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Conference Histories
The Fall 2008 PLANS Conference was held at
the Wort Hotel in Jackson Wyoming. In attendance
were 37 members from 27 member companies. The conference agenda included
the following presentations: Company Introductions, Selecting and
Implementing a VoIP Phone System, Disaster Recovery Experience, Deploying
a Claims Administration Solution (End to End), Use of Sharepoint, Agency
Interface Open Forum, All Issues Open Forum, Global Solimar Systems -
Print Anywhere Technology, IT Issue Round Table and the business meeting.
The Spring 2008 PLANS Conference was held at
the Tremont Plaza Hotel in Baltimore Maryland. In attendance
were 42 members from 31 member companies. The conference agenda included
the following presentations: Company Introductions, Print with xPression,
Service Delivery Improvements through ITIL, An SOA approach to
Personal Lines Underwriting, Gone CAMPing - a Claims System Replacement
Story, Disaster Recovery Roundtable, Infrastructure, Agency Interface
Roundtable and the business meeting.
The Fall 2007 PLANS Conference was held
September 23 - 26 at the Hilton Savannah DeSoto in Savannah, Georgia. In attendance
were 34 members from 24 member companies and 2 guest companies. The conference agenda included
the following presentations: Company Introductions, Agile Development
Methodologies, IT Relationship Manager, Upgrading Dual Data Centers, IT
Strategy, Agency Interface Roundtable, Open Forum, Billing System
Selection Roundtable, Address Validation and the business meeting.
The Spring 2007 PLANS Conference was held April
15 - 18 at the Grosvenor Resort in Orlando, Florida. In attendance
were 41 members from 26 member companies and 2 guest companies. The conference agenda included
the following presentations: Company Introductions, Benchmarking
Information Technology, SDLC, Policy Admin Solution - An Informed
Implementation Approach, Automation for Farmowner Product, Selecting a
Policy Admin System Roundtable Discussion, Open Forum, Record Retention
and the business meeting.
The Fall 2006 PLANS Conference was held
September 10 - 13 at the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino in Reno,
Nevada. In attendance
were 43 members from 26 member companies. The conference agenda included
the following presentations: Company Introduction, Loss Control Tablet PC
Application, Payments on Web / IVR, Electronic Software Distribution,
Document and Imaging Workflow, Open Forum, Exceed Implementation:
Successes, Challenges and Lesson's Learned, Open Systems Change Management
and Change Control.
The Spring 2006 PLANS Conference was held April
23 - 26 at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel in sunny Jacksonville Florida. In attendance
were 47 members from 30 member companies. The conference agenda included
the following presentations: Company Introductions, reaching for the
COSMOS, IT Chargeback, Performance Monitoring and Trending from the User's
Perspective, Network Monitoring, Underwriting Information Systems,
Roundtable Discussion on Application Testing Standards, IP Telephony, What
you parents should have told you about Predictive Modeling and the open
forum.
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Fall 2005 PLANS Conference was held September 12 - 15 at the Union
Station Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. In attendance were 34 members from
26 member companies and 1 individual from 1 guest company. The
conference agenda included the following: Company Introductions, Duck
Creek Implementation, Business Requirements, Service Oriented
Architecture, Automation Marketing Manager, Commercial Lines
Implementation - Instec Quicksolver, FISERV/FAB Billing Implementation,
E-Pay with Bill Matrix, Agent Download - from IVANS to Ebix to Connective and the Open Forum.
The
Spring 2005 PLANS Conference was held April 24 - 27 at the Charleston
Harbor Resort and Marina in Charleston, South Carolina. In attendance were
48 members from 32 companies and 7 individuals from 4 guest companies. The
conference agenda included the following: Company Introductions, CRM
Strategies, Hand Held Devices, Data Quality, IT Alignment, Process
Improvements, SOX - Same Old Examinations, Web Reporting, Transformation
Station and the Open Forum.
