Previous Conferences

The Conference for Risk Retention Pools has been held at world class facilities throughout the United States, from sunny Key West, Florida to the Rocky Mountains of Vail, Colorado to the warm beaches of Southern California. Always a spectacular venue, the Conference consistently delivers the best content for all those involved with risk retention pools.

Asheville, NC Pics

In 2007 we hosted the 15th conference for risk retention pools - Building a Pool Legacy That Stands the Test of Time. About 250 joined us in Asheville, North Carolina, where a gentrified dinner at the famous (and huge) Biltmore resort highlighted our social calendar. Take a look at some of the guests!

   > view pictures from Asheville

Previous Topics

Below you'll find a listing of session titles from the 13 previous conferences.

15th (2007) Building a Pool Legacy That Stands the Test of Time

Asheville, North Carolina
  Deal or No Deal: Making the Right Financial Decisions for Your Pool
  Creative Solutions for Building a Pool Legacy
  What Creates Pool Legacy and Success?
  Unparalleled Customer Service - The Cornerstone of Lasting Legacy
  Rating Plans - How Complicated Do They Need to Be?
  Integrity-Based Leadership
  What Technology Should Be Doing for Your Pool
  400-Pound Gorilla: Coming to Grips with GASB 45
  Enterprise Risk Management - The Next Frontier
  Benefit Pools: Facing the Issues of Tomorrow...Today!
  Member Retention: How to Ensure the Marriage Lasts
  Mining Loss Data to Achieve Superior Results
  Getting the Most for Your Reinsurance Dollar
  Five Questions Every Board Member Should be Able to Answer
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14th (2005) Soaring to New Heights: Elevating Your Pool's Performance

Tamaya, New Mexico
  Financial Boot Camp for Pool Management
  Unleash Your Leadership Brilliance and Soar
  Fullfilling Board Member Duties While Empowering Pool Administrators
  A Birds-Eye Glimpse of Web-based Training
  Underwriting: The Key to Reaching Your Destination
  Ethics in Management: Ensuring the Right Climate for Success
  Employment Practices Liability: Lessons from Ground Zero
  Factors that Make Claims Management Soar While Keeping Costs Tied Down
  The Internet "Revolution" - Is it all a Bunch of Hot Air?
  Ensuring Heavenly Pool Investment Performance
  Seeing through the Clouds to Evaluate Reinsurer Performance
  Affordable Employee Benefits - Somewhere over the Rainbow
  Around the World in 80 Days: Overcoming Significant Obstacles on Your Journey
  Ten Best Practices to Elevate Your Pool's Performance
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13th (2003) Bringing Your Pool to Olympic Achievements

Park City, Utah
  Risk Management Excellence Through Golf Magic
  Managing Olympic-sized Risks
  Transitions in Pool Administration
  Managing Injuries with Speed & Precision to Control Costs
  Return To Work - No Skating Allowed
  Technical Merit and Style: How to Measure Claims Administration Performance
  Taking Claims Audits to the Next Level
  Ratios that Reveal Pool Performance
  Board Governance Practices that Sustain Value
  Discovering Gold in Your Loss Data
  Riding the Reinsurance Roller Coaster - What's Next?
  Trends in Pool Development
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12th (2001) Unlocking the Possibilities

Key West, Florida
  Back to the Future for Alternative Markets
  Optimizing the Reinsurance Marketplace
  Coping With Workers Compensation Cost Trends
  Using Loss Free Safety to Win Management Kudos
  Success Strategies for Employee Benefit Pools
  Doing Business Without Bosses - Will the Mice Play?
  Don't Overlook the Obvious - Comprehensive Risk Assessments
  Delivering What Members Want
  Efficiency and Economy - Unlocking the Technology Challenge
  Taking Claims Auditing to the Next Level
  A Treasure Trove of Ideas - Attracting Pool Members
  Transitions in Pool Administration
  Scoring Your Pool
  Resolving Workplace Conflicts
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11th (1999) Doing Things Right: Practical, Principled and Productive

Dana Point, California
  High Performance Communication for Effective Leadership
  Business Ethics in a Mixed-Up World
  Developing a Zero-Loss Culture
  Packaging Financial Data for Understanding and Use
  Maintaining Loyalty in a Soft Market
  Balancing Rates with Surplus
  Managed Care: The Next Generation
  Using Technology for Communication and Training
  A Rating Agency Looks at Pools
  Measuring Claims Management Performance
  Controlling Expense Dollars
  Loss Portfolio Transfers
  Getting Results with Interactive Training
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10th (1997) Planning to Thrive in the Next Millennium

Lake Forest, CA
  Leading an Organization: The New Work of the Board Executive
  Challenges Facing Pools or Adapting to Change for Survival
  Building a Strong Foundation: Balancing Solvency with Equity Release
  Working with Regulators for the Common Good
  Law Enforcement and Security: Tips from the Trenches
  Thriving in a Competetive Environment
  Staying in Touch with Your Members
  It's Always Personal: Managing Employment Liability
  Manged Care Counterrevolution
  Good Guys in a Bad Guy World
  Hiring Without Fear: Background Checks Pay
  Board Oversight of the Claims Process
  Outperforming the Competition by Serving Your Members
  Current Challenges for Pools
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 9th (1995) Challenges by Choice: Excellence by Design

