There are conferences and expos and then there's the PLRB/LIRB Conference and Expo. Justifiably billed as the largest and most comprehensive, this year's event held last month in Orlando, lived up to the PLRB's established reputation.
One of the largest to date with 2,500 attendees (not counting exhibitor personnel), the conference took over, or should we say overtook, the Swan and Dolphin Resort. The resort has changed its stripes since my last visit there (and went through a complete renovation), rising to the challenges and serving attendees the way a first-class hotel should.
Another thing that hasn't changed? The overall quality of the educational program. In almost a decade of attending the PLRB annual, I've noticed they continue to excel in delivering the educational goods. An example of PLRB's dedication to fulfilling your educational needs is their ever-expanding Continuing Education credit program. Another is the quality of the opening general session, which sets the tone of the program.
Year after year, the opening general session is a standing-room-only event. This year was no exception as attendees assembled to hear Tom Peters, billed as “one of the most influential business thinkers of all time.” Peters has become known for encouraging business leaders and senior executives to spearhead a drive to become champions of change and reinvention. By becoming such leaders of change, he says, we move from being mere followers of the same old, tired traditions.
A highlight of his PLRB presentation was his explanation of the nine “Ps,” the tenets of forward-thinkers who are the movers and shakers of not only upper-management success, but also those “rank and file” striving for improved methods to enhance customer service levels for more substantial ROI. Those nine Ps are: Purpose, Passion, Potential, Presence, Personal, Persistence, People, Potent, and Positive. The value of exercising the principles of the nine Ps are fully explained on Peters' web site, www.tompeters.com. Just log in and view his PowerPoint for the PLRB presentation. It's worth your time and effort.
As at previous conferences, the opening session was followed by three days of intense educational breakout sessions, all geared to give attendees a plethora of diversified subjects to enhance their claim-handling prowess. Topics ranged from A (Accident Scene Investigations) to W (Wind vs. Water — Engineering Issues), and presented the usual scheduling challenges to attendees, who saw a need to be in two or three places at once.
Some companies helped solve this dilemma by sending small “armies” of attendees, all of whom coordinated to split up and cover sessions pertinent to their own needs/operations. The plan was to spend time after the conference to meet and/or otherwise report, sharing recaps of session content with their counterparts. Considering the overall excellence of the program presentations, the weeks immediately following the conference will be extremely busy back at those home offices.
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