The Fall 2004
PLANS Conference was held September 12 - 15 at the Antlers Hilton
Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 32 members from 26 companies, and 3
vendors attended the meetings. The
conference agenda included Company
Introductions, Agency
Security Administration Process, Project Portfolio Management ,
IT
Security, An Architectural View, Taliant Software P&C Insurance
Systems Implementation Approach, Agent Policy Download from IVANS to EBIX,
Open
Forum, Service Oriented Architecture, Server
Consolidation and Using a Shared Cost Model for Research Projects.
Vendors that
assisted with the presentations included: Taliant Software, CSC and
Insurance Technology Group.
The Spring 2004 PLANS Conference was held April
18 – 21 at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.
41 members from 26 companies, and 2 vendors attended the meetings.
The conference agenda included company introductions, LDAP Implementation,
Agency Quoting and Upload via the Web, End User Experience Monitoring
Techniques, Tools and Lessons, Integrated Document Creation Techniques,
Infrastructure Changes to Support Multiple Companies, Open Forum, Project
Office - Establishing the Business Impact, Generation Why?, Agent Web
Rating, Small Company Website in a Big Company World and the Business
Meeting. Vendors that assisted with the presentations included
Compuware (End User Experience Monitoring Techniques) and
OpenConnect Systems (Agent Web Rating).
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The Fall 2003 PLANS Conference was
held September 28 – October 1 at the Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas.
28 members from 22 companies, 3 guests from 2 guest companies, and
3 vendors attended the meetings. The
conference agenda included Company
Introductions, XML
and Fast Access to Agency Management Systems, Websphere on
z/OS, Data Transformation Integration Tool, IT Governance, Launching
a Claims Business System Initiative, Open Forum, e-Commerce Initiative,
Decisioning Enablement - Fraud and Regulatory Compliance, and Application
Staff Augmentation thru Offshore Partnerships. Vendors that assisted with
the presentations were X by 2 (Data Transformation Integration Tool), Duck
Creek (e-Commerce Initiative), and Computer Sciences Corporation (Decisioning
Enablement - Fraud and Regulatory Compliance).
The Spring 2003 PLANS Conference was held April 27 – 30 at the
Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
37 members from 28 companies, 2 guests attended the meeting from 2
guest companies, and 2 vendors. The
conference agenda included company introductions, presentations on
Conversion to Docucorp, Fiserve Claims System Overview, Web Services,
Agency Interface Strategy and Roundtable, Hosting your own Hot Site and
Hot Site Roundtable, Approach to Process Development, Web-based Help Desk
Applications, and the Open Forum. Vendors that assisted with the
presentations included: Computer Sciences Corporation, (Web
Services) and Control F-1 (Web-Based Help Desk Applications).
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The Fall 2002 PLANS Conference was held
September 22-25 at the Old Town Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The meeting was attended by 36 members from 24 companies, 4
representative from guest companies, and 2 vendors. The conference agenda
included presentations on the PLANS web site, a Business Analysts
Round-table discussion, Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment, Vendor
Management, a company Website demonstration, the Open Forum
discussion, Automation of Personal Auto on the Internet, Customer Interaction
Technologies, Endorsement Processing on the Web, and a Employee
Performance Reviews round-table. Vendors that assisted with the
presentations included Kubra Data Corp (Electronic Bill Presentment and
Payment) and GEE Communications (Customer Interaction Technologies). The
conference remains a valuable tool because of the information shared
through presentations and meetings with members.
The Spring 2002 PLANS Conference was held April
7-10 at the Savannah DeSoto Hilton in Savannah Georgia. The meeting was
well attended by 34 members representing 25 companies, 10 spouses/guests
and 4 vendors. The member presentations included Managed E-Mail Services:
Protection against Viruses, AcroSoft Imaging , Customer Relationship Management
(CRM), Architected Approach to Enterprise Systems , Extending the Life
of Legacy Systems, Real-time Agency Management System Transaction Processing,
Data Warehouse Odyssey, and Web Enabling Agents' Commissions Statements
/ Mobius. Vendors that assisted with member presentations included Aurora
Solutions (Gateway Defender), PricewaterhouseCoopers, Applied Systems
(Transformation Station), and AcroSoft. The Open Forum continues to provide
great information on many issues.
