The American Association of Managing General Agents is gearing up for its annual meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., later this month, drawing its members to the gathering with the promise of networking opportunities.
The meeting will feature its share of high-profile speakers, including business magazine publisher Steve Forbes. But the theme of the meeting is "Strength of Association," emphasizing networking benefits–the clear focus of registration materials being distributed by the group.
The meeting will take place May 16-20 at the Boca Raton Resort and Club.
"Given the current market conditions, there has never been a more important need to foster our existing relationships and facilitate those with new trading partners," AAMGA President Euclid Black wrote in a letter to members on the first page of this year's meeting brochure.
"The hallmark of the wholesale insurance marketplace is the strength and respect of mutual relationships. The annual meeting is the perfect venue to foster existing relationships and make new contacts in a professional and relaxed atmosphere," says an online reference of "Annual Meeting Productivity Tips."
The online guide, subtitled "How to Maximize Your Experience," is available on the Web site at http://www.aamga.org/annualmeeting/annualmeeting2009, along with the complete meeting agenda and registration materials. It lists six ways for the attendees who come from the managing general agency segment of the group to get the most out of the event.
Among other things, it advises MGAs to:
o Prepare lists of potential contacts who are associate (insurance company) members and business service members (vendors), and issues to discuss with them.
o Plan schedules early.
o Participate in group activities.
o Persist in getting appointments to meet with company representatives they're interested in seeing.
Directing members to a list of attendees–which is posted on the AAMGA Web site and updated each week until the meeting takes place–the productivity guide suggests members take the initiative and reach out to people they'd like to meet with who aren't yet on the list.
Through April 17, close to 800 members had signed up for the conference, according to the online attendee list. Last year, over 1,200 attended, according to AAMGA.
The Agent and Brokers Lounge, which is a central area set up for meetings between MGAs and company reps, is scheduled to be open every day of the meeting except Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Members will also be able to connect at several receptions, to participate in educational sessions and to attend a vendor mart featuring more than 50 companies serving the wholesale insurance community.
Included among the vendors exhibiting at the "Vendor & Trade Show"–which will be open on Monday, May 18, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.–will be premium finance companies, computer software vendors, third-party administrators, attorneys, actuarial consultants, and firms offering premium audit, underwriting, loss control and inspection services, remote staffing services, and even a firm offering short-term international travel insurance.
In addition to parties hosted by associate (insurance company) members on Monday and Tuesday evenings, an opening reception for all attendees will kick off the conference on Sunday at 7 p.m.
A new-member reception will precede that event, serving up refreshments and a briefing from AAMGA executives, who will outline some of the benefits of the association to the newest members, advising them on ways to get the most from their memberships.
Another "hallmark" of the AAMGA, its AAMGA University, will offer two educational sessions on Sunday, May 17, to run concurrently from 8 a.m. to noon–both promising to give MGAs competitive advantages.
o The first, "Captive Insurance Strategies," promises to teach MGAs, program administrators and other agents the benefits of captives for their firms, employees and sales partners.
o The second, "Effective Selling: Strategies to Grow Your Business," promises to help attendees move beyond simply creating a sales culture–moving them toward putting new business growth where it needs to be and helping them to increase premium retention.
Reaching out beyond the insurance community, AAMGA will present two guest speakers: Glenn Reynolds, during an opening breakfast on Monday morning, and Steve Forbes, the Tuesday morning keynoter, who will speak during the AAMGA business meeting.
Mr. Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, is better known for a political blog known as Instapundit. According to his own account, he is also a contributing editor for Popular Mechanics and author of the book, "An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths."
In a very different vein, he writes lawyerly articles, such as "Environmental Regulation of Nanotechnology: Some Preliminary Observations," he notes on his blog site.
Mr. Forbes, chair and chief executive of Forbes Inc. and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, is also known as a past Republican candidate for U.S. president, having run in 1996 and 2000, and for his frequent appearances on CNN, MSNBC and FoxNews. AAMGA expects Mr. Forbes to share his views on the Obama administration and the status of the economy.
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