VCIA 2023 Conference Set To Return to Full Pre-Pandemic Form

The 2023 Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) Annual Conference set to begin next week on August 7 represents a true return to the conference's pre-pandemic form, according to VCIA officials.

While in recent years the COVID-19 pandemic by necessity shaped the way the conference was designed and presented, with appropriate precautions in place, this year the VCIA is in "full go mode" for the conference, with a likely attendance in excess of 1,000 and a conference experience organizers believe will be back to normal.

The foundational elements of this year's VCIA conference remain best-in-class education with professional credit available, a forum for discussion of the latest captive insurance trends, access to captive insurance company owners, and, of course, various intangibles. Key among those intangibles are the benefits that can emerge from opportunities for face-to-face interaction with others in the captive insurance industry and the informal networking opportunities that arise during the event.

VCIA officials said they saw the pent-up demand for those face-to-face interactions at last year's conference, when the association returned to an in-person event after the pandemic forced the association to present the conference as a virtual event in 2020 and 2021. Conference attendees were obviously energized by the opportunity to gather in person again last year, and VCIA conference organizers expect more of the same this year.

VCIA officials note that a lot of business gets done in person at the association's annual conference, and they say they've designed the conference experience to support that business. The conference's opening reception, for example, has proved such a popular opportunity for those interactions that conference organizers expanded this year's reception in the conference exhibit hall to 2 full hours on August 8.

An off-site reception on August 9 at Burlington's Hotel Vermont will offer further networking opportunities along with food and drinks, including artisanal Vermont beers. Conference breakfasts and lunches will be among the other opportunities for VCIA conference attendees to mingle and share information.

In order to maximize the exhibit hall experience, the VCIA limited the number of exhibitors at this year’s conference to 70. That exhibit space has been sold out for months.

As is the case in the captive insurance industry more broadly, the VCIA conference demonstrates a spirit of congeniality, even among industry competitors. While the VCIA conference is an annual gathering and a Vermont event, it becomes truly a captive industry-wide conference with representatives of numerous domiciles in attendance. At a time when the captive insurance industry is growing rapidly, the VCIA conference becomes a celebration of the captive insurance industry and truly the place where "the captive world comes to meet," according to VCIA officials.

They note that with the Vermont captive domicile positioning itself as the captive industry's "gold standard," it's important that the annual VCIA conference matches that level of quality.

The VCIA conference's educational offerings, and the work that goes into creating them, reflect that emphasis on quality, VCIA officials note.

Developing educational sessions for the VCIA conference is a rigorous 9-month-plus process, which begins with receiving proposals for session topics shortly after the prior year's conference ends. Those topic suggestions are then submitted to a selection process that includes captive owners. Once the topics are finalized, session coordinators manage the process of selecting speakers who have real experience in the session topic.

VCIA conference planners look to provide educational content that meets the needs of all conference attendees, covering the complete spectrum of captive insurance knowledge. That includes sessions accessible to those new to captive insurance, including a Captive Immersion Preconference Workshop with 13 speakers the afternoon of August 7, a Captive 101 session August 8, and a 2-part session August 9 providing a newcomer's guide to the captive industry.

Throughout the conference, educational sessions will be designated as "beginner," "intermediate," and advanced. The structure allows conference attendees to "dial in" the educational experience that's right for them, according to VCIA officials.

Conference sessions at this year's VCIA gathering will address such topics as what's involved in forming and owning a captive; environmental, social, and governance issues; communicating a captive's value; board member responsibilities; new uses for captives; building captive industry talent; reinsurance; technology and data valuation; captive investments; and parametric insurance.

The information presented in conference sessions will be the most up-to-date available, with VCIA officials noting that session presentations were still being revised just weeks before the conference to represent the most recent information available.

A conference app available to VCIA conference attendees allows them to plan their schedules, network with other attendees, browse the conference agenda, and get access to conference resource materials. Using the app, attendees can also study the exhibitor map and exhibitor listings, and participate during the event through session likes, comments, ratings, live polling, and more.

By gathering captive professionals from around the world, the annual VCIA conference brings together diverse risk management and captive insurance experience, all to the benefit of conference attendees, according to VCIA officials.

The 2023 VCIA conference is scheduled for August 7–10 at the DoubleTree Conference Center in Burlington, Vermont. For more information about the conference, or to register, visit the VCIA's website.