Category: Presentations

NCIGF 2022 Fall Workshop Highlights

Robin Webb Leave a comment

The 2022 Fall Workshop took place in beautiful, bustling (and chilly) San Antonio on November 17-18 at the Westin Riverwalk. Our highest attended event post-COVID, the workshop was packed with outside speakers and panelists, interactive opportunities as well as familiar faces. “We see ourselves as partners in protection,” was how Commissioner Cassie Brown welcomed the group to the great state of Texas, not only noting the good work that TPCIGA is doing, but also recognizing the community’s public policy efforts at the NAIC and beyond. This, along with hearing from NCIGF Board Chairman, Chad Anderson (WGFS), getting an important update from the southern states, diving into cyber coverage with representatives from Chubb, and having the opportunity to hear from a panel of vendors on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion rounded out the first half of a thought-provoking day one. The DEI topic discussion, so wonderfully presented by the vendor panel, was continued at lunch round tables along with other round table groups covering accounting topics. The second half of the day featured NCIGF President and CEO, Roger Schmelzer, as he updated the membership on all things NCIGF via his President’s Report. And the educational portion of the day was concluded by all attendees participating in a tabletop exercise, breaking into small discussion groups with community experts floating around to help answer questions as the red, blue, and green teams dealt with a mock cyber insolvency situation. The whole day wrapped with a fellowship-centered reception, featuring a heartfelt sendoff to Mr. Marvin Kelly (TX), as he celebrated the workshop as his last event with the guaranty fund community before retirement.

Day two kicked off with takeaways from the tabletop exercise followed by a panel on receivership fiduciary duties. The day’s agenda also included a reflective and encouraging interview with Marvin Kelly with the Texas Executive Director of 30+ years noting, “These aren’t just [claim] files, these are people’s lives…” as he inspired the audience, who later gave him a standing ovation, to take to heart the important and impactful work the guaranty funds do. New NCIGF staffer, Mike Ulmer, wrapped up the day highlighting NCIGF’s IT Security posture and what to expect from the organization in days ahead.

The entire workshop was humming with robust conversation at breaks and meals, great questions from audience members and just the right amount of levity and insightful remarks from the two fantastic emcees, Kerry Nations (TN) and John D’Amato (TX).

Many thanks to the NCIGF Education Committee members and NCIGF staff support for putting together a phenomenal agenda as well as Lynn Cantin from NCIGF for executing yet another great session. The next NCIGF event will be the 2023 Annual Conference, slated to take place in Seattle, WA, on April 20-21, 2023. For a list of all NCIGF Events, please click here.

To see even more from this great event, check out our highlight video.

2022 IT Summit Highlights

Minh-Tri Dang Leave a comment

“This year’s IT Summit provided a lot of great information and provided some excellent thought-provoking discussions. I am looking forward to the next one!”

“Timely and Updated information for a small guaranty fund.”

“The connections made were invaluable.”

“Long live Chad jokes.”

 

The 2022 IT Summit was hosted in the city of live music Nashville, Tennessee, on June 30th and July 1st.  The event focused on the growing digital landscape that many companies face.  Kerry Nations, of Tennessee Insurance Guaranty Association, emceed the summit and, along with the opening remarks made by Chad Anderson (WGFS) and Mohamed Awad (CA), a sense of community and humor helped everyone ease into the day.

Day one focused on cyber security.  Chad Anderson (WGFS) was joined on stage by Dimitar Kotzev (GFMS) and together they hosted the interactive portion of the day.  They posted questions that got everyone thinking about their current cyber security measures.  Bradley Stine (Semper Sec) then spoke on risk assessment in the workplace specific to Guaranty Associations.  Following a brief break, Mohamed came back on stage this time joined by Devo Heller (CA).  Together they rolled out a ransomware tabletop exercise, walking the audience through a hypothetical scenario. This portion was also interactive with Mo and Devo getting the audience involved in identifying the points that went wrong and having them discuss what should have happened with one participant remarking, “Fun exercise! Really drove home how much more we need to know and prepared.”

Continuing the eventful first day, two breakout sessions were held, one hosted by NCIGF’s Nate Jennings discussing software development. The other breakout was moderated by Chad Anderson and NCIGF CEO, Roger Schmelzer, Lead Systems Engineer, Lee Minniear, and Senior Legal Counsel, Ashley Rosenberger, on NCIGF’s information security. One attendee remarked via the follow-up survey, “Thank you for your transparency.”

Day two started bright and early with Devo moderating a panel on Data Challenges in Receiverships that included Joe Holloway (CA Conservation & Liquidation Office), Jamin Dawes (OK Receivership Office), and Viji Krishnamoorthy (FL Department of Financial Services Division of Rehabilitation & Liquidation).

A significant highlight from day two was undeniably John Wells (LA) sharing about the influx of insolvency activity in Louisiana and surprising Nate Jennings and Devo Heller with certificates as Honorary Insurance Commissioners for their hard work on the insolvency data throughout the last several months.

Additional topics like hybrid workplace, data management and cyber security helped to wrap up the summit with one attendee noting the need for continually discussing cyber security measures. “This is a must to have each time. We can’t be too secure, and it is great hearing all the stats and what is currently going on in real time so we can defend our data and networks better.” Comments like these are the whole purpose of these events, providing much-needed ongoing education, development of new thoughts and processes as well as fellowship and conversations among peers.

The hope is to hold an IT Summit every other year as the ever-changing landscape of IT and data security continues to shift and progress.

To view a highlight reel of this event, click here.