| Quotes of the Month
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"Humor is just another defense against the universe."
-Mel Brooks
"The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working when you get up in the morning and doesn't stop until you get to the office."
-Robert Frost
Source: www.amusingquotes.com
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Joke Time
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A lawyer and a businessman were fishing in the Caribbean. The lawyer said, "I'm here because my house burned down and everything I owned was destroyed by the fire. The insurance company paid for everything."
"That's quite a coincidence," said the businessman. "I'm here because my house and all my belongings were destroyed by a flood, and my insurance company also paid for everything."
The lawyer looked confused. "How do you start a flood?"
Source: www.basicjokes.com
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Dingbats and Dillweeds: Because Everyone Loves an Idiot!
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Today's CE class project: Incorporate "conversion", "aircraft", "perils of the seas", perils on the seas, "voluntary parting" and "falling objects' into a single "continuous, repeated exposure to substantially the same harmful conditions." And the winner is:
The Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli, a Brazilian priest who decided to strap himself into a chair attached to a cluster of helium balloons. After soaring into the heavens among the cheers of his parishioners, rescuers spent several days in a futile search of the Atlantic for some sign of him.
Source: The Week Magazine |
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"Finding a Diamond Among the Coal!" Department
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Surely you've heard that many folks now refer to the World Wide Web as the "World Wide Waste." The amount of digital flotsam and jetsam arriving daily merely from ex-Nigerian officials with a need to move money out of the country is enough to clog up the mightiest mailbox filter!
We mean, how much fun is dealing with that? So here at IIF, where we are always about more fun, we decided-as a public service-to help. Each issue, we will find you a diamond from among the coal, a swan from among the geese, a pearl from among the swine-well, you get the idea. So feel free to reroute all your current e-mail bloat into that "automatically delete" file, while trusting us here at IIF headquarters to pass on anything truly worthy of our valued attention. And hey, it'll be fun!
This issue:
Curious about the inception of the insanity that is our industry? Our friends across the pond have been writing insurance policies since the Mesozoic Era-all stemming from the buzz around one little coffee shop. Visit this site for a look at our industry when it was knee-high to a grasshopper:
Find the Diamonds!
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News Flash: Waterboarding - Not Torture, Teambuilding!
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Awkward team-building exercises and corporate functions often find their way into the conversations of folks who like to battle each other with stories of their misfortunes. Unfortunately, if this "Chad" happens to be in your circle, you lose.
An employer in Utah is being sued by "Chad," a former salesperson who claims he was waterboarded during a function as a team-building exercise. Allegedly, the boss announced to the group during the exercise, "You saw how hard Chad fought for air. I want you to go back inside and fight that hard to make sales."
Does the threat of torture at work motivate you? We want to know! While maybe not this extreme, everyone has a story of some exercise or function they took part in that seemed painstakingly pointless. Share your story with us, and if it's miserable enough, we may just pity you with an IIF prize or an appearance in a future issue! Names will be changed to protect the innocent. Send recollections of woes to teambuilding@insuranceisfun.com.
Source: The Week Magazine
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Can Slow and Steady Still Win the Race?
By Chris Amrhein, AAI
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"Ready! Fire! Aim!"
"Burn the Ships!"
"Rules for Revolutionaries!"
"Moving at the Speed of Thought!"
"Thriving on Chaos!"
If you were to peruse the management aisle in any bookstore, you'd think the war is on, and if you aren't throwing yourself off a cliff every day in the search for that breakthrough strategy, or in pursuit of that fired up competitor, there's just something wrong with you. At every conference, we are bombarded to stay "connected 24/7," keep that BlackBerry fired up, and either get in the fast lane or get out of the way of the technologically savvy and "wired to the max" younger generation.
You'd almost think the turtle lost that race to the hare.
Race on to the Rest of the Story!
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Brand Tip: Vegas-Style Attitude
By Peter van Aartrijk Jr., CIC
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I'm blogging my fellow Funsters from the airport in Las Vegas, heading home on a red-eye after a few days. I was here for the ACORD Conference, which is a gathering of people who care deeply about technology and insurance-apparently deeply enough to, ahem, "endure" the Vegas experience.
Unwilling to spend 24/7 under the canopy of the monstrosity known as Mandalay Bay, I took some breaks and surveyed the Strip for a couple of hours here and there. Easy to do-so much to see. The bright lights, spectacular water fountains, outlandish limos, pulsating music-and, or course, people from all around the world with their abundance of silicone and tattoos.
Early one morning-or late one Vegas evening, depending on your perspective-I went for a run on the Strip, hurdling over some folks who clearly had over-served themselves. But I was surprised at the many others who happily were walking around. It really is the city that never sleeps.
Then, this last evening before my flight, I sat with some friends outside Planet Hollywood, sipping beverages, watching the hordes of people passing by. I tried to figure it out.
Click for Vegas, Baby!
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| Book of the Month: The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
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"You lost me." While they may not speak those words exactly, this is the message your prospect or insured is trying to convey when you start talking insurance, usually within the first minute or so.
By nature, people respond well to pictures. Sometimes, even the most simple of illustrations (stick men, arrows, circles, etc.) can cut hours off your attempts to explain complicated insurance concepts. Roam's tome teaches businesspeople that white boards, notepads and anything else that serves as a backdrop to a graphic will do, and that you don't have to be an artist to teach someone visually. The book is refreshing and fun, packed with examples of how simple visual training can be used by even the most artistically challenged in our agencies. And think of how much fun a game of "Insurance Concept Pictionary" could be at a staff meeting! Read it today!
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| Product Deal: Father's Day!
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Spring is here, and summer is on the way. IIFers know what that means-BBQ! And if there is anything more traditional than outdoor cookouts, it's wild and crazy outdoor cookout aprons! Far be it from IIF to pass up an opportunity to be wild and crazy. This month's special is none other than official IIF BBQ aprons! Yes, friends, you can now dazzle your family and guests by sacrificing your burnt offerings garbed in the latest and greatest IIF cookout slogan wear. And as a special bonus, these aprons actually work! Cotton/polyester blend, medium length, neck ties and extra long waste ties are standard. Also included are two handy stitched pouches-perfect for keeping close those critical BBQ items like cooking tools, recipes, burn ointment, fire extinguishers and cell phones with the local pizza delivery place on speed dial. Don't delay-this special price will burn up quicker than your bratwurst. Click that BBQ link now!
Do It for Dad!
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Picture of the Month: Redneck Risk Management
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Having learned from Katrina, Billy Joe knew to flee the hurricane area early, loaded with his essentials and cleverly prepared even for rising waters. Yet he tragically failed to foresee the pothole that would simultaneously anoint him "The Airboat King" on Channel Five Eyewitness News and "#1 Dip in the Road" on YouTube.
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