Vail, Colorado
  Managed Care: 24 Hours-A-Day
  Financial Statement Basics for Board Members
  A Futuristic View of the Pool Business Environment
  Service Provider Compensation Benchmarks
  The Latest in Creative Catastrophic Protection
  Reflections of a Worn-Out Pool Administrator
  Selling Claims Reserves, Buying Peace of Mind
  Designing Appropriate Staff Compensation: The Ultimate Challenge
  Lessons from Orange County: Could Your Pool's Portfolio Be Next?
  Did You Hear the One About? A Sexual Harassment Training Program
  An Exclusive: The New National Risk Database
  Bridging the Gap: Board Members / Staff Topical Debate
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 8th (1994) Building for Quality: Improving on Success

Dana Point, California
  The Art and Technique of Principled Negotiation
  Mobilizing for Quality: Instilling the Pool's Quality Philosophy in Providers
  When Board and Staff Conflict
  GASB10: What Your Pool Members Need to Know
  Do Existing Pool Accreditation Standards Provide Meaningful Criteria?
  Rating Plans - What Works and What Doesn't
  Unfolding the Coverage Mystery of Employment Related Claims
  Real Estate or Real Mistake: The Pros and Cons of Buying a Building
  Emerging Technology for Communications and Organizational Efficiency
  A Case Study in Strategic Planning
  Resolving Member Coverage Disputes
  National Health Care Reform: What Does it Mean for Pools?
  Major Issues Facing Pools Today
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 7th (1993) Drifting Into the Future or Stepping With Purpose?

Vail, Colorado
  The Learning Organization: Managing for Change
  Focusing on Your Customer and What You're Providing
  Benchmarking Your Pool
  How Safe are Your Investments?
  Member Equity vs. Member Liability: Who Pays and Who Profits?
  The Far Side of Pool Leadership: Are We Taking Ourselves Too Seriously?
  Loss Control: Developing Quality Standards for Pool Loss Control
  Questioning Technology: Tool, Toy or Tyrant?
  Coverage Restrictions: Are Pools Losing Their Sense of Purpose?
  The Top Ten Most Pressing Problems Pools Currently Face
  Staffing and Training: Building Competitive Advantage through People
  Demystifying Actuarial Work: Translating a Study to a Useful Tool
  The Art and Technique of Principled Negotiation
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 6th (1992) Meet the Challenge: Be the Competition

Squaw Valley, California
  Improving Your Pool Through Total Quality Management
  You Can Create the Future in Which You Want to Compete
  How Do You Efficiently Manage Loss Information From Several Sources?
  Building a Safety Culture
  What Board Members Really Need to Know
  Managing Conflict With Humor
  Navigating the London Market
  Integrated Information Management: How Do You Process Information Efficiently?
  Planning and Managing a Pool Risk Control Program
  Determining What is Needed in the Underwriting Process
  Building Board Policies and Procedures: Mundane but Important
  Humor: The Key to Communication and Influence
  Common Sense and Everyday Ethics
  Building a Safety Culture
  Understanding Pool Financials
  Determining What is Needed in the Underwriting Process
  Probability Theory: Applies to Pooling and Gambling
  20 / 20 Vision: Ten Ideas that Can Transform Your Pool
  Seven Deadly Sins of Pool Management
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 5th (1991) Coming of Age - Delivering on a Promise

Vail, Colorado
  Strategic Planning and the Management of Quality
  Total Quality Management
  Selecting an RMIS System
  When Did Your Pool Receive its Last Quality Report Card?
  Rating / Funding Strategies for Achieving Rate Stability
  Role of the Board: Structuring Boards and Committees for Effectiveness
  Investment Policy; Vehicles and Strategies
  Trends in Compensation for Pool Executives
  Evaluating Financial Solvency: GASB 10 Realizing You Have a Problem
  Police Liability Issues
  Steps of Funding a Deficit; How to Get Out of a Deficit
  New Technological Applications for Pools; Practical Uses of New Info Technologies
  Low Cost vs. Quality Strategies; What Are Your Competitive Advantages?
  Reinsurance Contracts; What to Put In Them
  Withdrawal Pains - Why Members Withdraw and What to do About it
  TPA Quality; Has Your Service Provider Adopted Your Quality Values?
  State Regulation of Pools vs. Self Regulation
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 4th (1990) Strategic Adaptation and Innovation in the 90s

Sante Fe, New Mexico
  Basic Principles of Strategic Planning
  Organization Culture: Its Role in Adaptation and Innovation
  New Communication Technologies
  The Insurance Cycle: What Comes Down Must Go Up
  Insurance Risk Practices and Opportunities in Eastern Europe
  Looking Forward, Looking Back: Mapping Your Pool's Development
  Legal and Fiduciary Responsibility of Boards and Committees
  So You Want to be Free of the Excess Market?
  Distinguishing Your Pool from the Insurance Industry
  Managing Your Pool's Money
  How Pool Leadership Can Stay Energized
  Evaluating and Managing the Finanical Solvency of Pools
  Structuring and Delivering a Superior Loss Prevention Program
  Training & Development of Pool Staff
  Setting High Standards for Contract Service Providers
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 3rd (1989) Aiming for Strength & Stability in the 90s

San Francisco, California
  Strategic Thinking for the 90s
  The Practicioner's Response
  Environmental Analysis and Pool Growth
  The Role of the Pool's Board of Directors in Developing a Strategic Vision
  Scanning the Local Government Environment
  Linking Financial Pro Formas with Strategic Issues
  Transfering Strategic Goals to the Budget
  Strategic Survival: Attracting and Retaining Competent Pool Professional Staff
  Case Study of a Pool's Strategic Planning Process
  The Reality of Leadership Turnover
  An Operational Strategic Management System
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