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T H U R S D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 0 9
Industry News
IIABA News
J. David Daniel Installed as Big “I” Chairman J. David Daniel was inaugurated as the chairman of Big “I” at the recent Big “I” Leadership Conference in New Orleans. Daniel is president of Daniel & Eustis Insurance in Baton Rouge, La. “David’s commitment to our industry has earned him the respect of agents across the country,” says Robert Rusbuldt, Big “I” president & CEO. “The Big ‘I’ is proud to announce that he will lead the organization as chairman for the 2009-2010 term.” Prior to his election to the Executive Committee by the Big “I” national Board of Directors in 2004, Daniel served on the Board of Directors of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of Louisiana (IIABL) for eight years and became president in 1997. During his tenure on the IIABL board, he was chairman of the Commercial Lines Committee and a member of both the legislative affairs and education committees. Daniel has served on the national board as the director from Louisiana since 1998 and has acted as the state association’s representative to the Louisiana Insurance Rating Commission. For his commitment to the state association, Daniel received IIABL’s Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Outstanding Committee Chairman Award. On the national level, Daniel has also served on the Big “I”’s technical affairs committee and was chairman of the Big “I” Governance and Communications Task Force. Daniel has been praised for his commitment to the community as well as the insurance industry. He has been a member of the Capital City Kiwanis Club for 28 years and was awarded the prestigious George R. Hixson award for community service. As a pioneering member of the Christmas on the River Committee, Daniel worked to revitalize the riverfront area in Baton Rouge. He has been a volunteer youth basketball coach for the YMCA and is a founding member of the Vision 21 Foundation, an organization that collects and distributes grant money to non-profit groups in the Baton Rouge area. Daniel is a graduate of Louisiana State University. He and his wife, Janet, have two children, Mary Rose and John. The Daniel family belongs to St. Aloysius Church in Baton Rouge.
IIABA News
Miley Installed as Big “I” Chairman-Elect J. Michael “Mike” Miley of Gibson Insurance Group was installed as the chairman-elect of the Big “I” at the association’s recent Leadership Conference in New Orleans. “Mike brings almost 40 years of experience in the insurance industry to the table,” says Robert Rusbuldt, Big “I” president & CEO. “The Big ‘I’ is proud to announce that he will continue his good work on our leadership team as the chairman-elect.” Miley began his insurance career in 1973 and joined Gibson Insurance Group in 1983. He began his involvement with the association at the local and state level, serving as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana from 1995 to 1996. In 1997 Miley was elected to Big “I” Board of Directors representing Indiana. The Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana has twice named him the Indiana Agent of the Year. At the national association level, he has served on various boards and committees and is presently a member of the Planning Committee and Finance Committee. He was elected to the Executive Committee in 2005. In his Indiana community, Miley is a past president of the United Way of Marshall County and the Plymouth Board of Parks and Recreation and has served on the board of the Marshall County Mental Health Association and Marshall County Older Adult Services. Miley lives in Plymouth, Indiana with his wife Cindy. They have two children, Margaret and Matthew.
Trusted Choice®
Minnesota Agency Awarded Trusted Choice® Agency of the Month Dressel Insurance Agency, Inc. in Saint Bonifacius, Minn. has been named the Trusted Choice® Agency of the Month. “The team at the Dressel Insurance Agency has been recognized nationally for their personalized and professional service that exemplifies the Trusted Choice® Pledge of Performance,” says Dave Evans, Trusted Choice® executive director. “We are proud to award the Trusted Choice® Agency of the Month to the Dressel Insurance Agency.” The Dressel Agency started in the early 1980s. In 1993, Roger Dressel purchased an insurance agency in downtown St. Bonifacius and has been working there with his team ever since. They provide auto, home, business and agricultural insurance services. “We truly enjoy working with the many strong companies we represent and developing excellent relationships with their underwriters in order to improve the coverage and service we provide for each customer,” says Roger Dressel, owner and president of Dressel Insurance Agency. “I recall when Trusted Choice® first came out and predicted it would be a big deal. We continue to see unlimited possibilities for this program and are honored to part of it from the beginning.” The Trusted Choice® Agency of the Month program recognizes those Trusted Choice® agencies that are going above and beyond in living the tenets of the Trusted Choice® Pledge of Performance and in communicating the benefits of their services to consumers. Trusted Choice® agencies agree to adhere to a written pledge that states they will work with their customers to identify the insurance and financial services that are right for them, their families or their business and use their access to multiple companies to deliver those products. It also states that they will help guide consumers through the claims process and help them solve problems related to their coverage or account, among other things.