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The Fall 2001 PLANS Conference was held September
9-12, at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto Canada. The meeting was attended
by 34 representatives of 23 member companies, 2 guest company representatives,
and 3 vendors. Presentation included: Impact of User Interface and Design
on Productivity, WebSphere in a 390 Mainframe World, Building Enterprise
Insurance Apps Using J2EE Architecture, IT Business Plan Development,
Knowledge / Application Mining, Mainframe Print to ImageRight, Agency
Information Exchange, Help Desk Processes / Issues "A Smile can be
Heard - Help Center 'Trials'", and an Open Forum discussion on IT
issues. Representatives from Sapiens Americas and WorldGroup Consulting
assisted in the presentations on User Interface Design and Using J2EE
respectively.
The Spring 2001 PLANS Conference was held at the Flamingo Hilton
Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 8-11. The conference was well attended
with 41 members representing 31 companies, 2 guest companies and 2 vendors.
The presentations covered the following topics: E-Bill presentation and
payment, Data Warehousing, Commercial Rating - Star Solutions and an Eye
on the Web, Internet Access to Production Data, Insurance Application
Architecture / Policy Admin Systems, Web-based Agency System and Agency
Access to Company Archives. The agenda also included the Open Forum, which
continues to promote the exchange of information on many issues faced
by IT staffs today.
The Fall 2000 PLANS Conference was held September
17-20 in San Diego, California at the Horton Grand Hotel. The meeting
was attended by 30 representatives from 25 companies and one vendor. The
presentations were: rule-based server systems to replace legacy systems,
introduction to ASC/X12, imaging / automated workflow vendor selection,
e-commerce round table, MS project and the role of the project controller,
competitive salaries - oxymoron?, the GBR systems analysis technology
for gathering business requirements, business process redesign, and a
open forum discussion of IT issues. A representative from Power Plus Systems
assisted in the business requirements presentation.
The Spring 2000 PLANS Conference was held in Lake Buena Vista,
Fl. April 30-May 3 at the Grosvenor Resort in the Walt Disney World Resort.
There were a total of 32 attendees representing 20 member companies and
7 guest companies. The members who attended the conference agreed that
it was both beneficial and educational with presentations including E-commerce/E-Risk/E-Security,
Moving from Legacy to Client/Server, Web to Host Forum, 2D Bar Coding,
Corporate Computer Policies and Standards, Virus Response, Agency Company
Interface, and What's new in HR. The open forums continue to be a source
of information and new ideas.
The 1999 Fall PLANS Conference was held September
26-29 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the Snow King Resort. The meeting was
attended by thirty-three individuals representing twenty-four member companies.
Five individuals from four guest companies also attended. Presentations
included IS charge back and planning, imaging and customer service, automated
work distribution, PeopleSoft, standalone alpha search, balanced scorecard,
electronic data interchange, mergers and acquisition, IT environment,
and an open forum. A vendor from Intelligent Search Solutions participated
in one presentation. As always, the networking that takes place outside
of the formal presentations provided a chance for attendees to share information
concerning IT successes and challenges.
The 1999 Spring PLANS Conference was held April 11-14 in Clearwater,
Florida at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort. Twenty-seven individuals
representing twenty member companies attended the conference. Four individuals
from four guest companies also attended. Agenda topics included Lotus
Notes, disaster recovery, Y2K business resumption, strategic planning
for IS, issues concerning the IT work environment, web enabled applications,
data warehouse applications, project management and a technical overview
of ACORD ObjX. A representative from ACORD assisted in a presentation.
The final day of the conference included an open forum that allowed attendees
to discuss various issues and share experiences dealing with challenging
information technology issues.
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The 1998 Fall PLANS Conference was held September
27-30 at the Fort Magruder Inn in Williamsburg, Virginia. In attendance
wee 30 individuals representing 19 member companies and 3 guest companies.
All three companies requested and were accepted into membership. Presentations
included: Year 2000, Component Based Development, Frame Relay, Open Forum,
Claim Systems, Internet Uses, and I.S. Environment. Vendors participating
included Casetek and PDA.
