Description: This is an editorial about the new format of the newsletter and impetus behind it.

Description: This Chairpersons Corner announces the first "unbundled" edition of NewsDirect.

Description: Is your development team or IT staff growing tired of last-minute requests to include additional functionality? Have you strained to explain challenging actuarial topics to non-actuarial staff for implementation? Do your teams find themselves revisiting deadlines & timelines when building solutions? During this interactive panel discussion, three technologists (two software engineering managers and one data scientist) along with three actuaries will discuss real world problems and approaches using experience from previous projects. Although the challenge of running efficient software teams is not unique to actuarial science, this webcast will discuss best practices on how to organize teams to reduce friction and context switching. Presenters will also explore unique actuarial challenges and concepts including how to address standards on data quality when building software, how to build intuitive software that meets actuarial standards and how test-driven development makes it easier to meet actuarial standards of practice.

Description: The Marketing and Distribution Section just celebrated its one-year re-birthday-a very exciting milestone, to be sure. I term it a "re-birth" as we are not really "new" but we did expand upon our Non-Traditional Marketing base into our current form. Nonetheless, we are exhibiting some traits of a true one-year old (no drooling or diapers, thankfully). From News Direct, September 2006, Number 54.

Description: Survey results from the Marketing and Distribution Section. From News Direct, June 2007, Issue No. 56.