Message From The President (February 01, 2010)

CIAA is in an important period of reflection and change and for an organization whose roots date back over five decades — this is a significant undertaking that will help shape the profession of independent adjusting in the years to come. As the president, I am honoured to be at the helm during this pivotal time and humbled at the work our volunteers are engaging in on the association’s behalf.

Our creative strategic planning (CSP) session took place in early December. I was very pleased with the camaraderie and intellectual power of our stakeholder group and CSP committee. The ultimate goal of reassessing the direction of our association was front and center and we made great strides. Concerto Research presented the results of our p&c Industry Constituents Survey, which included members, non-members and stakeholders in the industry. This was an important catalyst for the advice from our stakeholder group: Ted Hellyer, vice president programs, Insurance Institute of Canada; James Geuzebroek, manager communications, IBC; Justin MacGregor, president IBAC/ EVP Martin Merry & Reid; John Welton, associate senior consultant, Transformation Dynamics; Michelle Reid, vice president ORIMS/ risk manager, TSSA; Carmen Place, past president CDL/ partner Lindsay Kenney; Bob Grouchy, manager, Claims Allianz Global Risks; Carol Jardine, president, CUMIS General; Keith Shakespeare, COO, CURIE; Heidi Sevcik, vice president claims, Gore Mutual; Mark Weir, special projects claims, Intact; and Joel Baker, chair NICC and principal Baron Quarterly Outlook. Their unrestrained comments during the four-hour morning session were taken very seriously by CIAA’s CSP committee. The CSP committee worked diligently over the next thirty-six hours to build the framework for CIAA’s future plans.

Our CSP committee includes Mary Charman, Greg Merrithew, Pat Battle, Ted Baker, Miles Barber, Reno Daigle, Jim Eso, Allan Hart, Jean-Marc Laurin, Carol Messervey, John Seyler, Craig Walker, Lesia Yacht and myself. The group was very engaged and arrived at a solid strategy map focusing on six key areas: designations, education, branding & communication, financial & resource, value to member and license harmonization.

I would like to thank the many respondents to our survey and also congratulate our survey winners. iPods were won by: Jane Richardson of Crawford, Halifax; Heather Hanna of MPI, Winnipeg and Nelson, BC’s Ashcroft Insurance Adjusters principal, Leona Ashcroft who entered as a non-member and has now decided to join the CIAA!

My personal thanks to the companies that sponsored our initiative — gold sponsors: IBC, IIC and Aviva; silver sponsors: Portage Mutual, Wawanesa Mutual, Canadian Underwriter, Canadian Defense Lawyers, Claims Canada; and bronze sponsors: Gore Mutual and ACE INA. Without their support it would have been very difficult to achieve the success we have had to date. Both our survey results and actionable plans will be presented at CIAA’s mid-year meeting on Feb. 1, 2010.

Our CIAA/CICMA Joint Conference on Feb. 2 is sold out again this year! The value of building relationships between the Canadian Claims Managers’ Association and the Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association cannot be under estimated — hence the importance of this conference. I look forward to meeting with many of you at the Joint Conference and also discussing CIAA’s survey results, which will be made public at the conference. Please watch for changes at the CIAA throughout 2010! •