The 1998 Spring PLANS Conference was held April 19-22 at the Sheraton
at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. In attendance were 24 individuals
representing 19 member companies and 1 guest company. Presentations included:
Project Delivery Life Cycle, Outbound Document/Application Integration,
Corporate Priorities, Computer Output Solutions, IVANS, I.S. Environment,
Year 2000, Agency Interface, and Field Automation. Vendors participating
included Napersoft and IVANS.
The 1997 Fall PLANS Conference was held October
5-8 at the Albuquerque, New Mexico Hyatt Regency Hotel. In attendance
were 31 individuals representing 22 member companies and 2 guest companies.
Presentations covered call management, field automation using Sapiens,
Intranet, IS work environment and commercial lines automation. Vendors
participating with member presentations included iiX on what they can
do for you and Mozart Systems Connectivity.
The 1997 Spring PLANS Conference was held April 20-23 at the Charleston,
South Carolina Hawthorn Suites Hotel. In attendance were 30 individuals
representing 21 member companies. Presentations covered Project Office
development, gathering business requirements, EDI, personal lines imaging
and workflow, Internet, support transaction processing, challenges of
implementing a corporate client system, IS work environment and DB2.
The Fall 1996 PLANS Conference was held September
17-20 at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. In attendance were 32 individuals
representing 20 member companies, 12 guests, two prospective new member
companies and three vendors. Presentations covered the following: DP organization,
offsourcing/object-oriented, Internet/intranet, Year 2000, personal lines
workflow, Lotus Notes, commercial quote and Sapiens, project office and
project management and prioritization in today's world. Vendors assisting
member presentations included Perot Systems, Unisys and Project Management
Institute.
The Spring 1996 PLANS Conference was held April 21-24 at the Mariott
Courtyard in Orlando, Florida. In attendance were 37 individuals presenting
26 member companies, four guests and two vendors. Presentations covered
the following topics: project prioritization, internet/email, policy upload,
rapid application development, implementing Allenbrook, data warehousing,
IS organization issues, connectivity to data services, rate/issue software
distribution to agents, and Year 2000. Vendors assisting member presentations
included BWC and IBM. Attendees also identified and prioritized areas
of interest to focus future meetings on member needs and interests.
The 1995 Fall PLANS Conference was held September
17-20 in Boulder, Colorado, at the Clarion Harvest House. In attendance
were 28 individuals representing 17 member companies. Presentations covered
customer service, image processing, employee recruitment, use of laptop
computers in the field, STK Iceberg storage, financial management of information
services, cancellation and non-renewal compliance and software distribution.
Vendors participating with member presentations included Marketex, Martin-McKenna,
Image Consulting, STK and Oden.
The 1995 Spring PLANS Conference was held April 2-5 at the Bourbon
Orleans Hotel in New Orleans. The meeting was attended by 27 individuals
representing 20 member companies. Agenda topics included EDI and glass
networks, RAMAC storage, change control, expert systems for workers' compensation,
interactive MVR and CLUE reports, project prioritization and E-Mail/EDI
using Advantis. Vendors assisting member presentations included Safelite,
Legent, Freedom Group and Advantis. Attendees also identified and prioritized
areas of interest to focus future meetings on member needs.
The 1994 Fall Conference was held at the Sea
Lodge Hotel in Lajolla, California. Topics discussed were corporate five-year
planning-how the MIS plan must complement; host fax systems; continuous
improvement projects; software negotiations; managing the desktop in a
LAN/WAN environment; form maker, print archive and retrieval systems;
and EDI-implementations. The group conducted a roundtable discussion on
strategies and solutions for issues surrounding the Year 2000. Vendor
presentations were given BWC Corporation on "Agency Automation, Solving
the ACORD Problem" and from Allenbrook Corporation on "Automation-The
Client Server Approach, Smart or Trendy?"
As we move from conference to conference and members continue to speak
or provide speakers, PLANS will remain one of the most knowledgeable,
available, and economical information resources in the industry. Automation
and management is our goal, with major emphasis on research and development,
strategic planning, education, and auditing procedures.
