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Elly's Travel Adventures, 2010-2011
Elly Pachy Derm, the Golden Elephant, is the award given at the IIABSC Annual convention to the exhibitors judged to have the "best booth" according to the theme for the year. She resides with the winners for the entire year and tours the state, visiting with IIABSC member agents. The 2010 winners were Grange Insurance. This is her travel blog for the year that followed.
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October 25, 2010, 2:00 pm |
6:00 pm
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My excellent adventure begins today. Who would I be winning as my hosts for the inaugural “Elly award” year? I’m trying to remain humble here, as elephants usually do, but it’s difficult when the most prestigious award of the convention is, in fact, named after you. Will my hosts let me have proper elephant fun? How much will I get to travel? Will they let me guide them properly?
I so look forward to seeing new things, meeting new people and learning all about this mysterious world of insurance. As I preview the various displays at the exhibit, I can cast my guesses of who I’d like to acquire as my new hosts but it appears I’ll have to rely on the democratic voting system rather than just pick my personal fave. Only four hours until the pesky votes are counted and my new winner is announced! |
Grange wins! And look, my first photo shoot. How cool is this? I just learned that I win the “surfer kids,” a.k.a., Grange Territory Managers, Mary Ellen Lackey and Mark Brandt. For an entire year! (They think they won me, but since I’m elephant-humble, I’ll not spoil their ecstatic mood.) Bonus: There are also some Outback gift cards to go along with my Territory Managers. Bloomin Onion, here we come! I’m so “On Board” with touring Grange-land for an entire year. But I’m told there are some required celebration events to attend before we get to work. Let’s see if these insurance people know how to celebrate in proper Elly fashion. |
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October 25, 2010, 8:12 pm |
10:26 pm |
October 26, 2010, 1:12 am |
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Check it out! A fine, fine dinner and a very festive atmosphere has me convinced that the Big "I" knows how to send me off in style. I even get to stand right on the table. All those myths about insurance people not having fun are put to rest tonight! |
Just one more final toast to the good times I’ll be having with Grange this year. Confession: these other insurance exhibitors look at me rather oddly. Maybe it’s just the wine, but something tells me that maybe they wanted me to help them out this year. Oh well, The mood is festive, so I’ll mark it up to one of those friendly rivalry things. Just take one more sip of this refreshing drink then I really must call it a night. |
Mmmm... an elephant bed never felt so good! Here I am all tucked in for the night. I sure hope I don’t snore. It certainly wouldn’t be good to make a bad first impression. I just found out that tomorrow, I’m headed to Grange World Headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. I’ll obtain a little insurance debriefing before I begin my field work back here in South Carolina. Here’s to a pleasant trip tomorrow. |
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October 29, 2010, 3:22 pm |
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December 1, 2010, 1:18 pm |
I arrived safely at Grange Insurance the super-nice hospitality here kind of makes up for my travel arrangements. Cramped quarters to say the least, and what elephant would know that “packing peanuts” weren’t, as the name implies, snack packs to consume on the long journey. I’m posting this helpful tip on Facebook first chance I get!
November 30, 3:22 pm
I’ve been one busy golden pachyderm! First, the Grange Underwriting team taught me a ton (no pun intended) about all the work that goes on behind the scenes just to write insurance policies. I had no idea how much is involved to make sure the agent is able to deliver the best coverage at the best price to all those policy holders.
Then I toured the Claims department where I learned some interesting things. Primary lesson learned is that Insurance is more than just a premium payment. It’s a promise. A promise to be there if bad things happen to good people. And these Grange Claims folks take that promise seriously. They go above and beyond just sending a check to cover a claim.
While nobody ever wants to have to worry about filing a claim, it sure is comforting to know that the Grange Insurance Claims Department is ready to spring into action if something bad ever does happen. |
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After learning so much about insurance, I feel obligated to pay a visit to the Marketing Department. After all, these characters helped with the “Get On Board” theme that landed me this cool first-year gig. I figure it’s only right that I should show some appreciation upon arrival.
Step one: Confirm understanding of “branding.” Hehe. What better way to do so than to sport some fashionable themed (branded) surfboard earrings. They loved it.
For some reason, they seem to think that my cool earrings are just bottle opener giveaways from the Big "I" Convention, but again, elephant humbleness advises me to not spoil their fun. Besides, when Marketing people think someone else is creative, who am I to argue? |
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December 20, 2010, 6:36 pm |
9:02 pm
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It should come as no surprise that yours truly gets invited to the Grange Marketing Department’s Christmas Party. Christmas in Ohio is different than I expected. There’s fluffy white stuff on the ground, for one. But more importantly, they exchange gifts. Yes! I took it upon myself to encourage come organization for all this chaotic festivity. Since one of my innate talents is obviously, herding, check out my skills in action as I lead the gifts from the table to the appropriate recipients. |
We could blame the eggnog, but nobody clarified that the gift exchange tonight was officially a white elephant gift exchange. Seriously? Everyone knows gold elephants are far more rare, not to mention, more attractive. But after I saw the gifts, I’ll let those white elephants keep the name. Just how many Elvis albums can you people wrap up, anyway? It’s important to add that I was a real sport patiently listening to all of the white elephant v. gold elephant jokes. The mockery ended once and for all when I proclaimed: gold = first place. No more jokes, but I have a sneaky suspicion that my Marketing hosts may not spring for first class seating on my return trip to South Carolina next week. At least I’m already in the know about the white peanut sham. |
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January 31, 2011, 8:15 am |
February 18, 2011, 2:43 pm |
March 16, 2011, 12:30 pm |
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It's a new year, and I'm back in South Carolina and ready to help out. My first tour is with Mary Ellen Lackey. Woo hoo! Here’s a pic of me on my first morning. As you can see, I’m so excited to hit the road that I was in the car 20 minutes early, all buckled up and ready to hit the road to meet some cool Grange Agents. |
Visiting agents is a blast. Today I taught Matt Hamer, principal of Frank L Siau Insurance Agency in Georgetown, SC, how to submit his AutoAccel® (commercial auto) quote with the same speed that I consume a crate of peanuts. (which is approximately three minutes.)
