FPD 2nd Annual Virtual Adjuster Conference Recap
Another Virtual Conference completed! On April 26, 2021 Field Pros Direct kicked off our 2nd annual virtual conference to provide educational opportunities for adjusters. Last year, we had all intentions of hosting this in person, when COVID-19 caused us to pivot and pull together a virtual conference in just 5 weeks. With 2021 still bringing a lot of uncertainty to in-person events, we decided to continue with a virtual conference for the 2nd year in the row. Rest assured, we do plan on going back to in-person events in the future (with some virtual options as well).
What was new at the 2021 Adjuster Conference?
In an effort to honor our value of constantly improving, we knew that we needed to make this year even better than last year. Easier said than done in a virtual environment, but we did it! Here’s what was new:
Virtual Networking
Yes, virtual networking is a thing and this year we tried it out for the first time. Matt Anderson, FPD’s CEO, is a big advocate of networking in general as it helps get to know adjusters beyond their resume. It was something we knew we wanted to add this year and with the help of Ally Momot and the newest FPD team member, Jodi Cruz, we added two days of one-on-one networking sessions. Each adjuster was able to select a member of our management team to interview with and easily book a time online. We received great feedback and even deployed adjusters on an assignment already!
Educational Panel
This was like speed dating educational providers. Our goal was to create a one-stop-shop to showcase some of the educational resources available to adjusters, giving them one less thing to research. Each company shared a little about what they offer, recently added courses and even some exclusive discount codes for conference attendees: Our panel included:
HAAG Education (FPD Conference educational partner)
SDII Global (FPD Conference educational partner)
Director’s Panel
As an adjuster, it’s always great to hear what you should do but it’s equally as important to know what not to do. With the help of our amazing Claims Directors, Bonnie Winters, Jeff Lee, Neil Atkins, and Matt Cronican, they shared common mistakes adjusters make with residential policy. Coming in at a 4.7 out of 5, we were beyond thrilled to hear that adjusters enjoyed it as much as our panel did!
CE Credits
This was a big win for us, as we weren’t able to get CE-accredited sessions last year due to the quick turnaround time on the conference. With the help of our educational partners, HAAG Education and SDII Global we offered 3 different CE-accredited sessions.
Session Highlights
On top of adding new features to this year’s Virtual Adjuster Conference, we also welcomed new Carrier Presenters and new content! Here are some highlights of our sessions:
Carrier Presentations: We partnered with some Carriers from our 2020 conference in addition to some new Carriers as well:
Lighthouse/Pharos: We welcomed back Erin Belk, Pharo’s Claim Manager to discuss new and existing policies and procedures adjusters should follow while handling Pharos or Lighthouse claims.
Boulder/ICAT: Another returning presenter, Randy Horden, Boulder’s Claim Manager, presented ICAT’s coverages in detail as well as what they expect from adjusters handling ICAT claims.
National Flood Services (NFS): Bob Butler, NFS’s Director of Claims, yet another familiar face to our conference, presented with Mary Anne Medina, FPD’s VP of Business Development, to discuss some high-level flood estimating methodology.
South Shore Insurance Underwriters (SSIU): Anne Norton, SSIU’s Claim Manager, joined us for the first time this year, in part thanks to our latest acquisition of Bridgewater Group. Anne’s presentation focused a lot on the values of SSIU and how they look to work with companies and adjusters who align with their mission to provide great service to their policyholders.
Velocity: Another new face this year, Meghan Fountain, Velocity’s Director of Claims, had a very interactive session that shared a lot of great insights on handling liability claims.
Corelogic Mobile Claims Overview: Leslie McLain, CoreLogic’s Client Training Professional, provided a fantastic live demo of Corelogic’s mobile claim platform. She went step-by-step through the claims process while highlighting some helpful tips on functionality adjusters may not have been aware of.
The Adjuster Playbook: After getting such great feedback from the NACA attendees on this presentation, we decided to bring a mini version to this year’s conference. Mary Anne Medina and Matt Cronican, Director of Customer Success, discussed new adjusting opportunities, resume tips and other ways for adjusters to stand out in the industry
Virtual Adjusting Overview: Virtual Adjusting continues to gain traction among Insurance Carriers and adjusters over the past year. We’ve also noticed that the definition of “virtual adjusting” varies in the marketplace. This is why Jeff Lee, FPD’s Director of Specialty Operations and Matt Cronican presented a high-level overview of Virtual Adjusting, with FPD’s Virtual Adjusting process in mind.
Educational Partners and Continuing Education
Both HAAG Education and SDII Global partnered with Field Pros Direct for this conference to provide CE courses to our adjusters for free! Based on the topics they’ve seen to be helpful to adjusters, they chose sessions that could provide 1 hour of CE credits each, while still making the course informative. Sessions included:
Flood Disaster - What to expect after to event, presented by Michael Schroerder from SDII Global
Roof Types, Materials and Systems - Damage identification and Code Issues, also presented by Michael Schroader from SDII Global
Unsealed Shingles presented by Jim Chaney from HAAG Education
Virtual Happy Hour
The happiest hour of the conference, aside from Matt Anderson’s presentation to kick-off the conference, was the virtual happy hour! Adjusters and FPD team members came together for a little friendly competition and more meet-and-greets. This year’s trivia was a mix of all catastrophe events and even some Disney references too (thanks to our avid Disney fan, Jodi Cruz). While we wish we could have met in person and even had more time to chat, it was great to see some new faces in addition to the adjusters who have worked with us before.
That’s all folks!
To take from Meghan Fountain’s closing slide, “That’s all folks”. At 4.8 stars and 100% of the attendees who responded to our survey saying they would return again, we are thrilled with this year’s turnout. In our effort to not only improve ourselves, but empower others we are honored to be able to provide this great resource to our Field Pros! Until next year everyone...
