AICP’s 26th Annual Conference
Toronto, Canada
October 6-9, 2013

Conference Highlights

Conference Overview

AICP held its 26th annual conference at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, Canada. Over 500 eager compliance professionals were ready to learn more about compliance using “Your Passports to Regulatory Compliance.” Expert regulatory speakers from both our United States and Canadian provinces and speakers representing consultants and law firms and industry trade groups from IIPRC, SERFF, NAIC, ISO, AAIS, ACLI, and AHIP were well received by our attendees.

The 2013 AICP Conference kicked off on Sunday afternoon with a number of pre-conference sessions filled with updates and new information.

Over 70 sessions were offered during the next three days by compliance professionals, trade association representatives and regulators presenting relevant , hot topics in many lines of insurance compliance that were of interest to both industry and regulatory communities.

The Life and Health panel provided a wide number of current topics such as Suitability Best Practices and Updates, Contingent Deferred Annuities, Emerging Issues, MCAS/Market Conduct: Issues and Updates, State Specifics, Compliance in Distribution, Marketing to Seniors and Other Vulnerable Populations, a new Readability Workshop, Social Media, to name a few of the many sessions.

The Property and Casualty panel provided a varied number of current topics such as Predictive Analytics, Navigating Market Conduct Exams, The Present and Future of Terrorism Coverage, Doing Business Internationally, Superstorm Sandy, Insurance Intellectual Property & Confidentiality 101, Usage Based Insurance, and so much more.

As in previous years, a Compliance Connections was held for both LAH and P&C attendees. Attendees were able once again to network with compliance professionals sharing compliance ideas and concerns. Attendees also enjoyed the opportunity to “meet your regulators” in small group roundtable settings. This is always a very popular part of our program.

Sunday evening was filled with Exhibitors’ Showcase activities and featuring for the first time, a photo show as well as free Wi-Fi.

Monday morning, the Conference Planning Team recognized past presidents, our members’ educational designation achievements, and dedication of volunteers.

FoodShare Toronto, was introduced as the 2013 Conference Cause for this year’s charity. Thank you to all members who donated to this cause and purchased their cookbooks!

After the ever popular View from the Top session on Monday morning, the lunch keynote was presented by Warren Evans, Professional Speaker, Trends Analyst, Business Strategist. Warren certainly got us thinking!

Monday evening, the GALA was held as a multicultural event. Attendees enjoyed Flavours of Toronto with entertainment from the Dixie Band and the Lion Dancers throughout the evening.

Many thanks to Ron Gallagher of the PA Insurance Department, for stepping up to the podium on Tuesday morning as our Tuesday morning Keynote. Great job!

Tuesday lunch was a great opportunity for all to see the Board of Directors! Our 2012-2013 President, Doug Simino, passed the gavel to incoming 2013-2014 President Elaine Douglas. Elaine gave recognition to the new Board of Directors.

Tuesday evening was set aside as the evening for Chapter members to meet and network and have fun. What a great variety of chapter events there were!

AICP Great Lakes Chapter was “Kickin’ it Old School” with the oldies, The Gulf States Chapter had dinner at Watermark Irish Pub and Restaurant, while the Heartland Chapter enjoyed dinner and entertainment at Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant. The Mid-Atlantic Chapter had dinner at The Elephant & Castle Pub Restaurant while The Midwest Chapter members enjoyed an evening of fun and networking at Toula’s Italian Restaurant! The New England Chapter took their reservations to the Plantation Room. The Western, Northwest and South Central Chapters joined together and took their food and pop culture facts to a Food Fight Trivia Night.

New this year! Wednesday held a new place for a breakfast Keynote, Patrick Reeder of Genworth Financial, who shared his helpful concepts with us on Leadership Skills.

After breakfast both L&H and P&C Q & A sessions were held.

Click here to view the 2013 Conference Program

Keynote Speakers


Warren Evans

Ron Gallagher

Patrick Reeder

 

Welcome to Toronto!

The extracurricular/welcome team provided a room filled with goodies for members to book tours for local attractions.

Chapter members were able to find one another by a chapter specific badge lanyard again this year.

Go to Conference Photo Album — Welcome to Toronto!

 

The GALA!

Go to Conference Photo Album — The GALA!

