Hundreds of insurance professionals from Bermuda will flock to Philadelphia this weekend to attend the Risk and Insurance Management Society’s (RIMS) Annual Conference.Some anticipate this will be the largest Bermuda contingent ever at RIMS, with around 200 people expected to make the short flight to Pennsylvania, including Premier Paula Cox for the April 15-18 event.Roger Gillett, chairman of the RIMS Subcommittee of the Bermuda Insurance Development Council (IDC), said there was a high level of interest in this year’s conference, helped by the convenience of the US East Coast location.The Bermuda marketing effort at this year’s event will be bolstered by an army of around 60 volunteers, who have taken part in training classes on how they can best serve as an effective ambassador for the Island. They will staff the Bermuda booth, distinctive in the conference hall for its Bermuda architectural style and bright colours.“Bermuda offers a range of products that nobody else does,” Mr Gillett said in an interview. “To expect any one person to have experience of captives, insurance and reinsurance would be folly.“What we want to have is technical people from each of these disciplines at the booth at all times.”To achieve this, the RIMS Subcommittee had targeted the people they wanted as booth volunteers, in particular industry practitioners such as underwriters and brokers, rather than service providers. There was a positive response with around 20 people attending each of the three volunteer training sessions.These are seen as the people who will be able to give answers on the practical and technical aspects of doing insurance business in Bermuda in response to questions from booth visitors who may be potential clients for the market.To help visitors find the appropriate person, volunteers will sport badges bearing the words, “Talk to me about ...”, followed by a description of their area of expertise.The volunteers have been instructed to represent Bermuda, rather than their companies, at the booth.There will also be an additional feature at the Bermuda reception, which will be held on Tuesday evening.Instead of last year’s Bermuda breakfast, the reception will start an hour earlier than normal and will feature what Mr Gillett describes as “a mini trade show” at the event, with Bermuda market participants there to give information on different lines of business.“The reception is very successful as a networking event, but this will just add a bit more seriousness to it,” Mr Gillett said.“There are more prospects in terms of potential business and clients at RIMS than all the other international business events Bermuda attends combined. This is huge for us.”David Fox, the IDC’s director, information services, put it this way: “It’s like a huge shopping centre, and Bermuda has got a lot of its products in there. I think the Government has recognised that and the fact that the Premier attends every year demonstrates that.”Mr Gillett said Bermuda had a good story to tell in that the market had lived up to its claims-paying obligations last year, which brought the second largest insured losses from natural disasters on record, a figure put at $110 billion by Swiss Re. The market had stood up to the test and reinforced its reputation and credibility.As a result of the losses, rates had hardened in reinsurance and in some insurance lines.“Bermuda really has a strong product, probably stronger than it’s ever been,” Mr Gillett said. “Despite what happened last year, our market came through it well. That’s why people are talking about it being an earnings event, rather than a capital event. One of the points we will be making is that this demonstrates the financial strength of our market.”