Gregory Maciag

Industry Leaders Top Issues

Rio de Janeiro, June 19, 2012 -- Over 400 insurance leaders from all sectors of the global industry representing over 50 countries are meeting at the International Insurance Society (IIS) 48th Annual Seminar in Rio de Janeiro this week. A survey of seminar participants on Monday, June 18th sought current views on key industry issues. The survey included over 150 respondents, 30% from Latin America, 21% from Asia Pacific, 20% from Europe, 13% from North America, 10% from Africa and 5% from the Middle East.   Download IIS 2012 News Release

Unprint?

Would you buy an unprinter? That is, a printer that's capable of removing text from paper as well as printing it. Researchers at Cambridge University have found a way of using a laser beam to vaporize ink without damaging paper, so it's now possible to build such a machine.

 But I'm struggling to see an application for this. In order to erase a character successfully, you'd need to do it during a current print job – you'd never get the right alignment if you were doing a re-feed of the sheet. The only kind of correction you'd be able to make would be one you could spot between the start and end of the physical print process. This is a tiny window.

Due to the alignment issue, it's unlikely that it would be practical to use the technology to erase printed paper as a means of recycling. Even if you managed perfect alignment, you'd need to match each waste sheet to its file identifier before you could issue an unprint command. And then you'd presumably have a paper bay full of disparate prints that had to be associated with a list of file identifiers. The problems just keep escalating.

Let's remember: paper is one means of presenting information to humans. It's by no means the best. The way to make paper more useful, less wasteful – and better synchronized with data – is to head toward technologies like e-ink.  Telegraph

Free eBooks. Please downoad to your iPad/Kindle!

Here is an eBook versions of my book.

Download Real Time World

Download Real Time World Kindle

Download Business Information Revolution

Download Business Information Revolution Kindle

  

ACORD Newsletters

Here are three PDF documents of ACORD Newsletters from September 2011 to March 2012. I divided them by line of business and architecture.

Download 2012-04 News - Framework

Download 2012-04 News - L&A

Download 2012-04 News - P&C

Download 2012-04 News - Reinsurance

Smartbox Tech Changes Biz Model

We learned this month that Europe's judiciary thinks insurers shouldn't discriminate against young male drivers. Their judgement is that it's unfair to price people on their gender, but they're ignoring the fact that gender is secondary to the rating decision. It's behavior that's being discriminated here, not sex. If it turned out blue-eyed drivers were more likely to be involved in accidents, they'd face a price hike too.

So I'm pleased to see a new product launched for young drivers in the UK – one that trades on data that are even more reliable than market segmentations. Co-operative Insurance has introduced a product for 17 to 25 year olds that enables them to save money based on how sensible their driving is. A smart box fitted in the car records how they brake, accelerate and take corners, as well as their speed. And it's got an inbuilt curfew: drive between 11pm and 6am and you lose your rebate.

The Co-op is giving young people a chance to show that they can be responsible road users. Insurance companies that find ways to price younger drivers into the market stand to make lifetime customers. You can do it with data.  Smartbox

Staff Service Anniveraries Celebrated

We recognized new service anniveraries today at ACORD. Pictured (from the left) are Geri Prescott, Ellen Brophy, Ramona Brown and Brian Marable (10 years) with Cal Durland (20 years) of service.

Our 2010 Membership Report

Here is your copy.

Download 2010 Membership Report

 

Hotel & Hotspot Security

Here is an interesting piece given to me by Jeff Yates from the Agency Council for Technology.

Download Hotel Hotspot Security Concerns Murray Oct 2009

Meet the ACORD Chairman of the Board

Here is an audio interview with John Leonard, President & CEO of MEMIC, from Insurance & Technology magazine.  I&T Interview with John Leonard.  And while I have your attention, here is the video interview I did at the ACORD-LOMA event in Las Vegas.  John Leonard at ACORD-LOMA in Las Vegas

Industry Collaboration Changes Everything

I wish all of you a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.  And thank you for your membership and participation in ACORD.  The staff and I look forward to working with all of you in 2008.

 

Meet Pete Miller, CEO of AICPCU

Pete Miller, President & CEO of the American Institute for Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriters visited our office in Pearl River.  We spoke about all the changes occurring at the AICPCU and taped a Live show that you see on the ACORD website.  We discussed knowledge transfer and all sorts of neat things.

New Live Interviews Posted

I just posted three new interviews in the sidebar. June Drewry from Chubb, Jeanette Scampas from Willis and Richard Soley from the OMG.

My goal is to introduce you to the leaders of ACORD as well as the leaders of other important organizations that serve our industry. If you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know.

My American Idol Debut

Yes... I sang my song but the competition was tough.  Besides my song "ACORD Standards" was actually written for a chorus rather than a solo vocalist. See what the judges had to say at the National Underwriter with Insurance Idol by Sam Friedman. Paula was spot on the mark.

William Shatner Keynotes ACORD-LOMA

William Shatner has agreed to keynote the ACORD_LOMA Insurance Systems Forum on May 21 in Orlando. For more information on our 2007 event, click on the banner at the top of this blog. Shatner Biography 

Your Front Row Seat To JIF

ACORD is one of the proud sponsors of the Joint Industry Forum (JIF) together with fourteen other industry associations, held in New York City every January at the Waldorf.  The event is limited by the size of the venue, yet you will find the Chairman and CEO's of all the major P&C insurers and trade associations in the audience. Please join us.  This is your FRONT ROW SEAT. Does it get any better than this?

 2007 JIF Videos

William Safire Spoke at JIF

Here is William Safire (Center) with me and John Leonard, President & CEO of MEMIC and member of the ACORD Board of Directors. Mr. Safire spoke at the Joint Industry Forum tonight.

