Wells Publishing Inc., publisher of the Insurance Journal, recently announced a groundbreaking decision to take the magazine national and publish five “regional” editions encompassing the entire U.S., from the east coast to the west coast. Because insurance is a regional business, our goal is to set ourselves apart from our competitors by focusing on five geographic regions of the country: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Texas/South Central and the West.
Many of you read the daily news from each of these five regions when you receive the Insurance Journal Daily News in your e-mail box or visit our Web site at www.insurancejournal.com. Although this move has been under consideration for some time, the success of our Web site and daily e-mail newsletter has done much to foster the decision to expand.
These changes mean that much of the editorial staff at Insurance Journal will take on new roles to better serve you. Beginning December 2003, each region will have a managing editor focused on covering the latest news and issues pertaining to their particular region. Dave Thomas will become managing editor of Southeast, Kevin O’Reilly will take on the Midwest, international editor Charles Boyle will manage the Northeast, and Cynthia Beisiegel becomes managing editor of the West edition. I remains as managing editor for Texas/South Central.
Our new national editor, Andrea Ortega Wells, a former Insurance Journal-Texas staff writer, will ensure that you are always informed and up-to-date on the most significant happenings both domestically and internationally.
As for the current edition of IJ Texas/South Central, it almost seems like it should be called the “meetings and conventions” issue. Inside we cover not only the Big “I” convention and InfoXchange in Las Vegas—including an interview with the new IIABA president, Louise “BeBe” Canter, you’ll also find a special report on the NAPSLO Annual Convention, held this year in San Diego. From Chicago, we have the highlights of the annual meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and from New Orleans we bring you the lowdown on what went on at the ASCnet convention. We’ve even included a report from the 102nd Insurance and Financial Services Conference of the U.K.’s Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), which took place in London.
This issue is packed with so much more. In our cover story on Business Owners Packages, Zurich North America’s J. Howard Kucher explains how this important coverage instrument has responded to business concerns over the years and where it might be headed in the future. Texas Commissioner José Montemayor answers questions presented by the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas on the recently mandated homeowners rate cuts and other reform issues. In addition, consultant and former agency owner Jack Fries examines what constitutes “real” customer service and how your agency can achieve it.
We certainly hope you get as much out of reading this issue as we did putting it together. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Topics Texas
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