ALEXANDRIA, VA, July 26—Young agents from across the country will gather in New Orleans to enjoy prominent speakers, scrumptious cuisine, outstanding music and the 27th Annual Young Agents Leadership Conference.
The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s (IIABA) 27th Annual Young Agents Leadership Conference will be held Sept. 20-22 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside and the nearby Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, which also is the site for IIABA’s New Orleans’ InfoXchange from Sept. 21-24.
The Leadership Conference offers young agents opportunities to hear outstanding speakers, attend sessions aimed sharing tools and techniques to prosper in the hard market, a President’s Panel featuring several prominent company executives and informative workshops designed to build leadership and sales skills.
“These determined future leaders of the independent agency system have demonstrated great promise in recent years. With record attendances for the most-recent National Legislative Conference and last year’s InfoXchange, interest is at an all-time high. While the ‘experts’ called independent agents the next ‘milk man’ years ago, Young Agents have demonstrated that we will thrive for years to come,” says IIABA President Thomas B. Ahart CPCU, AAI, of Ahart, Frinzi & Smith, Phillipsburg, N.J.
IIABA’s Young Agents Leadership Conference, themed “Escape the Hard Market in the Big Easy,” anticipates another record attendance from agents nationally.
The Opening General Session, featuring Emily Huling, CIC, CMC, president of Selling Strategies, Inc. in Terrell, N.C., will focus on the challenges and opportunities presented by a hard market. Participants will learn how to build internal and external trust relationships and sell to four different generational groups. Huling also will outline what it takes to differentiate an agency in the current hard market and share insight from her new book, Selling in a Hard Market; 27 Ways to Insure Sales Success.
“Agencies need young agents to foster growth for their business in today’s hard market and in the future. Not only are young agents a springboard for new ideas, they also are necessary—as outlined in our Young Agents research paper Targeting Generation X...Preparing for Tomorrow Today. Each generation wants to purchase insurance from someone representative of their generation. Agencies that do not include young agents risk excluding Gen Xers, a profitable opportunity for agencies in a tougher market,” says Jacqueline “Jacki” Jungsberger, AAI, ACSR, CPIW, vice president of Tri County Agency of Brick, Inc., Brick, N.J. and chairwoman of IIABA’s Young Agents Committee. “The Leadership Conference helps prepare the young agents of today for leadership roles within their own agency and within the independent agency community. Every up-and-coming agent will want to be in New Orleans for this important event.”
IIABA President Ahart and three top insurance company leaders participating in the President’s Panel will offer young agent attendees and the IIABA Board of Directors their expectations and outlook for the insurance industry. Travelers’ Clyde Fitch, Zurich’s Ray Thomas and Ohio Casualty’s Dan Carmichael will join IIABA’s Ahart on the panel. Through the panel discussion attendees will gain additional perspective on the most important issues facing the industry and the independent agency system.
The Young Agents Leadership Conference is not all work, though. The opening night event allows Young Agents to Mardi Gras in September and hospitality suites are open nightly. These events offer a social setting where attendees have the opportunity to meet new people, see ‘old’ friends and network with their peers to discuss important issues and gain new insight into problem-solving and leadership skills.
Young agents are encouraged to stay for IIABA’s New Orleans InfoXchange. More than 2,500 insurance professionals are expected at this premiere industry event. The IIABA showcase will feature a parade of exciting opportunities designed to improve agency performance. From insightful workshops, to additional thought-provoking guest speakers, high-level networking opportunities, a record-size exhibit hall, a Trusted ChoiceSM luncheon and the widely acclaimed Young Agents Leadership Conference, the New Orleans InfoXchange will arm agents and brokers with the tools to take their businesses to the next level.
Young agents can register for the New Orleans Leadership Conference by downloading the forms online at www.independentagent.com. For more information about the Young Agents Leadership Conference, contact Leslie Mularski at (800) 221-7917. For more information about the InfoXchange, contact IIABA’s Convention Department at (800) 221-7917.
Founded in 1896, IIABA is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life and health—as well as employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com .