One was improved internal communications to inform and energize the industry's own employees so they can speak out in defense of their firms and profession. Another was to be more proactive in showing the press firsthand how the industry operates--for example, by inviting reporters to travel with adjusters after a catastrophe, to see what they're up against and the good work the vast majority do.

A marketing expert speaking at the conference urged insurers to set up corporate blogs to speed up response time to misinformation in the mainstream and alternative media, as well as do battle on their critics' own turf. All it takes is one disgruntled claimant or rogue agent to muddy a company's image with online attacks that spread across the Web like a virus.

Many of those participating in two subsequent workshops on the topic said they would love to adopt all of our suggestions, but doubted they would be given the necessary support or funding from senior managers obsessed with quantifying a return on every dollar spent. How do you calculate the value of good will in the market, we wondered?

However, in the end, there's only so much IMCA members can do. Ultimately, the industry's biggest problem isn't a poor image--it is poor performance. The most effective way for insurers and brokers to improve their reputation is to clean up their act. Consider just a few of the challenges facing image-makers:

o Bid-rigging exposed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer might not have been widespread, but now that major brokerages have given up the contingency fees that drove under-the-table deals, risk managers are wondering where all that money went? It certainly doesn't seem to have ended up in buyers' pockets.

o Why are major carriers still dragging their feet about paying World Trade Center claims five years after 9/11?

o Why are so many wind-related Hurricane Katrina claims being denied, and why were policyholders confused or unaware of their flood exposure?

Speaking as a journalist (a business with perhaps an even worse reputation than insurance), I say the problem is not the perception of the industry--it's the reality of insurer and broker conduct that's making it impossible for PR and marketing experts to do their jobs. Sure, communications officials could be more proactive in getting the industry's message out, but whether in insurance or journalism, honesty remains the best policy.