Producer Symposium Goes Virtual
An experiment with Web technology could mean the end of the traditional conference for one firm, Commonwealth Risk, which recently held its two-day Producers' Forum online for the first time.
The Producers Forum, an annual event hosted in the alternative risk finance firms hometown of Philadelphia since 1996, did not mount a traditional conference this year.
Instead, the forum was broadcast over the Internet for two days from the studios of V-SPAN, a corporate communications provider out of King of Prussia, Pa.
The Producers Forum Online was designed to provide information to independent agents and brokers about the current status of practices within the alternative markets.
The forum also serves to inform professionals about Commonwealth Risk and its corporate parent–Mutual Risk Management Ltd.–said Reg Pierce, senior vice president of marketing and communication for Commonwealth Risk and executive director of the forum.
MRM, which sells risk management products and services, is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
In the past, the forum attracted around 200 agent and broker attendees, which Mr. Pierce said was a respectable figure.
However, after a reevaluation of the traditional conference it was determined that a softening economy would mean a decrease in attendees.
Last year, Commonwealth began exploring the idea of presenting the forum over the Internet. Mr. Pierce said the firm decided to try the virtual convention on a "modest scale" and limited the production to five live events. Another five events were pre-recorded.
Some of the items discussed during the online forum, reports of which appeared on the NU Online News Service (www.nationalunderwriter.com), included how to combat premium increases in a hardening market through loss control; improving underwriting discipline to make a profit; and how insurance executives are ignoring a new market in the burgeoning charter school system.
In a live event, Bruce Connell, executive vice president, group underwriting officer for XL Insurance in Bermuda; Michael Moran, senior vice president of Tillinghast Towers-Perrin RE, headquartered in New York City; and James Buysse, executive vice president at Benfield Greig, headquartered in London; answered questions from a group of editors about the future of the property-casualty market.
During this event, listeners learned the executives' opinions about how they felt increased pricing will not be enough to make companies profitable. Companies, they said, will need to pay more attention to their underwriting.
Lawrence T. Pistell, director of risk management education for the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters in Malvern, Pa., discussed charter schools.
While informing listeners about the expanding system and the coverage opportunities, Mr. Pistell responded to questions sent by listeners by e-mail during the live presentation.
Robert Anderson, president, and John Hibben, vice president, both of The Worksafe Group, headquartered in Laguna Hills, Calif., discussed how independent agents and brokers can help combat premium increases during this hardening market by concentrating on loss control methods.
The two executives from the risk management consulting firm, which is also a subsidiary of MRM, spoke about the benefits of the plan to the customer and how it helps to both obtain policies and stabilize rates.
For listeners, said Mr. Pierce, the online convention is beneficial in both cost and convenience. An agent or broker can listen to the broadcast from the comfort of his or her office. There are no travel costs involved and a group of executives can listen into the broadcasts at the same time, expanding the potential audience.
The forum has already shown success in drawing more participants than the live convention forum did, said Mr. Pierce. The firm said there were 342 "unique visitors" who listened to the forum each day of the two-day broadcast.
While the figures still need to be looked at further, Mr. Pierce said, statistically only 20 percent of the visitors should be repeat visitors, translating into well over 400 individuals who logged on. In addition, the firm said, the event drew over 50,000 hits over the two-day period.
Mr. Pierce said the conference would remain available to anyone who wishes to sign up through the end of June. A user must have an e-mail address to gain access, which is one of the marketing advantages to Commonwealth–building additional e-mail leads, he said.
There is some discussion about making portions of the event available through the companys archive, Mr. Pierce said. While free this year, he said, the firm is considering a small fee in the future.
The forum is available by accessing www.producersforum.com.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, June 29, 2001. Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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