Registered attendees and guests shared an evening of multiculturalism. Members enjoyed choosing from, Indian, Asian, Greek and Italian foods while listening to jazz music. When the jazz group took a break, in came the Lion Dancers! This was a great opportunity to learn more about our global neighbors, while reconnecting with our AICP colleagues.

 

Exhibitors and Sponsors

The Exhibitor hall was a very popular (and productive) place to be during breaks and before evening activities with booths staffed by experts in all phases of compliance, with great information combined with refreshments. The exhibitors were eager to share the latest in products and services designed to streamline and enhance regulatory compliance processes. Once again, we had a popular compliance puzzle for attendees to complete to be eligible for some really great prizes.

A big “THANK YOU” to our exhibitors and sponsors for their continued support of the AICP and specifically our 26th Annual Conference.

Go to Conference Photo Album — Exhibitors

 

Education Designation Recognition

Providing learning opportunities is one of our Association’s keystones and is embedded within our Mission Statement. Recognition of those of our members who participate and guide their continuing education to become more informed and more equipped to face the challenges within our community is natural to us.

This year members who received their ACP and/or CCP designations, and those who received CE credits, were honored with a reception.

The ACP designation went to Svetlana Begunova, Katherine Brooks, Leah Carroll, Barbara Harper, Louise Lee, E. Christine Lindgren, Dona Mohr, Rebecca R. Matthews, Cheryl Penn, Candace Roach, and Grant Shintaku.

The CCP designation went to Jana Cleveringa and Cynthia Linn Searls.

The ACP and CCP designations went to Sara Begley, Carmen Belen, Daniel J. Brown, Leah Carroll, Michael Hailer, Carrie L. Holliday, Mary L. Koppers, Robert Parsons, Thomas R. Timm, David Wilson, and Dan Zastava.

CE recognition went to the following people: Joe Bieniek, Bill Douglas, Shirley Grossman, M. Diane Higdon, Doris Jackson, Anne Klappal, and John T. Whitener.

Congratulations to each of our new designees and CE recipients!

Click here to see the ACP, CCP and CE requirements.

Go to Conference Photo Album — Professional Designations

 

AICP Supports FoodShare Toronto

Keeping with tradition, we once again held fund raising events to support a local charity. This year’s efforts raised funds for FoodShare Toronto, who takes a unique multi-faceted and long-term approach to food issues by empowering individuals, families and communities through food-based initiatives, while advocating for the broader public policies needed to ensure that everyone has adequate access to sustainably produced, good healthy food.

 

Our many thanks to those who purchased the FoodShare Toronto cookbook and helped to raise $325.00!

Thank you to each of the generous silent auction donations. We were able to donate $4,180 to this very worthy organization. Thanks to all who played a part in making it happen!

 

National Officers

Annual Conference is the time for us to recognize our National Officers, say “thank you” to those who are leaving our Board of Directors, and say “welcome” to those who are staying on and are being added to our Board of Directors. It is also a time for a passing of the gavel from our President to our Incoming President.

At Tuesday’s business lunch Doug Simino thanked the 2013 Board of Directors and introduced our Incoming President, Elaine Douglas. Elaine then introduced the members of his 2013-2014 Board of Directors. We thank all who serve on our Board for the valuable service they provide to enhance our association and strengthen our value offering within the insurance compliance industry.

Click here to see a list of the AICP Board of Directors

 

President’s Award and Lennon Award

Each year, the AICP honors two volunteers with the following awards for their “above and beyond” efforts in serving the AICP.

The Lennon Award is AICP’s most prestigious award. The Lennon award was named after one of our founding fathers who was not only instrumental in the initial development of our organization, but contributed years of service. He was so committed to our association that he even gave a session presentation over the phone — two days before he passed away. The winner of the Lennon Award is nominated by his/her peers, and the final selection is done by members of the Executive Committee.

The 2013 Lennon Award was awarded to Nicholas Marrangoni for his dedication and outstanding service. Congratulations for an honor so well deserved!

The President’s Award provides our President the ability to recognize an individual member or members who have demonstrated excellent service to the AICP during their term. The 2013 President’s Award was awarded to two individuals:

  • Nancy French — Thanks for all of your hard work and leadership Nancy!
  • Rich Fidei — Thanks for everything Rich!

Go to Conference Photo Album — Lennon Award and President’s Award

Click here to see a list of other Lennon Award recipients

Click here to see a list of other President’s Award recipients

See you next year in Phoenix, Arizona!