The Costen & Associates Management Team had the pleasure of attending this year’s IBAA (Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta) convention in Banff, Alberta from Sunday, May 15th to Tuesday, May 17th. The convention, which was held at the beautiful Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, had the theme “Connect”.
As in previous years, the convention was packed full of informative seminars and fun events. Sunday evening we had the pleasure of visiting with our Insurance company representatives and fellow Brokers at the Pembridge gathering at Park Distillery, and then at the Peace Hills “Grease” themed party at the Banff Springs.
The main part of the convention kicked off on Monday morning with breakfast and then a talk by the keynote speaker, Richard Bartrem from Westjet. The title of Richard’s talk was “How a Care Culture Is Your Best Marketing Strategy”. He shared his personal story of how he came to work for Westjet and about what sets them apart from their competition. It was a really great session! Later in the morning there was a CEO panel discussion by several Insurance Company heads, including AVIVA, Economical, Intact, Peace Hills, Pembridge, RSA, Travelers, and Wawanesa. Much of the discussion was around the Fort McMurray wildfires and how Insurers and Brokers have been responding.
After lunch was the AGM (Annual General Meeting), followed by the President’s Gala in which the new IBAA President, Julia Marshall, was inducted. This year’s Gala was a black and white theme and the entertainment was “Paintjam” painter Dan Dunn. The entertainment was by far one of the of the best highlights from this year’s convention. I strongly suggest checking out Mr. Dunn’s website to learn more about him.
Andrew, Amanda, Crista and Shawn
Tuesday morning started off with another great breakfast and a seminar by Huw Williams from Impact Canada, titled “Grassroots Advocacy Bootcamp”. Jo Anne Mitchell from Effective Training & Communication Plus followed with her seminar titled “The SWOT Team to the Rescue – Proactive Planning for Insurance Brokerages”. After a short coffee break, we had the pleasure of watching hypnotist Wayne Lee again this year. Wayne hypnotized several Brokers, and it was just as good if not better than we remember from last year! If you are ever in need of entertainment for a party or event, we would highly recommend giving Wayne a call!
After a very busy morning, we wandered the trade show and visited with all of the different company representatives. We also tossed a business card or two into some draws, and were even luckier this year than last! Andrew and I both walked away with two great prizes each, one being a GoPro Camera! We also enjoyed a couple games of Bingo Bowling with our representatives and fellow Brokers from RSA.
Crista and Andrew
Amanda and Andrew
Since we left the kiddies behind this year, we headed home Tuesday evening after the trade show. 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 beautiful Banff!
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
