Ready to exchange ideas?
This open forum is the perfect place to learn and share ideas that can turn into big opportunities. From sales strategies to office best practices, this is your time to explore new concepts for building an efficient and successful business.
We’re changing up the format this year to bring you shorter sessions with more ideas and more opportunities to grow your business and your staff. You’ll have the opportunity to experience 16 member-led, 17-minute sessions similar in structure to TED Talks. That’s right, you’ll walk away with at least 16 transferrable ideas! And you’ll interact with your peers in a way you never have before.
Browse this site to learn more about this year’s event, the hotel, the sessions and more.
Special Guest Speakers
Chuck Todd, NBC News Political Director and Host of Meet the Press and MTP Daily
Fifty years from now, one journalist will be the voice and face of our political era. That journalist is Chuck Todd. A self-described political junkie, he's earned a reputation as one of the most passionate journalists and sharpest analysts in American media. He's NBC News' political director, the moderator and managing editor of Meet the Press – the flagship Sunday morning public affairs program and the longest-running broadcast in television history – and the host of MTP Daily. Influencers and competitors praise him as "a tireless reporter" with "an encyclopedic knowledge of politics" and the ability to "break down barriers and get people off of their talking points." With what Washingtonian calls a "savant-like knowledge of politics," Chuck has become a fixture in the White House press room, a steady and constant presence on television, and a tireless voice on the campaign trail. His up-to-the-minute poll analysis and insightful commentary have made him one of the most sought-after voices in American political coverage.
Dr. Vonda Wright
Dr. Vonda Wright is an orthopedic surgeon and internationally recognized authority on active aging and mobility. She believes with mobility, smart nutrition and building relationships we can harness our own power to control 70% of our health and aging.
Dr. Wright specializes in sports medicine and is one of only a few female orthopedic surgeons in the United States. She is the founding director of the Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes (PRIMA) and the inaugural Medical Director of the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. Her pioneering research in mobility and musculoskeletal aging is changing the way we view and treat the aging process.
Dr. Wright speaks worldwide and has authored two mainstream books, “Fitness After 40: How to Stay Strong at Any Age” and “Guide to THRIVE: 4 steps to Body, Brains & Bliss.” Her current book project is entitled, “Prescription for Prosperity.” In 2013, Dr. Wright ignited a national conversation on Women’s Health via her online and live conference series, Women’s Health Conversations, focused on educating and empowering smart savvy women to make the best health decisions for themselves and those they touch.
Dr. Wright regularly appears on national TV shows including “Dr. Oz” and “The Doctors.” She is frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today and U.S. News & World Report, in magazines such as Maxim, Prevention, Fitness, MORE, Runner’s World, Best Life and Arthritis Today, and in numerous online publications.
Dr. Wright earned her medical degree from the University of Chicago, completed a residency in Orthopedic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh and a fellowship in sports and shoulder surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. She practices at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, serves as the team doc for the University of Pittsburgh Olympic Sports Teams and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and lives with her husband, 2x Stanley Cup Champion, Peter Taglianetti and their blended family of 6 children in Pittsburgh.
Eileen McDonnell
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company
Eileen C. McDonnell has been chairman and chief executive officer since July 2013. She was appointed chief executive officer in 2011 and president in 2010, after serving as chief marketing officer since 2008.
Before joining Penn Mutual, she was president of New England Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of MetLife, and senior vice president of the Guardian Life Insurance Company. She began her insurance career at Equitable (now AXA). Ms. McDonnell is a former member of the Master of Science in Management faculty at The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., where she held the newly endowed chair for Women and Financial Services and is the author of “Marketing Financial Services to Women.”
Ms. McDonnell serves on the board of the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania and the board of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE: UHS). She is currently the Chair of the ACLI’s Political Action Committee.
Eileen is a member of various industry related organizations including the Association of Advanced Underwriters (AALU), National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), and Women in Financial Services (WIFS).
A graduate of Molloy College, Rockville Centre, N.Y., Ms. McDonnell majored in mathematics and computer science, and received an honorary doctor of laws (LL.D.) degree in 2011. She earned her MBA in finance and investments from Adelphi University, Garden City, N.Y.
Jim Morris
Chairman, President and CEO
Pacific Life
Mr. Morris is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Pacific Life Insurance Company, and of its parent companies Pacific Mutual Holding Company and Pacific LifeCorp. He's only the 14th chief executive officer in the company's 148-year history. Mr. Morris was a summer actuarial student from 1981 to 1982 with Transamerica Occidental prior to joining Pacific Life in 1982 as assistant actuary, Special Marketing. He progressed through a series of management positions within the Life Insurance Division and was elected senior vice president, M-Operations in 1996. He was responsible for business relations with M Financial Group, a leading life insurance producer group that designs and markets individual life insurance products to the upscale market in collaboration with Pacific Life. In 2002, he was promoted to executive vice president, heading up the Life Insurance Division of Pacific Life. In April 2005, Mr. Morris was promoted to executive vice president and chief insurance officer. His role was expanded to include the Annuities & Mutual Funds Division and Pacific Select Group, in addition to the Life Insurance Division. Mr. Morris was promoted to chief operating officer in January 2006. On April 2, 2007, Mr. Morris became Pacific Life's president and chief executive officer.
Bob Kerzner
CLU, ChFC, President & CEO
LIMRA, LOMA, & LL Global, Inc.
As president and CEO of LIMRA, LOMA and its parent organization, LL Global, Bob Kerzner leads the world's largest association of life insurance and financial services companies. In 2010 he led the merger of LIMRA and LOMA, which together represent more than 1,200 members across 64 countries, including most of the world's largest life insurance companies. As it's the trusted source for industry knowledge, financial services companies look to LIMRA and LOMA for their research, training and development needs. Under Kerzner's leadership. LIMRA and LOMA have exhibited record growth and profitability. Before joining LIMRA in 2004, Kerzner was executive vice president and head of the individual life division of Hartford Life, Inc. Under his leadership, the division experienced dramatic growth and record financial performance. Kerzner also led The Hartford into affiliated distribution with the acquisition of Woodbury Financial Services, a national broker-dealer organization with more than 1,800 independent representatives. Kerzner served as president of Woodbury following the acquisition. Kerzner's career with The Hartford spanned 30 years from 1974 to 2004. In his first 20 years, he established performance records in field sales and management, before moving to senior management. Kerzner is a leading voice in the life insurance, retirement and financial services industry, recently speaking at events held by the Department of Treasury's Federal Insurance Office (FIO), the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and Life Insurance Commission of New York. He is regularly sought out by leading national publications, like The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and USA Today, as well as a host of trade and other business media outlets, to provide insight into industry issues and trends. Kerzner is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University.