Namaste from Camelback Mountain
At the top of Camelback Mountain, Arizona
Another year, another wonderful IAdCA conference in the books! And this year’s event DID NOT disappoint! While we’re just settling into some spring-like weather here in upstate NY (fingers crossed…it’s still early in April, after all…), Scottsdale, AZ delivered in a big way by providing zero humidity, warm sunshine, and a view that must be experienced in person. The location (Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia) is just one of the elements that made this year’s event so great; the content provided was stellar as well.
Thursday’s events kicked off with a powerful and unique discussion around Living a Life of Significance presented by Joe Jordan. Joe, a notable industry professional in his own right, shared his perspective on the importance of the industry we work in, and how providing meaningful services to consumers is the way to be successful.
With that point, I couldn’t agree more. As a compliance professional, it’s my belief that the work we do is to ensure that valuable products are made available to consumers in a way that’s fair and reasonable. By doing the right thing, success will flow.
We also got to hear from Rod Perkins of the ACLI with some industry updates, as well as a Q&A session with state regulators John Reilly (Florida) and David Bolton (Oregon.) It’s always so great to get some perspective from state regulators, and there’s a reason these two have been repeat speakers – they’re extremely approachable and helpful!
The breakout sessions covered a range of topics, and it’s always hard to pick just one session per block to attend! Those attendees that are lucky enough to come with co-workers often take a “divide and conquer” approach to make sure they can get as much info as possible. But even if you can’t get to all the sessions you’d like, there are great networking opportunities available to talk about new things you’ve learned or ask about other sessions with attendees and presenters.
Friday’s general sessions included a wonderful (and eye-opening) session on Social Media & Big Data from Randa Zalman including tips on more effective direct mail from Jim Svoboda. Finally, it was time for some general Q&A (which I unfortunately missed – it was time to head out) I’m sure this session was great to close out the conference.
Finally, and perhaps most exciting of all for us at CCS, Cailie is now officially the president of IAdCA, and I have the privilege of serving as the vice president of the organization. It’s such an honor to represent IAdCA as an officer, and I look forward to this next chapter. As I said in my last post, this organization is near and dear to my heart – this only grows truer with time.
If you didn’t get a chance to attend this year’s event, we hope you’ll be able to join us in Austin in 2018.
