Kelly Denison, Catalina Jimenez, and Steve Drake teamed together to handle membership duties.

Despite last minute notices, and changes to the program, a substantial crowd turned out for the January meeting. The board urgently requests that you all get your reservations in early.

SCA VP Chris Yaw, of DY/Calison introduced Catalina Jimenez, of Barrish Pelham & Associates, Inc. as Cata is now assisting with both meeting reservations and memberships.

Dan Dyce, of California Earthquake Authority, and Debra Wallace, of CSE Insurance.

Cathrin Nevin, of Carl Warren & Company; Carmen Garcia, of Sams & Associates; Margie Hickey, of Carl Warren, and others look-on.

2009 President Don Sams officially took the reins, welcoming the crowd to the January meeting.

Guest speaker Brooks Ohlson brought a global perspective to the SCA.

Cathrin Nevin, of Carl Warren & Company at the January meeting.

Sharon Landers and Georgi Podoreanu, of DelTech Environmental.

SCA Secretary Kelly Szymulewski, above right, and Laura O'Rourk, of Guide One Insurance.

Brooks Ohlson brings his view of Globalization
and World Trade to the SCA

Perhaps, we should simply ask Chris Yaw, our Vice-President and our Registration Chairperson, what it takes to very quickly jump reservations for our Monthly Luncheon by about 50% in 48 hours. I bet she would say, ‘The Honorary Consul General of Bulgaria,” Mr. Brooks Ohlson. Yes, that is exactly what happened!

Don Sams, our newly inaugurated SCA President, warmly welcomed the crowd first with a big Happy New Year. He also summarized what was discussed at the morning Board Meeting. We have a lot to look forward to with Don in charge. Then it was time to introduce the speaker of the day, Brooks Ohlson.

This is a gentleman who speaks English, Spanish, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian, but has his roots in Central California where his parents grow apricots. Fortunately, Mr. Ohlson spoke to our group in English and as Carmen Garcia of Sams & Associates commented, “What a very interesting man!”

As Mr. Ohlson spoke about the globalization of markets and how the expertise of the United States is being shipped offshore, all us quickly thought of how China and Korea have basically copied everything we here in the USA have done in the past. And, guess what, they are very good at it! This has created a myriad of challenges and the insurance industry is certainly not excluded. Mr. Ohlson pointed out that in the Chinese culture; the idea of a contract is essentially a joke! Instead, their culture is one of trust and loyalty and the way business is conducted reflects this. In order to do business in China, there is much preparation required and many trips are made before agreements are finalized but as already noted, the agreements are not formalized with a contract. Hard to imagine; importing so many goods to the USA with no Contract, no Indemnity Provisions, no Hold Harmless Addendums, no Certificates of Insurance and so on.

Of course, this gives a Corporate Risk Manger or a Professional Claims Adjuster something to worry about not to mention the number of legal questions that pop up down the road as claims are pursued in connection with these products. When Mr. Ohlson was asked about the insurance industry in China, he commented that our industry has been trying to penetrate in China but success is still down the road.

Mr. Ohlson’s last comments had to do with communication and how to get our message out right. All of us can benefit from better communication whether it is when negotiating a deal in China, dealing with a claimant or an attorney, arranging an inspection of a fire scene with an expert, finalizing a property damage settlement or securing a Release of All Claims in a bodily injury claim. It is important to remember that we each have our own individual culture, our own point of view and we bring that every situation. We must reach out with a professional level of understanding as we meet and deal with people in every claim scenario.

What great comments from Mr. Brooks Ohlson and the Sacramento Claims Association is thankful that he was able to join us and make our January Luncheon a very interesting one.

Make Your Reservations Now

as we welcome guest speaker and past SCA President Larry Nelson speaking on Government Torts - The Public Entity Claim Process meeting details

at the next SCA luncheon meeting
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Contact SCA Vice President,
Chris Yaw: cyaw@sbcglobal.net, 916-941-1500
or Board Member Cata Jimenez: cjimenez@barrish.com, 916-418-9100