RIMS Canada Conference: RIMS president pushes international agenda

Almost halfway through her term as RIMS president, Nancy Chambers says the journey thus far “has had lots of breathless moments”. Hearkening back to her introductory speech as president at the San Diego RIMS Conference in April, she says her expectation for a year of adventure has been met.Most recently, Chambers participated in ALARYS’ Bermuda 2004 Conference, where more than 200 delegates, including representatives of RIMS and the International Federation of Risk & Insurance Management Associations (IFRIMA) met with their Latin American counterparts to discuss issues ranging from captives to loss prevention to claims. A highlight, she says, was a presentation by IFRIMA president Susan Meltzer and RIMS past president Chris Mandel on Enterprise Risk Management, which included the COSO and IFRIMA guidelines on ERM best practices. Chambers adds that through IFRIMA, the Bermuda market is working to educate risk managers on alternative markets. Chambers also traveled to London, England for a RIMS symposium, “Meet the Markets”. Among the featured speakers was Canadian risk manager Joseph Restoule of NOVA Chemicals Corp. RIMS has now established a task force to look at the potential for future symposiums to build on the success of the London experience, she notes.Coming up at the end of October (27th-28th), RIMS will host a forum in New York on ERM, to look at what tools should be developed to help risk managers implement ERM.Speaking of the website, Chambers reports RIMS.org is currently handling eight million hits representing 30,000 unique visitors each month. During the annual RIMS conference, this traffic doubles, she adds.And on the conference front, plans are well underway for RIMS 2005 in Philadelphia. “And yes, Virginia, we are going to Hawaii in 2006,” she adds. The RIMS 2006 Conference in Honolulu has also received the honor of being designated an IFRIMA conference, Chambers notes, enhancing the international flavor of the event. Along with North American RIMS members, she says the event hopes to attract many from the Japan Chapter and other areas of the Asian-Pacific rim.And just prior to the 2005 conference, the offices of RIMS will be on the move, heading to the Avenue of the Americas in New York, after more than a decade at their current location.