From the EAS Chairperson: New Year is Here

by Joeff Williams

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” Bill Vaughn (American columnist and author)

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Winston Churchill

As I write for the first time the chairperson’s editorial, 2012 is about to end. I look forward to the exciting opportunities the Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section will provide in 2013.

First, I want to thank Kevin Pledge for his work as the 2012 chairperson. Kevin will assume the role of secretary/treasurer next year. Thanks also to Steve Boger, who served as our past secretary/treasurer, and to Herschel Reich and Jennifer Brady, who rolled off the council at the end of 2012. Welcome to our new members who will join the council in 2013, Nicole Fende, Derek Kueker and Shasha Huang.

The Council also wants to thank its friends and acknowledge their many contributions. Jennifer Brady is the vendor list/website coordinator; Shehreen Zaman has volunteered to be the Health Meeting representative and work with the Society of Actuaries to develop a half-day seminar on Business/Leadership Skills immediately following the Health Meeting.

I list below the 2013 Council members, all of whom are looking forward to hearing your ideas to make sure that our activities continue to be relevant and useful to the section’s constituency:

The council is working on several projects to provide valuable educational opportunities in 2013. We understand that our membership is unique. This is why we are reaching out to non-traditional, non-actuarial organizations that have connections with entrepreneurs who value the mutual benefits that stem from an association with our section. We will continue to explore the latest forms of communication with our members as well as the latest technologies for entrepreneurs. To accomplish these goals we are discussing/planning a variety of opportunities:

• We will offer two webinars in 2013. The first will be held in April and will focus on professionalism for the entrepreneurial actuary. The second will be held in October and will look at the various technology tools that are available to assist the entrepreneur.
• We are planning sessions at the four annual meetings of the Society of Actuaries (Life & Annuity Symposium, Health Meeting, Valuation Actuary Symposium and the Annual Meeting).
• We are discussing creative opportunities for networking at both the Society of Actuaries meetings and local actuarial and entrepreneurial meetings.
• We will continue to explore the use of LinkedIn and possibly other tools to stay in touch with our members.

As the quotes at the beginning of this writing remind us, the New Year is always a time to reflect on the potential of new opportunities. But soon after the year starts, we are reminded about taking practical action to transform opportunities into realities. Accordingly, I encourage our members to become involved and help in any possible way. The council is always looking for speakers at sessions/webinars, means to reach out to potential new members, and networking opportunities. We are also interested on ideas to enhance the value we provide to our constituency. Please feel free to reach out to any of our Council members with questions or ideas and visit our webpage for ongoing activities and information.

Cheers for a wonderful 2013 to all!

Joeff Williams, FSA, MAAA, is a consulting actuary with Actuarial Management Resources, Inc. in Winston-Salem, N.C. and current chair of the Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section. He may be reached at jwilliams@actmanre.com.