William Safire, winner of the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary, joined The New York Times in April 1973 as a political columnist. He also writes a Sunday column, "On Language," which has appeared in The New York Times Magazine since 1979. This column on grammar, usage, and etymology has led to the publication of 10 books and made him the most widely read writer on the English language.

Before joining The Times, Mr. Safire was a senior White House speechwriter for President Nixon. He had previously been a radio and television producer, a U.S. Army correspondent, and began his career as a reporter for a profiles column in The New York Herald Tribune.

From 1955 to 1960, Mr. Safire was vice president of a public relations firm in New York City, then became president of his own firm, Safire Public Relations, Inc. He was responsible for bringing Mr. Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev together in the 1959 Moscow "kitchen" debate to publicize his client's kitchen. In 1968, he left to join the campaign of Richard Nixon.

He is the author of "Freedom" (1987), a novel of Lincoln and the Civil War. Other novels he has written include "Full Disclosure" (1977), and "Sleeper Spy" (1995). Additional works include a dictionary, "The New Language of Politics" (1968), now in its fourth edition; "The Relations Explosion" (1962); "Plunging Into Politics" (1964); a history of the pre-watergate Nixon years entitled "Before the Fall" (1974); a speech anthology, "Lend Me Your Ears (1992), and "The First Dissident (1992), a political interpretation of the Book of Job. With his brother Len, Mr. Safire compiled three quotation anthologies: "Good Advice," "Words of Wisdom," and "Leadership" (1986, 1989, 1990). His early political columns were collected in book form as "Safire's Washington" (1980). Mr. Safire was born on December 17, 1929, and attended Syracuse University; a dropout after two years, he returned a generation later to deliver the commencement address and is now a trustee. Since 1995 he has served as a member of the Pulitzer Board.

He is married, has two children, and lives in suburban Washington, D.C. He writes from the Washington bureau of The New York Times.

Joint Industry Forum Planning

ACORD is one of fifteen nonprofit trade associations that sponsor the Joint Industry Forum held each year at the Waldorf in New York City. Here are a few of the organizers at a pre-event planning dinner. Standing left: Peter Miller, President & CEO, American Institute for CPCU; Stephen Klingel, President & CEO, NCCI Holdings; Pat Kenny, President & CEO, International Insurance Society; Rick Gilman, ACORD Vice President; myself; Kevin Barber, Vice President, Institute for Business & Home Safety; Cheryl Budd, Chief Communications Officer, NCCI Holdings; Seated left from the Insurance Information Instutue are: Bob Hartwig, President & CEO, Cary Schneider, Senior Vice President and Gordon Stewart, former President & CEO.

ACORD Annual Meeting

Gary Bel,  VP & General Counsel, Sal Branca, AIG and ACORD Director, myself and Stephanie Culnen, ACORD Controller preparing for the ACORD Annual Meeting called to elect Directors and modify the Bylaws today.  New directors elected include: June Drewry, Executive Vice President of Chubb: Dennis Mahoney, Chairman & CEO of Aon UK; Jeanette Scampas, Executive Vice President of Willis; and Steven Haasz, Director of Lloyd's of London.  The members also passed the Bylaw changes.

Renewals and Renewal for 2007

I was crossing Times Square last night and took this photo because I have no plans to be here on New Year's Eve. With the weather being so mild, it may be tempting but still no. I did celebrate New Year's Eve in London a couple of years ago with fireworks on the Thames across from the London eye. Great evening but the huge crowd was unbelievable.

The word "renewal" in our business often represents lots of work and deadlines.  But I also look at the New Year as an opportunity to renew oneself physically, spiritually and intellectually. The trick is to keep the policy in force for the remainder of the year.

One of my plans to is publish this weblog but where it goes is really up to you. I have no problem posting without receiving any comments. It allows me to transfer information to you personally and bypass official distributions.  So whether this blog becomes interactive or not will depend upon your desire to post comments. So I hope to be hearing from you.

All The Best For The Holidays

The Christmas tree and skating rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City. One of my favorite places.

Clem Booth is 2007 Chairman

Barbara Koster, Prudential CIO and ACORD Chair 2006 passes the gavel to Clem Booth, Member of the Management Board, Allianz. Clem will serve as Chair in 2007 with John Kellington serving as Chair-elect. This photo was taken during the ACORD Board meeting at the Munich Re headquarters in Munich.

Greenspan at CIAB

Alan Greenspan was one of the speakers at the CIAB meeting at the Greenbrier this year. I spoke with him after his presentation and snapped this photo with my daughter Michelle.

Among other important matters, the new Insurance Exchange was a topic of conversation. A platform for transporting data between trading partners. More on that in a future post.

Friedman Goes Blogging

I just read in the recent e-issue of the National Underwriter that Sam Friedman is launching a WebLog on September 5th. And he seemed to go through the same thinking as I did when I decided to launch a Blog.  Well I think this is great news.  While I appreciate the value of our industry trade press, allowing people to comment without having to write a letter to the editor is a refreshing change. Good luck Sam and you'll be hearing from me. National Underwriter

Welcome to my Weblog!

I wrote a monthly column for ten years and that came to a close when I became CEO of ACORD.  I don't miss the deadlines, but I do miss having the opportunity to get my point of view in the media directly and on my schedule.  And the technology for doing so is far superior today than a decade ago.  Since ACORD is a community of hundreds of active participants, I believe that communications is very important.  So send me your comments if you wish or email a suggested topic.  I am not sure where this weblog will go, but if you know me, you know that I tend to be adventurous.

Debbie Weil, a noted expert on business blogging wrote a book on the subject. Here is a PDF she made available on the topic.

Download BusinessBlogging.pdf