The SILA Six: Unexpected Moments and Met Expectations at the 2023 SILA Conference

The Securities and Insurance Licensing Association (SILA) is one of the biggest organizations of its kind, bringing regulators and industry compliance administrators together to share stories from the trenches and best practices. So, if you thought the annual conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was a total staid affair, you’d be forgiven. But YOU’D BE WRONG.

This conference may be for people in licensing and compliance for insurance and securities businesses, but it offers a unique blend of entertainment, education, and networking that makes it unlike other events in the industry. Although there are sponsors and vendors – very cool, useful vendors like yours truly – the pitch-fests and sales plays of other conferences are absent. 

Frankly, many attendees are competitors as much as compatriots. But attendees are there to get answers about compliance and commiserate on the joys and challenges of working in a niche within a niche. That’s why, at the SILA conference, rivalries are largely set aside in favor of camaraderie.

This open sharing of knowledge and sentiment set the stage for a conference that was, at least in 2023, full of the unexpected. 

2023 SILA Surprises

1. The sand art of Joe Castillo

Perhaps you aren’t an art connoisseur, but Joe Castillo is a world-known visual artist made popular thanks to a stint on America’s Got Talent. His live performances use a sand table and backlights to bring his gritty medium to life. 

As the conference opener, Castillo took the stage and lit the dark auditorium with his light table and thematic background music. Pouring sand on the table and sculpting with his fingers, the video feed showed sand coming to life as birds in flight, fish teeming in a storm-tossed ocean, and wild trees sprawling in forests. 

Most conferences begin with keynote speeches by industry executives with C-suite titles giving a redux on the state of the industry or future-casting economic projections. It’s not a bad thing by any means. But it was a big change of pace to open with Castillo’s performance art before moving to emcee Brian Johnson, Senior Business Developer at Business Information Group (BIG), leading a punitative limbo for SILA board members and then to an inspirational speaker (whom we’ll talk about in a bit). 

2. Sharp uptick in adjuster licensing administrators

It’s probably thanks to the *gestures everywhere,* but there were far more people there to talk through the stickiness of adjuster licensing and compliance than at previous SILAs. 

Adjuster licensing is a famously fraught area of compliance, with jurisdictional differences making it nearly impossible to get licensed reciprocally in all states. With the present difficulties in the property and casualty market, it should be no surprise that adjuster firms and carriers are working hard to tighten up their operations. Now is no time to let inefficiency reign or let unnecessary risks rob you of your money. 

If only firms and carriers looking to limit their compliance exposure could automatically enforce internal compliance or farm out their compliance processes entirely. IF ONLY.

3. Peg legs and graphic inspiration with Chad Porter

Rarely are conference attendees so moved by inspirational speakers that they’re prompted to leave the room, but that was the third least-expected event of the SILA conference. 

Before lunch on the first day of sessions, motivational speaker and author Chad Porter spoke vividly and humorously about his experience as a teen who went from promising athlete to amputee after a run-in with a boat propeller.

The traumatic accident severed his leg and was a crucible for Porter’s character. He told of challenging stereotypes, continuing in athletics with the help of innovative prosthetics, and of helping children in his community accept differences by supporting pirate-themed events where he could strut a peg leg. Porter’s story was inspiring and heartwarming, and his detailed description of his personal history also at times surpassed  the constitutions of several attendees. Exceeded expectations, 11 out of 10 stars.

Things that are standard for SILA but still impressive

Part of the beauty of a conference like SILA is when it delivers on its premise quite exactly. Our top three met expectations were as follows:

1. Networking par to none

As we mentioned before, SILA is full of regulators and vendors, as well as licensing and compliance professionals from carriers, MGAs, and agencies; they manage securities professionals, insurance producers, and adjusters alike. Health and life, property and casualty, surplus and specialty – the industry was well represented in all its nuanced glory.

Some sessions featured regulator discussions, others offered the industry perspective, and vendors offered their own takes on how to solve the various challenges of doing insurance business. Yet the most valuable opportunities at the conference were the ample times to gladhand the people around and glean their view of the multifaceted work of insurance.

2. Regulators being available for casual conversation

The networking available at SILA was tops, but it was also immensely helpful to have opportunities to corner regulators for clarification and education about state particulars. 

Need an explanation of the appointment process in Washington and how affiliations matter? Reading through decades of legislation and regulatory bulletins is one way to find out, but it might be quicker to sit at a table with a member of the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner and just hash it out in person. Trying to figure out why your producers’ license applications keep getting timed out in Louisiana? Talking to the DOI reps might get you further than arguing with the system’s robots.

Whether you have hypothetical questions or a very specific concern, getting the opportunity to discuss nuances and the reasons behind the rule is abundantly useful.

3. The industry is embracing systems that eliminate inefficiencies and make it easier for everyone to do their jobs

Attendees (including regulators) had plenty of general frustrations with the current fractures in state systems. But many on-the-floor conversations showed the stereotypes of the industry as fussy and outdated are just that, stereotypes.

It’s not the people, nor is it their aversion to technology that’s holding things back. Instead, the chasm between the present and future states of the industry is largely thanks to legacy technology. Compliance and licensing admins are happy to move to cloud-based software, and are excited to leave broken manual processes. But legacy tech holds billions of data points, each one requiring categorization and protection, and a thoughtful transition to move forward. 

Everyone we met agreed with the Tuesday emcee, Ryan Fitzgerald, Senior Manager of Content Strategy at AgentSync, that “insurance is built on trust.” So here’s hoping that the tech of today can build a smoother, more trustworthy insurance industry for tomorrow.

Getting excited for SILA 2024 in San Diego

Making new friends and reconnecting with old ones makes SILA a must-attend conference, but the host location isn’t bad, either. Next year, we’re headed to sunny San Deigo, California. See you there!
If you or a loved one is looking for tech that makes it easier to manage insurance distribution, schedule a demo today with AgentSync.