The 1994 Spring Conference was held in Alexandria, Virginia, at
the Old Town Holiday Inn. Management-related issues discussed included
total quality management, continuous improvement and perspectives of a
CFO by Donegal Mutual. Client server issues discussed included the management
of software distribution, data administration issues, and the coexistence
of client software distribution, data administration issues and the coexistence
of client server systems and legacy systems. The issue of work management,
both within and outside MIS, was also discussed. Finally, presentations
from APT and Silverplume outlined what their organizations offer related
to agency interface and electronic publishing, respectively.
Lincolnshire, Illinois, was the site of our Fall
1993 PLANS Conference. Attendance was somewhat disappointing, but
on a positive note, we set up the meeting rooms in a roundtable conference-style
arrangement. This stimulated conversation and helped contribute to a very
productive conference. Again, we had excellent presentations from members,
ranging from business continuation during the 1993 floods to client support
in decentralized organizations. Vendor presentations were equally impressive
and covered topics such as IAA, Lotus Notes, and Powerbuilder. The conference
generated a number of changes in how we operate. We discussed increases
in conference fees, frequency of meetings, profile and conference agenda
recipients, as well as roles of board members on the program committee
and past presidents on the membership committee. We continued, in the
culture of our PLANS organization, to spend a great deal of our time and
energy sharing opportunities, problems, and solutions for our common issues.
Finally, our evenings were reserved for enjoyment and the camaraderie
that has developed over many years.
The 1993 Spring Conference was held in San Antonio, Texas, at
the Hyatt Regency on the Riverwalk. A visit to USAA and a presentation
of their image processing was a highlight of the conference.
The 1992 Fall Conference was held at the Williamsburg
Hilton in Williamsburg, Virginia. Topics included updates on LANS, expert
systems, communication between agents and home office, change control,
client database, client computing-how to control, and imaging.
The 1992 Spring Conference was held at Grenelefe Resort, Grenelefe,
Florida. Topics discussed included automated underwriting, DB2 projects,
imaging, local area networks, tools for claims adjusters, executive information
systems, programmer workstations, organizational structures, and trends
in printing. Even though the conference facilities were a long drive from
Orlando, and everywhere else, the sessions were well attended and the
presenters did an excellent job of presenting their information.
The 1991 Fall Conference was held at Antlers
Doubletree Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Topics discussed were
agency automation, including downloading data to agency personal computers;
agency interface to insurance company mainframe; and the agency perspective
of automation. Other topics included imaging, remittance processing, an
overview of the Insurance Data Management Association's training program,
policy output distribution, and the use of local area networks. Safeco
presented a videotape used by their company titled "Discovering the
Future-The Business of Paradigms."
The 1991 Spring Conference was held at Mariner's Inn in Hilton
Head, South Carolina. Topics discussed in the claims area included use
of intelligent workstations, premium and loss management reporting, and
medical fee systems. Other topics included disaster recovery, electronic
publishing, a report from the U.S. Postal Service, corporate policy for
personal computers, and trends in insurance companies as seen by PMS.
We also enjoyed a fascinating report by Weyerhaeuser Corporation on there
experience as a member of a task force that visited the Soviet Union for
a comparative analysis of DP shops.
The Fall 1990 Conference was held at El Conquistador
in Tucson, Arizona. Session topics included system-managed storage, outsourcing
for PC usage, mechanized management marketing systems, DB2, organizational
structure, and two vendor presentations on imaging. In addition, an open
forum touched on a number of organization and management concerns of interest
to all attendees.
Spring 1990, the conference was in Boston, Massachusetts. A variety
of topics were discussed. Some of the topics for discussion included automated
policy assembly, laser printing, knowledge-based systems, bar coding and
mailing, customer service function, on-line forms, rate base, and office
vision. An open forum on Friday provided interesting discussions for all
attendees.
The Fall 1989 Conference was at the Marriott
Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida. The theme of this session was Claims,
and users were welcomed. Sessions included automated claims using a mainframes
and minis, automated claims real time, mechanizing salvage recoveries,
claims automation, an update on agency, automation at Kentucky Farm Bureau,
scheduling and tracking maintenance projects at Shelby, roundtables on
PC packages, roundtables on motivating, retaining and improving the morale
of your people, and automated operations.
