By Nick Ortner
Continuing to emphasize the themes of “service” and “change,” let’s take a brief look at how the Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section (EAS) has built on those themes in recent months:
- SERVICE: The EAS is striving to better serve the education, resource, and networking needs of entrepreneurial-minded actuaries and related professionals with:
- Periodic email updates via the Entrepreneurs E-News—the first edition was delivered on March 26 to publicize and make available news and needs of note and the latest upcoming events.
- As noted in the April 2014, Issue 1 of the SOA News Today: EAS (and Technology) have joined the Management & Personal Development section in offering members-only access to GetAbstracts. EAS members will find summaries of thousands of the top business books and best sellers, downloadable in many formats. The subscription includes a personal bookshelf, Harvard Business Review Press titles, and weekly email updates on the latest abstracts based on search preferences.
- CHANGE: The EAS continues to investigate and pursue new ways to best reach our membership—we’re not merely doing the same thing in a different way, but moving in new and different directions and environments to connect with entrepreneurs and bring entrepreneurs together in the medium they are most comfortable. Expanding on the concept of “change,” new Council roles and emerging activities for 2014 include:
- EAS Virtual Conference Survey—in an effort to give EAS members easier, cost-effective access to relevant training, we are actively pursuing the offering of a virtual conference. The first step in this process is seeking EAS member input via a survey available now, to let us know if this would help you, your career, and your business, and share your feedback on the best way to deliver it.
- Social Media development and presence for EAS and its members remains an emphasis.
- New meeting/session/webinar involvement and development includes relatively traditional offerings of new material (Technology/Tools webinar and new sessions in traditional SOA meetings), as well as true attempts at something new (one-day Innovation session, “Online Virtual Meeting” for continuing education, and New Entrepreneurs’ Workshop for our Canadian partners).
We continue to encourage involvement in any number of ways—as a newsletter author; as a speaker for EAS-branded sessions/webinars; as a Friend of the EAS Council to assist in various endeavors; or as another role that you may mold to your talents and interests—to build your network and develop and enrich your identity and brand in a low-risk, potentially high-reward environment.
We also remain very interested in new ideas and alternatives for how we can enhance the value of EAS membership. Please contact any EAS Council member with ideas, questions, and interests in volunteering. Our webpage is also a valuable source for ongoing activities and information.
Nick Ortner, FSA, MAAA, is sales vice president for the Group Markets practice of National Guardian Life Insurance Company in Madison, Wis. and current chair of the EAS. He may be reached at (608) 443-5280 or njortner@nglic.com.