The Costen & Associates Management Team had the pleasure of attending this years IBAA (Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta) Convention in beautiful Lake Louise, Alberta. The convention ran from Sunday, May 3rd to Wednesday, May 6th and was packed full of informative seminars and fun events. This year’s theme was “Engage, Grow, Live your Passion”.
As in previous years, we brought our families out with us… the benefit of working for a small family-run business! A golf tournament was held out in Golden, BC on the Sunday, and Larry and two of our family members attended. Yours truly stayed back at the hotel and hung out with the munchkins for the day.
The Keating boys
The main part of the convention kicked off on Monday morning with a breakfast and seminar by Swiss Re on Errors and Omissions Insurance and how to protect your business. The keynote speaker, Alberta’s own Paul Brandt, followed. Mr. Brandt gave a great speech, telling his story about how he got to where he is today. We were even lucky enough to hear him play a few tunes, and received one of his albums in our registration package. Later in the morning CSIO held a seminar on reducing costs, engaging customers, and growing your business with technology. After lunch was the AGM (Annual General Meeting), followed by the President’s Gala in which the new IBAA President, Robyn Young, was inducted. This year’s Gala was a masquerade theme (only the ladies of our group took part with the masks) and the entertainment was illusionist Sheldon Casavant.
Larry and Crista
Sheila and Crista
Tuesday morning started off with another great breakfast and a seminar by BMO, followed by a seminar by Gradient Solutions on the customer experience and changing the perception from price to value. The third seminar of the morning was incredibly entertaining, as we watched Wayne Lee hypnotize several of our fellow Brokers. We will not disclose the goings on, but would just like to say that if you are ever in need of a hypnotist for a party or event Wayne is the guy to call! After a busy morning, we enjoyed strolling the trade show with our families (while the kids collected their loot). Andrew and I were even lucky enough to walk away with a couple of great draw prizes!
The gang (thanks Larry for taking the photo!)
After a busy couple of days, everyone was ready to head home on Wednesday. As in previous years, we really enjoyed mingling with our fellow Brokers and all of our Insurance Company associates. We took away some great new information and ideas to apply to our business, and most of all, we had a wonderful time in the beautiful mountains with our families. We are pretty sure the kids enjoyed themselves as well!
The Keating and Shareski boys
As always, if you have any questions regarding our Brokerage, your policy, or how we can assist you, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would love to hear from you!
The Costen & Associates Team
