This has certainly been a very busy beginning of summer, with numerous conferences, seminars, and conventions being held throughout our area. One seminar in particular that many other agents, insurance colleagues and I found extremely interesting was Steve Anderson’s presentation of “Speed Sells: Maximizing Efficiency in the Submission Process”, offered as a continuing education course for New York and New Jersey agents in attendance at the PIA’s recent annual convention in Atlantic City, NJ.

Mr. Anderson, a radiant speaker and always the entertainer, once again provided those who early in the morning braved their way past those one armed bandits to be present at his seminar, with a wealth of information on how to use technology to your organization’s advantage. Opening up with the statement that most of us are retiring only to begin another career in a totally different field, or to stay at home to take care of our parents, Steve went on to explain how radically and quickly our lives and businesses have changed as a result of technology. Sure, times have always changed and new inventions have always been introduced throughout the years, but never before have our lives been impacted at such a great rate of speed by the ever changing world of technology. For instance, how many years did many of us live with a black and white television that aired seven channels and the only remote control available were us kids whom our parents would ask to get up and put on channel 4? God forbid we turned that dial too fast and it popped out in our hands, we now would be down to watching only one channel: whichever one it landed on when the “channel changer” broke. Could you imagine what our kids would say if their 5G IPod ran out of room and they couldn’t fit the latest “Fall Out Boy” release on it?

Anyway, I agree with Steve wholeheartedly and in my opinion all of us in
“this thing of ours” must embrace change, and use it to our advantage. Let’s face it, our consumers are changing as they look for and find more efficient ways to immediately gratify their insatiable appetite for the latest and greatest of “What-E-Va”, and those in our business must find ways to immediately provide it for them. He who responds in the manner that our customers want us to respond will be ultimately successful, and those who drag their feet with a wait and see attitude will be left holding a 45 record of Norman Greenbaum singing “Spirit in the Sky” while the rest of us have our ear buds in listening to “Green Day” on an MP3 player the size of a quarter (or should I say debit card since no one has change jingling in their pockets any more, either).

Great job, Steve, as we all need a reminder every now and then.

So many of you have been calling and writing to me with comments and suggestions on past or future articles, and I certainly appreciate the feedback and ideas…thank you! Recently, I received an email from an agent, and this is what it said:
“Michael, I am writing to you today from Happy Dale Sanitarium. So very happy....The men in white coats came and locked me up yesterday because I gave it all away. It's all gone. My house, car, agency, Prozac, and even my faithful old dog, Hauswirth. It all began back in the winter when I started to "practically give away the rates on restaurants." All my greed was gone...I had rates so low I actually felt good about how much I was helping people. Pretty soon, agents all over the place discovered how low Chenango Brokers was writing restaurants. Their customers loved it too. Diners, restaurants, delis, pizzerias, taverns & bars.
Chenango was paying top commissions and agents were making a fortune. I didn't care...customers were saving money and brokers were making money. Everyone thought I had lost my mind.”

This note appeared in an email that I received from John Mason, of Chenango Brokers in Hancock, NY, and I thought it was great that he was using some silly humor to promote his products, as we can all use a good chuckle these days, like the kinds of laughs that Rodney Dangerfield used to provide us with in the ole days. Thanks, John, keep the laughs coming! Speaking of insurance agents with a sense of humor, The Young Insurance Professionals of NY and NJ recently awarded a few insurance people with some very prestigious awards at the Professional Insurance Agents of New York and New Jersey Annual Conference and Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Amy Bryan, owner of Bryan Insurance Agency in New Windsor, NY and President of the NYYIPs, stood before an exceptionally huge crowd who attended the PIANY and PIANJ luncheon at the annual convention and presented the first award, to a recipient who was totally unaware that they were receiving it. This recipient was told that a friend of his would be receiving the award, just so be would be totally surprised and not have a clue that they were going to receive it.

After explaining to the audience the criteria for this award, Amy went on to say, “…and now, I have the distinct pleasure of presenting our first and highest award, the New York Insurance Professional of the Year award, to my colleague and good friend, Michael Loguercio, Vice President of Business Development for StoneRiver FSC”. “Well, much to my surprise, Amy looked over my way, and beckoned me to the stage. Wow! I have never felt so honored, and flattered, as I felt at that moment…it was absolutely by far one of the most special times in my career, to be honored by those you have worked so closely with for so long, and have certainly grown to truly love so many of these special people. Walking up to receive the beautifully inscribed plaque seemed like it took forever, as I still could not believe that all my friends out there were actually applauding for me! Those of you who know me probably know that I am usually not lost for words, however this time I was actually silent, and pretty choked up…but just for a moment! While expressing my appreciation to the organization for this honor, I said that “…when I joined PIA and The Young Insurance Professionals almost 20 years ago, I did it because I thought it would be good for business. Well, I was wrong. Oh it was good for business all right, but what I quickly found was that I joined for the wrong reason. The education that I have received, and the lifelong friends that I have made, were truly what made being a part of this group so special for me. For what I’ve received over the years, I should be giving PIA and YIPN an award, not you giving me one.” So the next time someone asks me why they should join an insurance trade organization, whether it’s the PIA, or IIAA, or YIPN, or CIBNY, or any of the other wonderful organizations that our industry has to offer, my answer will be to not do it for your business, but do it for what you can offer to others. I learned a great lesson. Thank you PIA and The Young Insurance Professionals not only for the award, but for the past 20 years.