Matt was cordial and appreciative, offering me some great customer service tips. Even humble Elly can benefit from better customer service, right? Matt, thanks for the advice swapping! |
Grange special visitor day! Kathy Cunningham of the Grange Life Department tagged along with us today. We took some agents from Palmetto Pride Insurance in Sumter, SC, out to lunch.
Look how much fun Fairy Anne Hatfield, Bryan Hatfield and Phil Waynick had with us! The lunch topic was about the cool new Grange life products coming out soon but the real highlight was the ample bowl of peanuts they were classy enough to provide me. Yay, Palmetto Pride Insurance! |
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March 24, 2011, 9:42 am |
April 1, 2011, 10:43 am |
Aug. 17, 2011, 11:15 am |
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The agent visits continue… We stopped in at Bethea & Bethea Insurance in Latta, SC where we helped Becky Rogers, a new producer with some life insurance training and also reviewed some auto rates with Jane. Can you see me triumphantly singing their praises in the background? Jim Brown, Agency Principal joined us for this candid, celebratory pic, taken by Mary Ellen. Thanks for the fun, Bethea & Bethea Insurance! |
LaVawn Coleman, SC/GA State Team Leader and Grange General Counsel, VP, is joining us today. My first thought was that I’m glad I’m along to help translate some of the legal mumbo jumbo to our agents. Turns out LaVawn was the coolest Lawyer I’ve ever met. And the agents thought so, too! They loved hearing about the new State Team Concept from her.
Just look at their big smiley faces in this pic. There’s Mary Ellen on the left, LaVawn next to her (holding yours truly front and center, of course) and then to the right, Clif Spears, Principal of Auto Insurance Agency and Krystal Broadway, also from Auto Insurance Agency. |
It's back-to-school time, also time for me to get back to work after a restful summer. Today I stopped by Pinckney Carter Company in North Charleston and helped Cooper Carter dig up some client info in his agency management system. Technology rocks, and yet Cooper's desk is still a mess with paperwork! The more things change... |
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Aug. 19, 2011, 9:33 am |
Aug. 30, 2011, 11:55 am |
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Well, that’s about the extent of my excellent adventures so far. I’m sure there will be many more to come in my inaugural year representing Grange and the SC Big "I." Stay tuned for the rest of the Elly story! |
TGIF, it's been a long week! Today I stopped in to visit with Bill Silcox, esteemed member of Grange’s Agent Advisory Board, at C.T. Lowndes & Company in Mt Pleasant. Good timing – Bill was perusing the latest edition of the IIABSC magazine! I asked him if he'd checked out a certain blog by a certain golden pachyderm. He had NOT seen it yet, so I proudly showed him “Elly’s Travel Adventures.” (Haven't seen the printed version either? Check it out for yourself.)
He was quite impressed, as he was unaware of any other non-human blogs being published by the Big "I." He also mentioned that I look bigger in person ("in pachy"?) than in the magazine pictures. I told him I’ve been going a little heavy on the peanuts over the summer, and I might have a little more junk in the trunk lately. Now that’s a perfect pachyderm pun, fo’ real, y’all! |
Football season is upon us! Even though it still feels like summer around here, the boys of autumn are ready to get after it. That makes me realize that I haven’t officially declared my allegiance to a particular team. I do like Ohio State, since I spent all that time in Columbus recently with those fantastic hosts at Grange. Hmmmm...
It's pretty obvious that I should support the Crimson Tide of Alabama - their mascot is soooooo dreamy! I stopped in to visit Kathy McKay of McKay, Stelling & Associates in Mt Pleasant today, who also happens to be IIABSC Chairman of the Board. Who better to share my newfound allegiance with?
Well, that didn’t go well. Apparently it is not cool at all to be a ‘Bama fan when you’re living in South Carolina. As you can see, Kathy was not thrilled with my choice and suggested I reconsider. How about the Gamecocks? I heard they could have their best team ever this year. Strike Two! Seeing that I needed a little help, Kathy quite convincingly made her case for the Clemson Tigers. Thanks for the advice, Kathy! I guess I better do what she says. *Ahem* …GO TIGERS!
P.S. Roll Tide! Shhhhhh...
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