InVEST
InVEST 101 Webinar Provides Insight into Program
Do you want to get involved with InVEST but are unsure where to start? Have you heard about the program and want to learn more about what it entails? If so, attend the InVEST 101 webinar on Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. EST. This webinar is intended for those with little knowledge of the InVEST high school program, and it will provide all the tools needed to jumpstart involvement! This webinar will cover why InVEST was created, what the high school program involves, what free materials are available to launch an InVEST program and how to get started. No commitment is required to sit in on this webinar – just curiosity about the InVEST program. The webinar is free for participants. Click here to reserve a seat today. InVEST, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is dedicated to improving insurance literacy and attracting new talent to the industry. For more information, contact Jennifer Robinson at 1-800-221-7917; jennifer.robinson@iiaba.net.
Big “I” Flood Program
FEMA Implements New Flood Zone Map Halfway through the 2009 hurricane season, there haven’t been any hurricanes that have reached U.S. shores. Unfortunately, heavy rains have pounded parts of the nation this year and overall flood disasters are still troublingly high. Of the 52 major disasters or emergency declarations since January, 32 included flooding. For this reason, agents need to inform clients about changes in flood insurance. For starters, FEMA has drawn up new flood zone maps for 95% of the population, and some insureds who were not previously in a flood zone may now be in one. Consumer Reports recently reported on this (click here for the report), and agents may want to check on the status of areas in their communities. Areas that are newly defined or changed as flood zones represent a marketing opportunity for agents to inform clients in these areas. In addition, click here to see a summary of the NFIP semi-annual program changes that are effective Oct. 1. Agents interested in learning more about the changes can sign up for a free webinar, on Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. EST. The Big “I” Flood Program has been involved with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) since its inception in 1968. When the NFIP introduced the Write-Your-Own (WYO) program in 1983, the Big "I" chose various carriers over the years to work with by endorsement. The program’s book of business was relatively small until the Big “I” partnered with Selective Insurance in 2001. The program's book is now approaching $24 million in in-force premium.
Trusted Choice®
Looking for Leads? Drumming up business in today’s economy brings both challenges and opportunities to any business owner, and Trusted Choice® wants to help its members get leads. 1-800-We-Insure is a new service exclusively for Trusted Choice® member agencies that connects consumers with local Trusted Choice® independent insurance agents. Consumers who dial the phone number will be asked for their zip code and will be forwarded to an agency based on predetermined call architecture. The best part is that Trusted Choice® state associations and other Trusted Choice® stakeholders will market the number for you. The phone number will be included in all Trusted Choice® national TV ads, on the Web site and in consumer print materials. With more than 208 million consumer impressions in 2008, imagine what 2010 will bring. Stay tuned as the details about the new program unfold. Trusted Choice® will begin to accept applications on Oct. 15. Space is limited and available to Trusted Choice® agencies only on a first-come, first-serve basis.
ACT
Big “I” to Host Free Webinar on E-Mail Security The Big “I” Agents Council for Technology (ACT) will host another installment of its free webinar titled “Protecting Independent Agent Clients with Secure E-mail Using TLS (Transport Layer Security)” on Sept. 22 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. EST. Jeff Yates, executive director of ACT, will moderate a panel comprised of Jim Rogers, director of distribution technology at The Hartford, and Tim Woodcock, president of Courtesy Computers. Click here to register. The first half hour of this webinar is designed for agency business leaders explaining the risks of unsecured e-mail and how TLS works. The second half hour will get into a more technical discussion regarding implementation of TLS on Microsoft Exchange servers. TLS is available on most up-to-date in-house e-mail servers (such as Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes). It is not currently available on hosted e-mail such as Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo. Once implemented by the agency’s technology professional, TLS is transparent to the user and the only cost is for the security certificate. It provides a better agent workflow than proprietary e-mail solutions imposed by the carrier. Many carriers are already enabled with TLS. ACT has produced the article “Protect Your Clients with Secure Email using TLS,” as well as agents’ frequently asked questions about TLS, which can be found at www.independentagent.com/act under the “security and customer privacy” link. A list of carriers enabled for TLS as well as a recording of the webinar are available on this Web site as well.
Big “I” Advantage®
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ACT
Next Session Offered in Popular Webinar Are you taking advantage of Real Time along with commercial and personal lines Download? Learn how to make your agency more efficient by attending a highly-regarded, one-hour live webinar hosted by the Real Time/Download Campaign on Oct. 7 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. EST. There has been great agent and carrier attendance for previous webinar sessionswith more than 200 participants at each showing.
The webinar, entitled Real Time: The Next Major Advance in Agency Workflow, will be led by Lisa Parry Becker and Cyndy Smith, the co-chairs of the Real Time/Download Campaign, who are highly knowledgeable about these new workflows. This webinar will explain Real Time, demonstrate it, discuss the benefits and outline the next steps for agencies just starting Real Time or those interested in increasing its usage. Another point of discussion will be the increasing importance of Download in a Real Time world. Cal Durland of AUGIE and Jeff Yates of ACT will also participate.
There is no charge for participants to attend these webinars. After logging on to the Internet session, participants will be able to listen to the audio through their computer headset or speakers, or they will be provided with a toll-free number to call and listen to the audio.
Click here to register for the Oct. 7 session of the webinar.
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