September 13-14, 2022

The IA Evolve virtual conference offers insights and solutions for every stage of your technical expertise through a variety of online sessions including presentations, panel discussions, and an exhibit hall full of solutions – all intended to increase agency efficiency and help you reach your full potential.

Whether you’re just starting to integrate technology into your insurance agency or are looking for cutting edge practices and solutions, IA Evolve is the place to find it all, without expensive travel or admission fees.

Schedule of Events (times shown are Eastern)

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

12:00 - 1:00 Power Panel: Transforming Our Industry Together - Partnerships, Collaboration & Embracing the Digital Ecosystem

Panelists:
Matt Masiello, Chief Executive Officer, SIAA
Tyler Asher, President, Independent Agent Distribution, Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance
Amy Zupon, Chief Executive Officer, Vertafore
Moderator: Ryan Hanley, Founder & President, Rogue Risk

Like other industry disruptions preceding it, The InsurTech movement was widely viewed as a threat to the existence of the independent agency channel. Thus far, the independent agent has proven to be an invaluable component in meeting client needs and expectations, but technology advances are the ecosystem in which they must operate – together with their carrier and digital partners. In this panel, leaders representing the three components of this dynamic, IAs, carriers, and tech, share their thoughts on how to make the customer journey a smoother one, and why collaboration is a win-win for all parties.

1:15 - 2:00 Leads to Deals: Effective and Systematic Acquisition of New Business

Sydney Roe, Director of Marketing at Vertafore
John Fear, Owner, Premier Business Consulting

While the words “leads” and “deals” have the same letters, there is a number of steps and pitfalls between the two. This topic can span across both the lead generation area as well as the operational efficiency perspective – both “find” and “bind”. The truest indicator of a business’ strength is measured by its growth and much of that depends on its ability to efficiently generate qualified leads and then systematically developing those into long-term profitable clients. During this session we will examine not only the building blocks to sustained and systematic growth through lead generation, but also identify the key business indicators (KBIs) that objectively measure your success.

2:15 - 3:00 Revops and Your Agency, The Next Evolution of Profitable Growth

James Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer, Riskwell

Revenue Operations (RevOps) is a holistic, integrated way of approaching sales, marketing and client lifecycle operations. These traditionally siloed off elements of retail insurance agencies are aligned to support efficient and agile execution. RevOps is not a function on its own, but a philosophy that brings strategy, processes, workflows, data and technology into a unified execution to support top-level agency objectives. RevOps as a methodology is a natural evolution for highly agile and innovative teams.

3:15 - 4:00 Win Online: Get Found, Get Chosen!

Lucas Hendricks, Founder & CEO, Lift Local

Lucas will be providing agents with education on how Google ranks agencies in Local Search. He’ll then provide practical ways agencies can easily and efficiently improve their search traffic and also get chosen more frequently. Get found, Get chosen. After attending this session, agents will have a simpler understanding of how online marketing works, including simple tips and tricks to optimize their digital presence, and external resources that can help them improve their digital brand.

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

12:00 - 12:45 Selling Commercial Insurance in 2022. Leveraging our Time, Talent and Opportunity through People and Technology to Generate Organic Growth

Josh Gurley, Partner, HM Risk Advisors

Time – We are living in a unique day and age in which consumers value both ease of doing business and personal relationships. We are also living in a time with more acquisition and higher multiples of revenue being paid than any other point in our history. What does this mean? The there has never been a better time for organize growth.

Talent- Our industry is looking for talent like never before. How do we recruit, equip and retain top talent? What technology makes those employees more efficient, really?

Opportunity – This is the greatest opportunity to generate new sales through a combination of human and automated marketing. Agencies now have more tools than ever before to compete with the Regional and National Brokers.

1:00 - 1:45 How to Turn Content into Customers

Nicholas Ayers, Chief Marketing Officer, Better Agency

This session outlines the three phases of content creation that help agents create content that is relevant to their target audience and converts them into customers. Nick will break down research, viability, execution, distribution, and how to win the “dark social” game with your content. Attendees will leave this session with an understanding of the strategic thinking behind building their content channels and tactical skills in creating content.

2:00 - 2:45 How Well Packed is Your Agency?

Ciara Gravier, Founder & CEO, The Bunker Insurance & Risk Management

How can agencies be packaged in a modern way to help them be more memorable to their ideal prospects and clients? Having owned two prior agencies, Ciara will share with the audience several mistakes her agency made when it came to branding that some agents are still making today. Join in as this session recounts the history of those agencies, the mistakes that were made and how her team has built The Bunker to be intentionally memorable. Ciara will outline four elements that has helped her achieve this- ones that any agent can replicate within their agencies.

3:00 - 4:00 Agency Panel Discussion: Embracing Digital to Enhance the Client Experience

Panelists:
Gordon Coyle, Principal, The Coyle Group, New City, NY
Joel Dunham, President, Ovation Insurance, Fort Wayne, IN
Ashley Mastowski, Owner/Agent, First Choice Insurance, Las Vegas, NV
John Young, Principal, A. Young Insurance Agency, Waterford, MI

Moderator: Aaron Sims, Co-President/CEO, Mountain Empire Agency Alliance

We all hear that agencies must be transitioning to be more “digital”, but what does that mean? The process of discovering, evaluating and adopting technology solutions looks different across agencies. Join this panel of agency principals as they share their unique insights – challenges and successes – in leveraging digital innovation to grow and compete.