Our firm has always tried to stay on the bleeding cutting edge of technology that can help our clients. I am a long-time reader of The Anderson Agency Report and have attended several HIGH-TECC conferences over the years. It is a great forum to interact with other agencies and vendors and see what is the true state-of-the-art in insurance agency technology. I signed up today so as not to miss the early-bird discount. It is in Vail, Colorado once again this year. It is a great place to be in the middle of summer and always has a lot of smart, technologically savvy folks to learn from.

This blog here had it’s origin in a HIGH-TECC session in which Megan Mahan talked about the necessity of all businesses to not only get on the web but to create an online persona via blogging and other resources.

We have a number of technology initiatives underway and are always looking for help in lessening the learning curve of implementation. I will update you with what I have learned after the conference in July.

At the TechAssure meeting a couple of weeks ago, I saw John Moccia with the Rollins Agency in New York. I got turned on to his blog. John is a rather entertaining guy and his blog is written in the same style in which he talks.

Last Thursday, John made a post about Business Income Insurance that had some great info. If you care to skip the witty banter, just read this and click on the link below:

“At the TechAssure conference last week one of our partner carriers, Chubb, launched a new flash based BI worksheet that I thought was pretty cool. In the light speed environment that most executives work in today, this is the type of internet-based solution that I think will be very appealing. The interface is simple and the questions and calculations take into account real-life 21st century business scenarios. It takes about 10 minutes to go through the whole thing. Plus it comes complete with a groovy host. Check it out:

http://chubbtraining.com/MyBIC_forpublish/MyBIC.html”

Diversified is a member of TechAssure. Each Spring and Fall the organization gets together for three days to discuss and share best practices of risk management. San Diego was the host city and the weather was just about what one would expect in a California spring – some clouds, some rain and a bit of sun with cool temps. It was exciting hearing about some of the new technologies TechAssure members are using to help run their businesses and find risk management solutions for their clients. TechAssure members have a very consultative approach to managing risk for our clients. It was great to soak in some of the good karma and knowledge from the other members. The focus for these meeting was on Life Science and Biotech risk management issues.Life Science Companies face many unique risks and we as brokers face many unique challenges in covering those risks. We had presentations by thought leaders from a variety of sources including NGEN Partners, National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), NASDAQ, Amylin Pharmaeuticals, AmWINS, Chubb, Travelers and Falvey Cargo to educate us in new programs to help our clients. We had a great series of presentations regarding the Cleantech industry and the myriad of ways to handle the various risks of such a diverse industry. All in all, it was time well spent to help us all become even better at what we do.

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About TechAssure —
TechAssure is an exclusive organization formed by insurance brokers and agencies that specialize in insuring technology and life science companies. TechAssure has special programs to insure Venture Funds and Private Equity Groups. This is a natural fit since most technology and life science companies are venture backed

At the inception of TechAssure it was agreed that the insurance policies then in existence did not adequately address the major risks of the average technology or life science company. These companies were typically venture-backed and were growing rapidly. TechAssure members came up with a wish-list of coverage enhancements and pricing targets and partnered with the leading insurance carriers in these areas to create best-in-class coverage forms that are offered at preferred rates. TechAssure later did the same thing for Venture Capital and Private Equity Funds creating an Asset Protection Program endorsed by the NVCA that addresses the unique exposures that VC/PE managers and members have in running their funds. It is much like a D&O policy but tailored to cover big liability holes that exist for fund managers and members in the execution of their duties in their respective roles.