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 Industry News

N L C &   C
Visit Industry’s Largest Exhibit Hall

Don’t miss your chance to meet face-to-face with leading insurance company representatives and a wide array of vendors during the 2006 Big "I" Convention. Use this time to ask questions, learn about new products and services and network as you walk the halls of the industry’s largest exhibit hall. The exhibit hall, located in the Washington Convention Center, is open Thursday, April 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. and Friday, April 28, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The Big "I" Convention Exhibit Hall will feature more than 100 exhibitors representing the industry’s leading insurance companies, automation providers, other technology firms and related insurance services providers.

The exhibit hall is invaluable for agents looking to improve their current operations or to explore new carrier or vendor relationships. Click here to learn more about the Big "I" Exhibit Hall.

On-Site Registration Available

Don’t miss out on the great workshops, the industry’s largest exhibit hall, the opportunity to make your voice heard to the industry’s most powerful leaders, the chance to network with your peers and so much more! It’s not too late to register for what promises to be one of the best Big "I" meetings on record. Thousands of independent insurance agents and brokers and other industry professionals will soon descend on Washington, D.C. for the first-ever combined National Legislative Conference & Convention!

On-site registration is available. Registration hours at the Grand Hyatt Washington are: April 24, 5 to 7 p.m.; April 25, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; April 26, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; April 27, 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Registration hours at the Washington Convention Center are: April 27, 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.; April 28, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. There are options for one-day-only, NLC-only, Exhibit Hall-only, and opening or closing reception passes.

Visit the InVEST Silent Auction

Imagine this: You’re driving to your next appointment, listening to your new Sirius Satellite Radio, hoping you can get out in time to hit the driving range (using your new MOAD Shockwave Titanium Driver), before it’s time for your weekend getaway to New York City! You could win all of these fabulous prizes, and so much more, by supporting the next generation of industry professionals. The InVEST Silent Auction offers items in categories such as: Getaways, Gems & Jewelry, Gizmos & Gadgets, Food Finds, Sporting Events, Sports Equipment & More, Home & Office Décor, Business Builders and Potpourri. The generous contributions of our members, company partners, state associations and friends have assured that this is an auction you won’t want to miss.

More importantly than the prizes, this is a chance to support InVEST program’s annual scholarships—awarded to graduates of InVEST who are pursuing higher education with an emphasis on insurance. You can make a difference in the lives of InVEST’s brightest students, as well as the future of the insurance industry. A 501(c)3 educational trust, InVEST introduces high school and community college students to insurance and the more than 350 diverse careers available within the industry giving students a new outlook on the future. The program offers insurance agencies, brokers and carriers a diverse and talented group of entry-level recruits.

The InVEST Silent Auction will take place Thursday, April 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. and Friday, April 28, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Washington Convention Center.

For more information, contact Sandra Skipper at; 800-221-7917; sandra.skipper@iiaba.net

T R U S T E D   C H O I C E ^®
Trusted Choice^® Month Almost Here

Are you ready for Trusted Choice^® Month? May 1, 2006, 11 days away, kicks off Trusted Choice^® Month 2006, a month-long promotional campaign spotlighting the consumer brand for independent agents through:

All of this will create further awareness of Trusted Choice^® and its almost 6,000 member agency locations and 33 company partners as well as build consumer recognition of the logo. That’s what Trusted Choice® is doing on the national level. Many Big "I" state associations and individual Trusted Choice^® agencies also will run statewide and local advertising campaigns in conjunction with Trusted Choice® Month.

We encourage Trusted Choice^® participating agencies to conduct local advertising campaigns during May to tie into the national ad campaign. Help educate consumers in your community on the Trusted Choice® position: the trusted advisor for consumers’ insurance needs.

You can start by downloading or ordering tag-able TV, print and radio ads and running them in your agency’s marketing area. Click hereto access the tag-able advertisements.

Your local advertising campaign will give your agency twice the exposure for a small investment and help establish it as the Trusted Choice® for local insurance and financial services consumers. Click here to learn how to purchase local broadcast or print advertising. For more information contact Jeff Myers at 800-221-7917; jeff.myers@iiaba.net

February Online Ad Campaign a Success

The Trusted Choice^® ads featured on www.homestore.com throughout the month of February garnered significant consumer exposure of the brand as well as traffic on www.TrustedChoice.com.

The Homestore Network TM is the largest and most comprehensive family of Web sites devoted exclusively to home and real estate-related content, including Realator.com, RENTNET.com and HomeBuilder.com. Collectively, these sites attract the largest online audience of home consumers, which makes the online network a great fit for Trusted Choice^®. The online campaign’s objectives were to generate consumer awareness of the brand and its participating agencies as well as to prompt consumers to consider a Trusted Choice^® agent for their insurance needs. Results show that we were successful on both counts.

