seems only natural that Bermuda play host to an international symposium.

Yet despite the abundance of expertise in the local insurance field, and its regular exposure to such international conferences as RIMS and Rendezvous de Septembre, it took marketing wizard, Suzie McKeegan to make it happen.

According to Mrs. McKeegan however, her job was simple. Once the idea was borne, she just made sure it reached the ears of the industry's best. And as the industry prepares to attend the third Bermuda Insurance Symposium, it's obvious that she made the right choice.

"I approached Robin Spencer-Arscott, who at the time was in charge of marketing at the Insurance Advisory Committee (IAC) -- a governing or institutional body that advises the Government on insurance-related matters,'' explained the president of The Whitfield Group Ltd. "So I invited Robin out to lunch one day and said I had this little idea; that Bermuda, being so prominent in the insurance and reinsurance industries, Bermuda should have a platform to market, to tell the world about what it is we're doing.

"Through the Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS), US risk managers have a platform, and in Monte Carlo, the insurance people have had a platform for 37 years and they keep getting people to come and Bermuda's now becoming a big player. With the (property catastrophe) business here and reinsurance broking, this is pretty much a capital centre.'' It was around this time, said Mrs. McKeegan, that the international media began calling Bermuda `the centre for reinsurance'. And so armed with her enthusiasm, and the knowledge that Bermuda was recognised worldwide as a leading player, Mr. Spencer-Arscott took the premise to the IAC.

"They thought it was an interesting concept but they weren't sure. It was a new idea. Would we actually get people to come? Would we actually get visitors here or would it just be the local market attending the conference? But we explained to them that it was our intention to hold it as an international event.'' However, despite any reservations that may have been held, the project was given the green light and Bermuda's Insurance Symposium has been heralded as a success ever since. Not just for the information it offers industry leaders, but also because of the innovative way in which it is presented to attendees.

"We had our first event in May of 1993 for which we put together a very interesting package of five speakers,'' said Mrs. McKeegan. "Our turnout at that was I think about 350. It was a fifty-fifty split. There were a lot of locals and everybody was proud and very happy that we got internationals there as well. And it was an overall success. Our sponsors were happy, the trade show speakers were very happy and it was decided that yes, we should do this every two years.'' For the 1995 symposium, The Whitfield Group Ltd. took a different marketing approach, advertising the symposium in leading magazine, Business Insurance , and including pictures of its speakers inside its brochure.

"Our speakers were again very prominent speakers within the industry,'' she said, "and we had brochures, and this was the first time I'd ever seen anyone else do it, with a photograph of the speakers. People will recognise a person's face where they might not do their name.

"So we put the photograph in to show that we've got important speakers coming here from all over the world to talk about the insurance industry of which Bermuda is the centre. So that was a very successful event and we increased our numbers to a little over 400 and the sponsors were happy and the trade show exhibitors were very excited.'' Not one for sticking to a routine, not even a successful one, Mrs. McKeegan said her next task was determining how to make things better.

"Robin and I went around to insurance associations like the Bermuda Insurance Manager's Association (BIMA), and talked to some of our sponsors about the '95 Symposium and asked, `O.K. what can we do to improve the insurance symposium?' And they said, `Well, you've got to get more risk managers. Everybody wants risk managers. Risk managers are in big. They want risk managers.' And of course most of the insurance events and conferences around the world all want risk managers. Everyone is vying for that little pool of people.

"So I came up with this concept and presented it to the committee, asking them, `Why not contact the risk manager associations throughout the world?' And I did...

Symposium success a matter of timing "So I sent 55,000 brochures out just after Christmas...to risk managers, our data base, Business Insurance magazine's data base and various other media and Fortune 500 lists that we had purchased.'' Although the timing was perfect, Mrs. McKeegan said some argued the brochures were sent too late.

"But with our experience, the industry works very fast. You cannot give them (months) to think about it.

"These are not our accurate numbers, but...total attendees to date will be over 520. So this is the largest symposium yet... our risk manager attendance will be over 20 percent. In 1995 (it) was one percent.

"We're now getting on people's calenders and that's what we were trying to achieve. We want to put the Bermuda marketplace in the minds of everybody who is in this industry.'' A number of factors helped establish Bermuda's symposium, she said, not the least of which was the high esteem in which Bermuda is held by industry leaders.

"Bermuda's market is incredibly respected and...the knowledge is here. The background to industry, the people who make this industry happen, all the senior people are here and this is the only event that I know of worldwide, that is put on by the industry for the industry. It's not put on by a magazine, it's not put on by a credit card company. The industry structures the sessions and decides what's the hottest issues to talk about and what will be the hottest issue in one year's time from now when we start working on our next session's topics.

"In 1993, when we started planning for the '95 symposium, property catastrophe was in literature, it wasn't an industry. This is the property cat centre of the world. But when the symposium opened, I think there were only two or three property cat companies. And what do we have now? Nine or ten? We launched property cat at the symposium in '95 and we had all the senior people and the major players were our speakers on property cat. This is where...the professionals (are based) within the industry and where the names are within the industry, and so we have a platform to talk about it.'' Although delighted with all that the symposiums have thus far accomplished, Mrs. McKeegan said she is especially proud of the fact they are not used as a means to market Bermuda.

"I am equally proud that we don't promote Bermuda, that we promote the insurance industry. I think that's very important. Bermuda, in my eleven years of being here, never really toots its own horn. And that's nice. You don't come here and have to hear people say, `Rah, rah, rah, Bermuda.' There will be subliminal references, but we never say, `Come to the Bermuda Insurance Symposium and hear about Bermuda.' We say, `Come to the Bermuda Insurance Symposium and hear about critical issues within the insurance industry and related industries worldwide.' And speakers who are foremost known in those industries will speak at the conference. We have some very heavy hitters who are moderators and speakers on the panel.

"We also have 16 exhibitors in our trade show this year. We send our apologies to those people who couldn't get in, but we just ran out of space.

We want to grow but we need the facilities to allow the trade show area to grow. As part of the events, we also have a media table area where we will have 12 media from around the world coming to cover this event. So this is truly an international event.

"There are some conferences that people go to and with all due respect to them, they may get closer to a middle management range. We get the heads. We get the top of the class and that I think speaks volumes of the type of event that we put on. It's top shelf. Bermuda is recognised worldwide as the best in...either the professional side, the insurance side or the knowledgeable side. Bermuda is obviously looked upon as the place to find out as much as you can about the real issues that are happening. It is the mecca, the centre.

This is where people come to find out information and I think that's why the symposium has been so successful. Because when someone comes here and they look around, they see Mr. Chairman, Mr. President and Mr. CEO. Everyone wants to be with the best. That's just human nature.'' Whatever information the conference might have to offer, however, would not make its way around the world without the innovative marketing techniques employed by The Whitfield Group. According to Mrs. McKeegan: "Next time around, I'll make sure we hit the non-English speaking associations as well. I just thought we'd start small. But our marketing approach is very progressive. This is a very conservative industry and I think it works well that I'm not in it. I'm a marketer. And what I do is market a product -- the insurance industry.

"I think the marketing approach we've designed is a definite advantage. It's very progressive, very bullish... I'm certainly not an insurance specialist, so in talking to these associations, I was selling it as an information kit or an information piece that their members should really know about. I was not selling it from an insurance industry perspective because (I knew that) once they saw the brochure, they would know that we knew what we were talking about. But at first, I just had to get in the door. And it worked.'' Symposium co-ordinator, Suzie McKeegan CONFERENCE CON BUSINESS BUC