Oasis, IUA, RAA, Esri UK AC, Cat Risk Management, Willis Tower Watson, and even Comic Con- these are conferences and seminar events which attract vast numbers of people from various industries to one central location. These, like many other events, are opportunities for individuals to network, attend hands-on workshops and promote business opportunities to a collective of like-minded people.
A lot can be said for attending conferences- in the insurance and reinsurance industries, natural disasters are influencing policy decisions more and more. New strategies and innovative ideas are constantly required to combat these perils, which are forever evolving. As a result, conferences present an opportunity for people to hold healthy debates and discuss findings which may not be necessarily discussed within a work environment, enabling everyone involved to further the knowledge and understanding of the industry.
Learning is power
At the heart of every conference and seminar is the concept of learning new ideas and developing solutions to industry problems.
It provides a platform for education sharing, no matter the level of professional experience of attendees. Being exposed to new forms of science or business can help develop a person’s professional career in many ways. For example, this can come in the form of learning new technological approaches for sophisticated models or discovering a new business strategy which may help to grow a company’s market value.
Of course, attending a conference has other benefits, such as a change of environment for the day (who wouldn’t like a conference trip to St Tropez?!).
New avenues of research
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a conference in London with my colleague. Heading up to the 36th floor of one of the many tall cathedral style buildings which enclose the insurance district, we attended a seminar called “Is there a correlation between wind and flood in the UK?”.
By discussing the preliminary results of a collaborative project between a well-established insurance company and a prestigious university, the seminar demonstrated the relationship between empirical hazards and claims datasets- something many in the insurance sector are continuously trying to crack. The information gathered was insightful to areas of our projects which haven’t been previously explored.
The chance to build a network
A huge aspect of conferences revolves around the concept of networking with peers and industry experts. Whilst not every conference or seminar gives people the opportunity to meet their business idols, they provide one of the the best environments for interacting with and forging new or existing relationships with peers, potential clients or providers.
In certain cases, just listening to a guest speaker in the corner of a room talk with a cup of strawberry and mango tea (if you are feeling exotic!) about their research and approaches to navigating specific business problems can be just as insightful as an hour-long presentation.
Whilst some people prefer conferences suited to their area of expertise, there are many who find other industry conferences just as beneficial as their own. At a recent IUA conference, the scope of the event was not intentionally for one industry but was advertised to a multi-disciplinary audience. The relevance of information presented by each of the guest speakers could, in one form or another, be adopted by all the industries present at the conference.
At JBA Risk Management, we are always looking to better our knowledge and understanding of the flood industry. As a company, we know it’s important to be at the forefront of technological advancement in flood mapping and catastrophe modelling; it’s why we read and write blogs, produce and scour industrial publications, and speak and listen at conferences. We think sharing is critical to inform, understand, educate and create change. Conference communication just adds a human touch.
We’re attending the Oasis conference, ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’, this Thursday and Friday where one of our directors will be discussing the key challenges in realising and understanding flood risk. Why not come and chat to us to find out more about our work?