Nearly 50 million consumers—48,769,480 to be exact—were exposed to the brand and its message. In fact, the campaign netted a click-thru rate of .09%, which is better than the industry average CTR. This traffic generated 43,893 clicks to the Trusted Choice^® Web site and nearly 10,000 interactions on the Trusted Choice^® Agency Locator, meaning that these consumers used the locator to search for a local agency. This success is all the more reason why your agency’s information should be up to date in the Trusted Choice^® Agency Locator; if not, you could be missing out on consumers looking for an agency. Click here to create or update your agency profile. Stay tuned for details on an upcoming Trusted Choice^® online ad campaign beginning in May that will build logo recognition and create further consumer awareness of Trusted Choice^® and its participating agencies and company partners. For more information contact Jeff Myers at 800-221-7917; jeff.myers@iiaba.net

L E G A L   A D V O C A C Y
FCC Passes Regulations to Implement JFPA

On April 5, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted the rules and regulations to implement the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 (JFPA). The JFPA, which allows businesses to send unsolicited commercial faxes, provided the business had an established business relationship (EBR) with the recipient, left open many details. The FCC has now filled in those details.

First, the FCC rules specifically adopted the exemption for EBR in the general ban on unsolicited commercial faxes. In dealing with the EBR exemption, the FCC stated that it is the responsibility of the business sending the fax to show that it has an EBR with the recipient. The FCC is not requiring that businesses keep any kind of specific record, but in the event of a dispute over the existence of an EBR, the burden is on the sender to prove that an EBR exists.

Within the context of an EBR, the JFPA provides for three avenues to receive a recipient’s fax number allowing a sender to send unsolicited commercial faxes: (1) the sender may receive the number directly from the recipient; (2) the sender may obtain the fax number from a directory, advertisement or internet site; or (3) the EBR must be formed prior to July 9, 2005 and the sender must have had the fax number prior to that date. The FCC provides details on these avenues. For instance, if the recipient provides the fax number in an application or membership renewal form, that satisfies the first avenue. If the fax number was obtained from the recipient’s own directory, advertisement or Internet site, that satisfies the second avenue, unless the recipient states on those materials that posting the fax number is not an acceptance to receive unsolicited faxes. To receive a fax number via the third avenue, the EBR must have been established prior to July 9, 2005. The FCC has established a presumption that if the EBR was established prior to July 9, 2005, the sender had the fax number prior to that date as well. However, in the event of a dispute, the burden is on the sender to prove that the EBR existed prior to July 9.

The FCC also defined an EBR as "a prior or existing relationship formed by a voluntary two-way communication between a person or entity and a business or residential subscriber with or without an exchange of consideration, on the basis of an inquiry, application, purchase or transaction by the business or residential subscriber regarding products or services offered by such person or entity, which relationship has not been previously terminated by either party." Under the FCC rules, a mere inquiry is enough for an EBR; however, the inquiry must be about the products or services. A phone call asking where the business is located is not enough, nor is just visiting a Web site. The EBR also does not transfer to affiliates of the sender. Notably, the FCC did not limit the duration of the EBR. Unlike telephone solicitations which require a purchase or transaction within eighteen months or an inquiry within three months, the fax EBR does not have time limit requirements.

A major provision in the JFPA is the opt-out notice. Even with an EBR, a recipient must have the opportunity to opt-out of receiving unsolicited faxes. The FCC has determined that the opt-out must be clear and conspicuous, which means it must be apparent to a reasonable consumer. It must be separate from the advertising copy, and must be either at the top or bottom of the first page of the faxed advertisement. To make the opt-out notice distinguishable from the advertising copy, the sender should use bold, italics or a different font to separate it from the rest of the page. The sender must also provide for a cost-free method of opting out of receiving future faxes. Such methods could be a Web site address, e-mail address, toll-free telephone number or toll-free fax number. A local telephone number may be used if the faxes are only sent to local recipients. Importantly, the FCC requires that only one of these methods be used. So a business can provide an e-mail address, but not have to maintain a toll-free telephone number for the opt-outs. If a recipient does choose to opt out, the sender now has 30 days to honor such request. The FCC has also ruled that the opt-out request remains in effect indefinitely.

The Office of the General Counsel will be updating the FAQs posted on the Legal Advocacy page of the IIABA website at www.independentagent.comto include these FCC regulations. That update should be posted by Friday.

For more information, contact IIABA Associate General Counsel Kathleen Graber at 703-706-5432; kathleen.graber@iiaba.net.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act   Update

A recently revised memorandum explaining the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act will be available to members for review beginning April 21 in the Member’s Only portion of the Legal Advocacy section of the Big "I" Web site.

B I G   " I "      M A R K E T S ^SM
Now Serving Restaurant Coverage

If you have an appetite for writing fine dining restaurants, Big "I" Markets^SM can help you with you marketing efforts. Registered Big "I" Markets^SM members are eligible to receive a list of restaurants in their town or city that fit the target classes of restaurants of the ProHost restaurant program available on Big "I" Markets^SM. For more information, e-mail us and provide the name of the areas you would like to prospect in. If you know the ZIP codes, please include them as well to facilitate faster and more precise turnaround time. Once we have the list of targeted restaurants, we will e-mail it back to you.  Click here to learn more about the restaurant product.