Meeting News - February 11, 2008 - (Page 26)

Insider Report: Insurance Meetings Edited by Elizabeth West elizabeth.west@nielsen.com Missing-Attendee Incident Spurs Planners’ Attention on Safety Grand Canyon mishap becomes impetus for measures at companies and trade group FICP to protect attendees Taking care of attendees and ensuring their safety found [all right], but it raises the issue of security, is an essential consideration of any planner. Howev- that we’re responsible as planners.” er, a mishap last year at an insurance meeting, in Following the incident, Kelly has been named to which attendees went missing at an off-site event, a Manulife committee to create policy and due-diliis having a particular impact these gence directives for the company. days among insurance meeting She indicates also that the issue has planners. been discussed at both local and “It’s one of the issues that are international meetings of trade really big for us right now, emerassociation Financial & Insurance gency strategies and procedures,” Conference Planners (FICP). said Denise Kelly, senior conference “We all knew the planner it hapconsultant with Manulife, in pened to,” Kelly said,“and we’ve all Waterloo, ON, Canada. talked about it and resolved to get The issue has come to the fore the proper procedures in place.” among her fellow insurance conReports are that the mishap —Denise Kelly, sr. conference ference planners, Kelly indicated, consultant, Manulife occurred on a visit to the Grand after an incident last year, when a Canyon. Canadian insurance company, “I’m aware of it,” noted Cindy which she did not name, had two of its attendees go Wheaton, manager of group meetings and incenmissing for two days following an off-site visit to a tives for Nationwide Financial Network, in Columrural area. bus, OH, of the mishap and the new security push. “It was an excursion, and the DMC maybe “I’ve never really had that sort of an issue, but of wasn’t checking names of who got on and off the course you never really think about it until somebus, and nobody noticed,” Kelly said. “They were thing happens like that.” The issue of ultimate responsibility could be at stake. In ferrying attendees to and from venues, planners may hand off their attendees to destination management companies, which are charged with responsibility for the group. But should DMCs really be accountable? “There’s only so much control I have over my groups,” said Clarke Allen, president of Charlotte Arrangements, a major DMC in Charlotte, NC. “If I take a group to a dine-around, I may have 25 guys come back and say they’re going to get beers and walk back to the hotel. So where does the burden of responsibility actually lie in this situation?” Allen said the typical DMC assignment may be only a transportation task, he said. “So, the burden falls more on the designated meeting planner of the event.” Allen urged planners to always have someone from their staffs on site for every event. Nationwide’s Wheaton is so concerned about attendee safety and liability that she eschews adventure-type off-site activities, such as hot-air ballooning and horseback riding. “Ultimately, it’s the planner and his company that’s the responsible party,” she said. “It’s one of the issues that are really big for us right now, emergency procedures.” FICP: Fifty Years of Success and Counting for the Trade Group In the beginning, E. James Dreyer, a 22-year-old sales rep for the Appleton, WI, insurance company Aid Association for Lutherans, found himself involved in staging a meeting for his fellow reps. He quickly found that chaos reigned. “One guy was in charge of site selection, another in the promotion of the meeting, another for the program, and yet another the meal planning,” Dreyer recalled.“We were somewhat confused, and the hotel was totally confused.” Half a century later, Dreyer is now 72 and long retired from the insurance company now known as Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. But 50 years ago, Dreyer’s conundrum—that of a non-professional in the meetings ﬁeld struggling with how to stage an insurance event—was instrumental in the formation of what is now called Financial & Insurance Conference Planners (FICP). “I and others in the insurance industry who had 26 MeetingNews February 11, 2008 to do meetings would talk to each other on the Connecticut General (a planner also instrumental phone, and eventually we decided to get together,” in the founding of Meeting Professionals InternaDreyer said, of the formative days tional and the Society of Corpoof the association. “And then, we rate Meeting Professionals), in started inviting some of our helping form the original associpeers from other companies, and ation that is now FICP. Together, it just gradually formed.” Dreyer said, they worked to conThe organization remains one vince their bosses that insurance of the few planners associations meetings and incentives should devoted to a specific industry be considered investments, not niche (another is the Society of expenses. Government Meeting Profes“We put together different —E. James Dreyer, founding sionals). formulas, illustrating the ROI of member, Financial & Insurance “Insurance is unique,” Dreyer Conference Planners meetings, and compared these said. “The insurance industry is with what the field staff would one of the biggest purchasers of incentive travel, do without incentives,” Dreyer explained. “I was and we felt we would focus on our industry and its fortunate that my CEO, Walter Rugland, was very uniqueness and not become generalists.” supportive.” continued on page 28 Dreyer credits his friendship with Jim Jones, of “We felt we would focus on our industry and not become generalists.” www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - February 11, 2008

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