If you weren't in Las Vegas last month for ACE, America's Claim Event, you missed a perfect opportunity to learn and network. I've been associated with the event for eight years and it gets better every year. Our conference staff worked diligently, taking suggestions from attendees at previous conferences, and molded a program that fit the needs of today's claim management/adjusting professionals which was well worth their time and effort to attend.

The program was expanded to include more pre-conference workshops, roundtables, and general sessions, in addition to the traditional breakout sessions, to which all conference attendees have become accustomed. The NUCO conference division staff deserves kudos for their extra efforts in assembling the educational sessions and an impressive exhibit hall.

A general session on the second day of the conference turned out to be a real winner. Under the direction of Managing Editor Eric Gilkey, an executive panel discussion was developed, "Examining Best Practices and Industry Trends." Panelists were George Fay, executive vice president, worldwide property & casualty claim, CNA Financial; Vincent Armentano (former Claims Professional of the Year), senior vice president, business insurance claims, Travelers; and Kevin Toth, senior vice president claims, Harleysville Insurance.

Topics covered included, but were not limited to:

  • Attracting and keeping claim professionals
  • Improving customer satisfaction
  • Challenges of implementing fraud technology
  • Combating Fraud

On a Personal Note

You'll note that former associate editor, Eric Gilkey, has been promoted to managing editor of Claims. We knew from the day Eric joined our editorial staff that he was a keeper. He was a fast learner of the intricacies of claim management/challenges/adjusting issues. He has never wavered in his desire to learn everything he can about claim-handling issues and strives to give readers all the pertinent facts on whatever subject to help them do their jobs better.

In my almost four decades in editorial management, I've only encountered one other editor with Eric's obsessive talent to get to the core of the subject matter and give readers a succinct assessment of any particular topic (and who can put up with me on a day-to-day basis). Congratulations, Eric!

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