Spring 1989, we were in Toronto. Topics included automated claims
processing, underwriter workstations, document issuance, image processing,
commercial lines automation, business analysts, account billing, and expert
systems.
The 1988 Fall Conference was in Nashville. Discussion
subjects included a past president's roundtable, information systems planning,
use of a planning steering committee in priority setting, laser printing,
strategic planning process, local area, networks, use of PCs, image processing,
expert systems activity in the industry, application development center,
the death of coaxial cables, and executive information systems.
The 1988 Spring Conference was in St. Louis. Topics included laser
printing, agency automation, agents single entry system, IVANS, commercial
lines automation, and local area networks.
The 1987 Fall Conference returned to Lake Buena
Vista. Presentations included data management direction, disaster recovery,
PC COBOL development, commercial package policy, PC-based policy production
system, in-house automated claims, local area networks, PC voice response
systems, communication strategies, job scheduling, quality review, and
long-range planning.
Spring 1987, we were in San Antonio. Subjects discussed were image
processing, office administration, laser printing, help desk, billing
systems, remote policy printing, performance management, programmer retention,
and DEC page elimination.
The 1986 Fall Conference was at Indian Lakes
Resort in Bloomingdale, Illinois. The president of Motorists Mutual, presented
"A View from the Top." Other topics were programmer environment
and retention, image processing, strategic use of date, laser printing
applications, COBOL restructuring, automated underwriting, in-house claims
project, programmer training, and information distribution center.
The 1986 Spring Conference was in Lexington. The program included
joint application design (JAD), knowledge-based systems, automated underwriting,
stress management, programmer training and retention, computer-based training,
and project development.
The 1985 Fall Conference was in Tucson. Presentations
were made on laser printing, future calc, commercial rating on a LAN-based
PC, future users of phone mail, computer-based training in insurance,
productivity using function points, Integon's OCR payment system, and
disaster recovery.
The 1985 Spring Conference was at Calloway Gardens. Topics included
client-based systems, underwriting loss control, marketing in the 80's,
financial services, banks in insurance, microcomputers, programmer productivity,
and home workstations.
The 1984 Fall Conference was in Colorado Springs.
Presentations were made on PMS workstations, telecommunications users
and telemarketing, PC usage and control, file tracking system, third-party
leasing, project management, programmer productivity, mega trends, and
IBM hardware direction.
Spring 1984, we returned to Lake Buena Vista. The topics were
user's view of IVANS, network control center and security of on-line systems,
information center, development center, training of system analysts and
project leaders, and computer-based training with PHOENIX.
The 1983 Fall Conference was in Toronto. The
program included future direction of personal computers, Structured Query
Language (SQL), status of IIR, automated underwriting, the human factor
in the computer age, trends in output services, microcomputers in agency
system, and productivity.
Spring 1983, we met at Sawmill Creek Lodge in Huron, Ohio. Presentations
were made on the IVANS network, agency company access package and hardware
accounting system, automated underwriting reports, the Equifax automated
system, buy/lease/rental decisions, cost control, value added networks,
and microcomputers.
The 1982 Fall Conference was in Hershey. Topics
included training and career paths, office automation, project control,
agency automation, productivity aids, information center, microcomputers,
networking, and tracking costs.
The 1982 Spring Conference was at Callaway Gardens. Office Automation
was the central theme. Presentations were also made on productivity in
the 80's and an update on automating the agency system.
The 1981 Fall Conference was in Austin and had
Commercial Lines Automation as its theme.
The 1981 Spring Conference in Lake Buena Vista centered on the
use of agency terminals.
The 1980 Fall Conference was in Nashville with
a focus on Claims Management. Northwestern National, and J.C. Penney Insurance,
wrote on the ever-increasing costs of claims, from casualty repair costs
to worker's compensation.
The theme of the 1980 Spring Conference in New Orleans was Personnel
and Productivity.
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