Also being honored at this conference was my dear friend Gino Orrino, of Orrino Capital Services, LLC in Corona, Queens, who was named the New York Young Insurance Professional “Volunteer of the Year” for all he does for our organization. Thank you Gino, as you certainly deserve this honor!

The New Jersey Young Insurance Professionals President Kristen Juszczak, then spoke of how her two years as President gave her an opportunity to serve the association alongside a growing and distinguished group of industry professionals, and how last year’s “Fun Run”, held annually at this convention, raised over $140,000 adding to a total of over $2.4 million raised by the New Jersey Young Insurance Professionals and PIA of New Jersey and donated to Special Olympics. Kristen then welcomed to the stage their new President, Danielle Priori, of ADP/Statewide Insurance Agency in New Jersey. Danielle thanked the organization for offering her this opportunity to serve the industry, and then recognized her cabinet: Secretary Frank Raab of T.E. Fuller Agency; Treasurer Michael Cross of The Barclay Group; and Tom Wilkens of Professional Risk Placements LLC; all in New Jersey. Danielle then presented New Jersey YIP’s highest honor, their Insurance Professional of the Year, to Michael Cross for all of his dedication and hard work for the insurance industry.

Congratulations to Michael and to all those honored, and thank you for what you give to this wonderful association! That evening at the PIANY and PIANJ annual banquet, Master of Ceremonies and President of PIANY D. Scott Liebert; along with outgoing PIANJ President Gary C. Rygiel and incoming PIANJ President Bill Vowteras; awarded a few select individuals with some well deserved awards. Kenneth Auerbach of E&K Agency in New Jersey was presented with the PIANJ Professional Agent of the Year award; Donald Bryan of the Department of Banking and Insurance was awarded the PIANJ Distinguished Insurance Service award; and Tucker Ericson of ARI Insurance Company was named the PIANJ Company Professional of the Year. Also honored that evening in Atlantic City were agents from across the river in New York. Jeffrey Greenfield of NGL Group LLC. on Long Island was presented with the PIANY Community Service Award; and Harvey Leff of Brooks Insurance, Inc. (with offices in New Jersey and New York) received a very well deserved PIANY Presidential Citation. Congratulations to all of these wonderful and distinguished people!
This joint conference of New York and New Jersey insurance professionals was certainly one of the finest conventions that I have attended, and as Diane Fowler, Executive Director of the Professional Insurance Agents Association stated, “This was one of the best conferences PIA has ever held. Despite the economy, we broke past attendance records and had a nearly sold-out trade show. The education sessions got rave reviews and many were filled to capacity. I believe the success of this year’s conference is proof that the insurance community recognizes that professional development and networking are key to surviving and thriving when times are tough. I’d like to thank all our sponsors, exhibitors and agent attendees for their support and participation. We’re already at work planning our 2010 conference— and our goal is to make that even better than this year’s!”

Serving on this year’s PIA of NY and NJ conference committee from New Jersey were Charles J. Caruso; Keith Savino; Susan Anger-Gaul; Rip Bush; Roger Butler; Nichael DeStasio; Maria Escalona; Kristen Juszczak; Jose Moreira; Steven Reichman; Esther Salvidar-Tanez; Stephen Tague and Peter Vardakis. From New York were Michael Skeele; Carl Abramson; Amy Bryan; Donna Chiapperino; Eric Clauss; John Conroy; Lynne Frank; John Gallagher; Katherine Jennings; Shawn Kain; Tony Kubera; John Mason; Lou Masucci; John Parsons; Bobbie White-Rispoli; Eugene Sandy; Robert Shapiro; David Sidle; Gary Glavin; and J.Carlos “Shawn” Viana.

Thank you to all of the PIA executives, employees, and volunteers for making this year’s conference such a huge success! Well, that’s all for now, and thanks for taking a walk with me down Boardwalk, Park Place and Atlantic Avenue in our own version of Monopoly in Atlantic City, NJ. Next time we’ll talk about and share some pictures taken at the US Open of some of the insurance people I chatted with at Bethpage Black. Happy Summer everyone!