Professional Insurance Agents Western Alliance announced it will host a two-day event next month in Las Vegas featuring education, vendors and networking opportunities and no association business.
The PIA Expo '07 will run March 20-21 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino and feature education courses and over 100 vendor exhibits.
Clark Sitzes, executive vice president for PIA Western Alliance, based in Vancouver, Wash., said the importance of this meeting is to showcase a venue where agents can network with company representatives and other vendors.
He said the expo will also offer the opportunity for agents to listen to national trainers and educators they rarely have the opportunity to hear.
Mr. Sitzes stressed that this is not an association conference but a forum for agents to gain information and contacts. He said no PIA West business will be conducted during the event.
"We want to bring agents and companies together with quality education that can't be found elsewhere because it is too expensive," Mr. Sitzes explained.
PIA said the price to attend for both member and nonmember agents is $299, with pricing tiers for separate programs.
More than 600 agents from Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have signed up to attend the event, said Mr. Sitzes.
Speakers at the event will include Robert P. Hartwig, president and chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute.
The education sessions offered during the conference will include classes on mergers and acquisitions, errors and omissions loss control, sales training, and technology. The expo will also offer special sessions in branding an agency's business and employee fraud.
Mr. Sitzes said the association has applied for continuing education credit, but the focus of the courses is to give agents an opportunity to hear from experts in the field they could never afford to hear otherwise.
Additional information and registration material for the meeting is available online at www.agentexpo.net.
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