The first accomplishment I was able to cross off for my 2020 was my work on the Windstorm Insurance Network’s Annual Conference. As many of you know, Chip Merlin is a big fan of writing down goals so that you can execute them. At the end of January, together with defense attorney Illon Kantro, we celebrated as conference committee co-chairs when the 21st annual conference wrapped.
For over a year, more than two dozen members worked to make sure that those four days at the Hilton Buena Vista were an educational investment for our members with quality networking opportunities. This year’s undertaking also required the active Board of Directors meetings complete with our stash of great Past President consults, a specific size venue in a central location, tech-savvy audio/visual help, a longtime Executive Director, our Meeting Management gurus, and a Continuing Education company, just to name a few!
Standing in the giant conference room with just a handful of people watching it all come together before the conference started was inspiring. I am sure that the President of WIND, Rick Tutwiler, was also very happy that all of our collaborative planning, meetings, and endless emails turned into a record setting conference. Our attendance numbers brought us all pride, and hearing from all different types of insurance professionals throughout the week told me that the mission of wind—to bring everyone in the industry together for education—was carried out.
Now, I am transitioning from conference planning to the bylaws committee. A good place for a lawyer who likes words, but I wanted to share that it is now time for course proposals for next year’s conference to be submitted.
As I write this, I have had weeks of virtual meetings, mediations, depositions and even hearings, but I hope that we all can get together soon. I’m hopeful that the 2021 Windstorm Conference gets the benefits of all of us being logged in and working virtually for a season. I am hopeful we have great course submissions, dynamite panels, and a deepened appreciation for getting together to network.
If you have ever wanted to present at WIND, now is a great time to find a panel of professionals and submit your ideas. It doesn’t take long to call a few people you haven’t seen in a while and talk about a topic. And we all seem to be at our desks more so hopefully you can pull together an outline since we are saving time now and doing a lot less driving.
Some of the best courses include very different perspectives and have a balanced slate of speakers who can articulate their knowledge from different sides of the industry. I also think my favorite course last year was interesting because the audience could vote on their answer to insurance questions. When the audience answers were revealed after 20 seconds to the entire class, you could see different answers and boy, did that spark audience participation. Not your average CE course!
I have included all the information to submit your topic here, and if you have any questions, just comment below and we can connect you with the answer.
Not a WIND member? You should be.
This is the network for carriers, reinsurers, adjusters of all varieties, engineers, first-party attorneys, repair contractors and anyone who loves property insurance or deals with property damage on insurance losses. You can easily join here.
Now more than ever, I can’t wait to see you or meet you at the Renaissance SeaWorld Resort in 2021. Plan for it now and have something fun and educational on your calendar.
As always Merlin Law Group hopes everyone stays just as safe as possible during this time. If you are missing Chip Merlin, tune in for his live stream, Tuesdays at 2 with Chip Merlin!
