is interesting inand of itself. By the time an attendee is done with hotel, airfare,cost of admission, and incidentals, a trip to one of these eventscosts thousands of dollars. So who comes, and why do they continueto come?

There are several and varied groups that attend theseconferences, each with their own agenda and objectives.

First, there are the association members and volunteers—thosewho toil in the trenches of standards committees, regionalorganizations, ongoing education, and the like. Without thesepeople there actually would be no conference to attend. ACORD,LOMA, and IASA are run by small groups of professionals who relyfor much of their delivery on large numbers of volunteers whoorganize the educational content and delivery, offer conferencehelp and information, and provide guided tours and the like. Thesefolks attend in order to volunteer, to network with other members,and to enjoy the speakers, business show, and other specialevents.

For carrier and agent/broker representatives there are severalreasons to attend. These shows offer ongoing educational creditsand a variety of informational sessions on both business andtechnology tracks. These sessions are a good opportunity to get newinformation, new ideas, and to meet people that know things therepresentative is there to learn.

On the technology side, introductions to subjects as diverse aslegacy replacement, cloud computing, big data, and social media areavailable. On the business side accounting, compliance, andregulatory updates are common along with more strategic sessions onchanges in underwriting and claims business operations. Eventorganizers go to great lengths to ensure that attendees get usefulinformation rather than just sales pitches from the variousvendors, consultants, and industry analysts who sponsor andparticipate in many of these sessions.

The annual conferences are also a great place for carrierrepresentatives to make contact with vendors of technologysolutions that they are interested in. These meetings range from aninitial (and anonymous) review to an opportunity to meet in-depthwith a vendor and review a given product. At the anonymous end ofthe spectrum there are activities such as IASA's Vendor ConnectTours where a group of like-minded attendees tour a series ofvendor booths (in the business show exhibit hall) and hear a briefproduct introduction. The carrier representatives get to watch andlisten without having to identify themselves or be exposed tounwanted follow-up from the vendors.

The great thing from the carrier's viewpoint is that they get toeither walk away or to follow up at their option, depending ontheir level of interest. And follow up can be anything from comingback to the vendor's booth or writing an email weeks later. We atCastleBay have received email or calls in past years that start outwith, "We were on your Vendor Connect Tour and are interested inlearning more about…" So they work for both carrier and vendor.

For the bolder, or more focused attendee, scheduling an in-depthproduct briefing with one or more vendors is a great use of theseshows. Where else can you get to meet with several vendors ofinterest in a concentrated two- or three-day period? And justwalking the exhibit hall can introduce new vendors, renew pastrelationships, and provide a useful sense of the pulse of ourindustry. Anyone who thinks our industry is lacking in creativityor competition should spend a couple of hours walking the exhibithall and just absorb the energy and innovation on display.

Finally, of course, there are those people who attend because"it's their turn." A seasoned vendor can identify these people froma distance; they are the ones going from booth to booth collectingmarketing giveaways while trying hard to avoid eye contact. Thesefolks collect bags full of free swag to take home for the kids (ornot), as mementos of an exciting trip. Some vendors put out greatswag, so what's wrong with that?

Speaking of vendors, they are the other main group in attendanceat these annual events, and indeed pay the vast majority of theoperating costs through sponsorships. Make no mistake, theseconferences cost a ton of money to put on, and the admission feefor attendees and the exhibit fees for vendors come nowhere nearcovering that nut.

Hence, you will notice that in addition to a hundred or soexhibitors paying for booth spaces that range from small andmarginally located (I proudly count CastleBay in this group) tolarge, flashy, and centrally located, there are all kinds ofsponsors. There are the "minerals"—silver, gold, platinum anddiamond— with a sliding scale of "signage recognition," speakingopportunities, and other goodies. If a vendor feels less like ajewelry display but wishes to make their mark in the sponsorshipstakes they can sponsor your breakfast, your lunch, your water,your room key, the bag or backpack you carry your swag around in,etc., etc.

Then there are the event sponsors who pay for late-night parties(including the cost of pretty good entertainers) or keynotespeakers. While I have attended some fun social events, my favoritepart of these conferences has tended to be the keynotespeakers—world-class writers, scientists, politicians, andhumorists. My favorites list includes Michio Kaku (physicist andfuturist), Ben Stein (economist, humorist and Ferris Bueller'steacher), Colin Powell (former Secretary of State and Chairman ofthe Joint Chiefs of Staff), Bob Woodward (journalist and politicalanalyst) and Malcolm Gladwell (author who coined the phrase "thetipping point"). These speakers were funny, provocative, andinsightful and I thank the sponsors that splashed out major bucksto put them onstage.

If you want to find a vendor, go to the exhibit hall. That iswhere—during designated hours—the vendors get to tout their waresto the convention goers. Interestingly enough, regular attendeesare not allowed in the exhibit hall during non-hours. It's not aplace for the faint of heart, especially if all you are after is afew knick knacks for the kids, but I think of it as the price thatattendees should pay (in addition to the price they have alreadypaid) to attend.

Vendors try many tricks to get attention and draw a crowd,including hiring actors and magicians; adding games andcompetitions; and accosting innocent passers-by. The hubbub is funand it can be educational, but the message definitely is, if youwant to meet a vendor during hall hours make an appointment, knowwhere you are going and know how to get there, otherwise you mayget distracted. If all this sounds boisterous it is; but notunpleasantly so. After all, we are talking insurance here.

As the leader of a company that helps insurers select vendors Itend to enjoy some of the same treatment the actual carrierrepresentatives get. One of my favorite encounters is with thesales guy who wants to show me the latest and greatest softwareproduct from his new company. What he seems to forget is that lastyear we had the same encounter, except he was with a differentcompany. This has happened so many times I believe that not onlyare sales people rabid optimists, they are also amnesiacs.

But it's all part of the conference fun. And if you approach itin the right way you will learn something new and useful… and maybebring home some good swag, which you can give to the kids beforeyou go off to play golf—but not ski. Enjoy!