Dear Member,
We are well into another year. I hope that everyone had a chance to take a break and refresh themselves, particularly with friends and family. I had a good break in the US with family and can now look forward to the challenges of the next few months.
As an educational institute, we are busy with several important projects:
The Asian Claims Convention is fast approaching, this year in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from 19 to 21 April. We have an exciting array of speakers and we hope that many of you will be able to join us for this prestigious event. The convention will start on the Wednesday evening with a cocktail function. Thursday will be the first day of business sessions, culminating in the gala dinner. Friday is the final day of sessions, allowing everyone to leave late Friday to head home, or to stay longer to enjoy the city.
Following the convention Tony our Chief Executive, Budi Maharesi, International Division Chairman, and I will take the chance to visit many of our members in Asia and to visit local insurance institutes and regulators. We hope that you will take the opportunity to attend the function in your locality when it is announced.
We are also starting to plan the Sydney Claims Convention, which will be held on 21 September at Sofitel Wentworth. As in past years, we are organising a workshop the day before for new members, covering more fundamental topics that are intended to help newer adjusters. If anyone has any ideas or knowledge of good speakers then please let the AICLA office know at adminoffice@aicla.org – the convention is designed for adjusters, so it is always good to know what adjusters want.
Finally, the work with ANZIIF to update the current educational delivery models is on-going. This process will likely take much of this year, and there will be further updates as we progress.
One of the other endeavours that the board decided last year to embark upon is upgrading AICLA’s website. There were lots of suggestions from members as to what could be done, but one of the challenges is that the more information you try to include, the more work that has to be done to maintain it. Whatever is included, we want it to be easy to access on multiple platforms (i.e. mobile enabled). We are also looking to enhance the membership maintenance side to enable members to update their own details and pay subscriptions and register for AICLA functions on-line. The next step is to find a service provider that can undertake the work efficiently, but at a good price! – more information will be forthcoming as the process unfolds.
Members will have recently received information regarding the Carey Bird Scholarship for 2017. The award is now open to all members (excluding Directors) and I encourage you to consider entering for this distinguished prize. The scenario to be covered this year is the principle of ‘Utmost Good Faith’ and the prize is a framed certificate and attendance at either the Asia Claims Convention or Sydney Claims Convention, or a monetary amount of AUD$3,000.
Kind regards
Leon Briggs, Chartered Loss Adjuster
President – AICLA
