Jeff Dromeshauser has spent more than 17 years in the insurance industry, but the 2024 Accelerate conference in New Orleans was his first. NetVU calls Jeff and others like him NewBees. With so many choices of speakers, presentations and celebrations, the Accelerate conference can be a bit intimidating. So NewBees, this cohort of first-time attendees, get special attention from meeting organizers and volunteers to ensure they have an excellent conference experience.
It was a technology project that didn’t go as planned that drew Jeff to NetVU and volunteer Joyce Siglar, who helped get his agency back on track encouraged Jeff to think about attending the NetVU conferences Spark and Accelerate. As a shareholder and vice president of business development for Sovereign Insurance Group in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Jeff attended the conference with a distinct lens: how to help his team use technology to work smarter, not harder.
“My customer service reps know a lot about the Vertafore technology. But to sit with the people who had a hand in creating the software to help answer questions or understand the challenges is really important,” Jeff said. “It’s an investment in their growth, but it is helping me build my topline revenue.”
Jeff now volunteers for NetVU and has a few tips for those who are thinking about attending Accelerate or Spark.
“NetVU provides a lot of online support. But there is nothing like the immediacy of sitting with a peer, understanding that I cannot possibly be the only one with these challenges, and speaking directly with other leaders who can brainstorm and bounce questions and ideas off each other,” Jeff said. “This community of people and peers has helped my business grow.”
His second tip? Lean into the cohort of people who are attending, ask questions and take advantage of the casual environment to really talk to people and share ideas.
Next, use the app to plan your schedule so the entire conference doesn’t feel overwhelming.
“There is no way to hit every speaker, there are too many sessions to attend everything.” Jeff said. “But be proactive and leverage other members of your team or people you meet at the conference to help share information gathered during sessions you were not able to attend.”
Next, pace yourself. Trying to do it all can be exhausting, and you will miss those natural interactions along the way.
“I gave myself permission to skip a session if I was having a really good conversation with someone and we were discussing our challenges and experience,” Jeff said. “I realize these conferences are an investment in time and money, but the connections and people you meet informally can be just as valuable as the sessions themselves.”
Finally, Jeff said spending time with your team or others who participated and sharing what you learned is important.
“It gives you a chance to share the information you captured and hear other perspectives and gives you an opportunity to start putting this all into action,” Jeff said. “The entire conference was a chance for me to see what’s coming, what’s next and how to use this to build efficiencies for my topline revenue. It was well worth it!”
Accelerate 2025 is scheduled for May 7-10, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and registration is underway. Click here to learn more or email me directly.