Virtual CONVO Wrap-Up - One for the History Books

Event Wrap-Up

One for the History Books!

By Shannon Churchill

Three Days 23 Hours of Content Over 430 People 17 Sessions 12 Hours of IL Continuing Education Hours 17 Sponsors 36 Exhibitors 30 Speakers All in ONE Virtual Event!

What a whirlwind few months it has been! When the decision was made to switch from an in-person CONVO to a virtual setting, the IIA of IL staff dove right into planning. How can we make this happen in such a short time? How can we make this an event for everyone? What traditions can we incorporate from the in-person event? Well… we did it! The IIA of IL staff pulled it off! We had such a successful event October 6-8, attendees are still talking about it.

But don’t just take our word for it… In addition to several attendees telling us “great session” and “extremely valuable information,” we also heard: “The entire event went very well in my opinion! You turned our 2020 lemons into Lemonade!”

“WOW!! Extremely impressive Convention this year! I am so grateful to be associated with such unbelievable talent. You took a challenging situation and not only made the best of it……You made it a SUCCESS!”

“I want to thank IIAI for going to the extra effort and expense to have a convention this year. I think all of us prefer an actual event over a virtual event but you have created an opportunity for interaction, information, and education.”

“Thank you for putting on an awesome event last week- we really enjoyed the virtual trade show!” “He (speaking of Duncan Wardle) was fantastic!”

“This session was great for someone who wants to innovate and grow – makes you think about the future!” Speaking of Keynote 2: Creating Opportunities Out of COVID All sessions were recorded and are now available ondemand at www.ilconvention.com. Attendees can login and view the sessions at no additional charge. Those that did not attend can purchase the event for $149. No CE is awarded for the recorded sessions. Here is what you may have missed:

The opening keynote presentation with former Disney Head of Creativity and Innovation, Duncan Wardle, focused on the personal dynamic of insurance relationships and encouraged us to bring innovation and creativity into the workplace. Check out the article on the next page for a recap of this session.

Our second keynote session brought together several of the most innovative agents in the industry including Katlyn Eggar with Quantum Assurance International and host of The Age of Independence Mini-Series Podcast; David Carothers of Florida Risk Partners and The Power Producers Podcast; Carey Wallace, CEO of IntellAgents; Bradley Flowers of Portal Insurance and The Insurance Guys Podcast, as well as the host with the most, Ryan Hanley, owner of Rogue Risk and host of The Ryan Hanley Show Podcast. In this dynamic game-show style session, between laughter, entertainment and poking fun of each other, the group discussed many of the challenges insurance agencies are facing today, ways to stay relevant in an ever changing marketplace, and how to create opportunities out of COVID.

Our closing keynote session with Carey Wallace, CEO of IntellAgents, and Trent Richmond, Founder of AgencyKPI, walked attendees through looking beyond “data as a buzz word” and how it can empower you and your agency to make decisions.

Our two legislative sessions featured Charles Symington and Nathan Riedel of the Big “I” Government Affairs team, sharing the current state of affairs at the federal level. Our own Evan Manning, Phil Lackman and Brett Gerger discussed Illinois legislative updates over the past year and gave an update on the November elections and what the future may hold.

Breakout sessions over the two days included current relevant topics led by many leading industry experts. • Insuring Cannabis Risks in 2020: The Challenges in a

Growing Industry with Rick Pitts • Business Income Coverage: COVID & Beyond with Chris

Boggs • Finding Talent for your Agency - Strategies for Success

Panel with Claudia St. John, J’ai Brown, Mark and

Christine Bailey • Increasing Sales Through Effective Communication -

Using Sales Impact Assessments to Tailor Your Message with Steve Bellman, Brett Gerger & Tess Fleming • Innovation in Long-Term Care Funding with Life

Insurance with Jerry Rhinehart • Cautionary Tales of the Creative Client During COVID –

Home with Nicole Broch

• Supercharge Your Agency Website with Sales Tools with

Spencer Breidenbach • The Genesis of Cyber – and Resources for YOU with Ron

Berg, George Robertson and Bill Larson • Cautionary Tales of the Creative Client During COVID –

Auto with Nicole Broch • Everyone Has An Online Reputation - Take Control And

Protect Yours with Spencer Breidenbach • Workers’ Compensation Issues 2020 with Luke

Praxmarer and Brett Gerger Thank you to all those who attended. We’d love to hear your feedback on the event. Send me an email at schurchill@iiaofil.org to give me your review. Make sure to mark your calendar for the 2021 CONVO: October 5-7 in Springfield, IL. Shannon Churchill is the IIA of IL CONVO Coordinator as well as the Director of Information and Technology. She can be reached at schurchill@iiaofil.org or (217) 321-3004.

For those who missed out, it is not too late. You can obtain the recordings of this event (no CE) for the low price of $149. This gets you all the recordings available so you can share the information with your team. Since they are on-demand, you can watch whenever, wherever you’d like.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Diamond: Pekin Insurance The Hanover Insurance Group

Platinum: Progressive Surplus Line Association of Illinois

Gold: AAA Insurance Arlington/Roe AFCO Credit Corp. AAA – The Auto Club Group AIS Premium Finance/Imperial PFS Alexander J. Wayne and Associates American Reliable Agribusiness & Equine Mortality AMERISAFE Arlington/Roe ARMtech Insurance Services Columbia Insurance Group Continental Western Group Donegal Insurance Group Encova Insurance ePayPolicy Erie Insurance Foremost Insurance Group Grange Insurance Grinnell Mutual The Hanover Insurance Group HawkSoft Silver: Grinnell Mutual Imperial PFS IMT Insurance Nationwide West Bend Mutual Insurance Company General: Applied Systems Brightfire Agents Council for Technology – ACT Big “I” Virtual University Trusted Choice

THANK YOU TO OUR EXHIBITORS

Affinity HR HSB IMT Insurance J.C. Restoration, Inc. JM Wilson – MGA and E&S Broker Markel Midwest Insurance Company Networked Insurance Agents Pekin Insurance Progressive SECURA Tapco Underwriters, Inc. Travelers Utica National Insurance Group W.A. Schickedanz Agency, Inc./Interstate Risk Placement, Inc. West Bend Mutual Insurance Company Westfield Zywave, Inc.