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Mancini's Musings on the 2002 VCIA Conference

(More lighthearted post-conference frivolity from Chris Mancini, CEO, captive.com)

Alright, Musings Fans, all our post-conference fires at captive.com have been extinguished to smoking ruins, and it's time to share a few pearls of wisdom on my impressions of this year's VCIA Conference.

Last year's conference was a tough act to follow, but this year's event can be summed up in one word -- WOW! -- and one physical response -- ALL SWEAT GLANDS, SECRETE!!! Usually, hotels and restaurants are the biggest beneficiaries of conference business in a city. When VCIA comes to town, deoderant, antiperspirant, and hair spray sales soar!!!

For the second year in a row, VCIA has managed to conspire with the weatherman to deliver its conference during a period of record-breaking heat. Last year, I thought this was pure coincidence. After all, this is Vermont -- sub-arctic, right? They don't get weather like this under normal circumstances. Now, I may not be a Mensa member, but it doesn't take Albert Einstein to figure all this out. Applying my deepest thinking techniques, I determined that VCIA deliberately selects dates that ensure this weather pattern. And why not? The educational sessions were consistently full, and the exhibit hall was a madhouse! It would take a deranged fool to play hookey and hit the golf course when the temperature outside is hovering near 100 degrees, with a dew point in the mid-70's. Brilliant, VCIA!!! (Hmmm...then again, maybe this was Len's idea.) We'll see if they do it again next year, which will be the ultimate confirmation of my conspiracy theory.

So, you ask, what were the "real" highlights of the event? Let's start with the exhibit hall. This year, I applied meticulous logic in selecting my booth's position. Internet websites often rely on cookies to track who's lurking in their domain. Building on this, I chose the location adjacent to the Inn at Essex's booth! Oh, sure, the Inn at Essex is where I've stayed during the VCIA conference since 1995, but loyalty didn't prompt my positioning there. Nope. It was the cookies that formed the basis for my selection. Turns out that my logic wasn't at all crummy....my booth was a madhouse, and I could always grab one of their gastronomically delightful cookies if I couldn't find a moment to eat a "real" meal! I think I need to apply for Mensa membership...

Throughout the first day of the conference, there was ne'er a dull moment anywhere in the exhibit hall. VCIA herded (a little VT cow humor) all delegates into the hall for box lunches on both days of the conference. Traffic in the room was prolific, and I didn't hear any exhibitors or networking-hungry attendees complaining. This year, VCIA opened up some additional exhibit space on the second floor, near the seminar rooms. Feedback from the exhibitors at that location was also positive. Conference attendees had to pass their booths on their way to sessions, so they got plenty of attention, too. Several comments were made to me that they liked the idea that during lunches and receptions, they could come down to the main exhibit hall and network with the other exhibitors as well as attendees. Those of us in the main exhibit hall pretty much stayed put.

I had the pleasure of spending some time with VCIA's new President, Molly Lambert, during the opening reception at the Burlington Waterfront Park. We'll all miss Lisa Ventriss, but if this conference is any indication, she'll never be far away. If you haven't met Molly yet, make it a priority. She's warm, bright, knowledgeable, and can't wait to tell you about her plans to take VCIA to its next level.

This Association (not to mention Len Crouse, Dan Towle and the rest of the staff at Insurance Department itself) continues to impress me with both its depth of knowledge and its "user friendly" approach to a very technical line of business. They just keep getting better!

The closing reception at the Trapp Family Lodge was also heavily attended, despite many delegates already having left town. They missed a great event, poor souls! Along with the arrival of the buses came a brief but impressive thunder storm. "STAY AWAY FROM THE METAL TENT POLES," "THE SKY IS FALLING," and "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE" were comments heard from the attendees, as lightning crackled all around us. On top of that hill, the 365 degree view made for great fireworks watching too. Not to worry, though -- we all allayed our fears with fine wine, local micro-brewed beer, lamb chops, shrimp, veggies (gotta eat healthy to cancel out all that fat and booze), and more food selections than you'd ever want me to mention. Live music, laughter, and more terrific networking rounded out the end of a fine event for our close-knit family of Alternative Markets geeks. Geez, I love this job!

Here are some hard stats for you: VCIA is proud to report that this year's conference served a whopping 943 attendees -- A RECORD YEAR! Nine countries were represented -- Germany, Belgium, Bermuda, BVI, Canada, Cayman Islands, UK, Gibraltar, and Ireland. Forty-two states sent delegates. There was a 66% increase in first-time attendees, with 231 coming through the doors. Perhaps more importantly, 225 captive owners attended the event (25% of the attendee list). This is a trend we have seen in virtually all captive conferences we've attended since the market hardened...good news for captive service providers.

Once again, VCIA offered CPE credits for attending its educational sessions, adding considerable value to this particular conference. The three most popular seminars based on attendance were:

1. Reinsurance for the Alternative Market: Solutions for Today (advanced level)
2. Getting the Basics Right with Captives; the Inescapable Issues (basic level)
3. State of the Insurance Market (general)

Positive feedback abounded in the aftermath of both keynote addresses delivered by Dr. John Stoessinger and Rudy Maxa. Wish I could have heard them myself. All seminar presentations will be available on both audiotape and CD-Rom format. In addition, copies will soon be available of Dr. John Stoessinger's excellent keynote address through VCIA's site. Visit the VCIA website for details.

Now, we all know that Vermont has the reputation of having a bovine population that far exceeds its human counterparts. While that may or may not be true, the inescapable truth is that VCIA Conferences are simply amazing -- and that's no bull!

Save the date! Preliminary information on the VCIA 18th Annual Conference is now available.