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Western Regional PLRB Perseveres In Spite of Fire Storms By Bryan Harrison Association News Network, Inc. click on photos to see larger versions	Sunrise flying into John Wayne airport Oct 30, 2007

Keynote speaker Dana Lamons spoke on the "Four E's of Excellence", kicking off the two day conference. Keynote speaker Dana Lamons Classes were well attended Dave Warters, of Belfor USA, and Bob Tucknott, of Tucknott Electric Company. Jeff van Fleet, center, and others, at Crawford & Co. booth. Rick Shutt and Ryon Hayward of ServiceMaster. CRDN booth, complete with wardrobe options. Kelly Sullivan, Koning & Associates.	COSTA MESA, CA: Faced with the very real possibility of cancellation due to the devastating fire storms extinguished just days before, the Property Loss Research Bureau & Liability Insurance Research Bureau (PLRB/LIRB) persevered with their Western Regional Adjusters Conference here October 30-31, 2007 at the Hilton Costa Mesa. With so many property losses in the area, many total losses, organizers and sponsors alike feared that adjusters would be too busy to attend the conference. However, all such fears were quickly vanquished upon stepping into the main hall at the beginning of day one. Keynote speaker Dana LaMons gave his uplifting and inspiring presentation “The Four E’s of Excellence” to a large crowd. The Catalina Ballroom, in fact, was full fairly near to capacity. “We did all we could to assure everyone involved that the conference was indeed happening,” said PLRB’s Tom O’Dowd, with a clear sense of relief for such respectably strong attendance. PLRB conferences are well known in the industry for their excellence in continuing education and training for claims professionals. While actual attendance for this event was less than the printed roster, a potentially ugly scenario was avoided. The old adage “the show must go on” played out very nicely. Claims industry conferences, by nature, are always at the affect of the potential catastrophe. Whether fire, hurricanes, earthquakes, or other natural disasters, adjusters are called to the front lines whenever catastrophe strikes. Organizers, sponsors, and exhibitors go into these things realizing that risk and, by and large, are able to take it in stride. Some carrier personnel usually seen at PLRB functions were nowhere to be found, primarily those of the major homeowners’ writers in the region. “About 85 percent of the homeowners’ policies are held by about five companies,” explained Chris Koning, President of the independent adjusting firm Koning & Associates. While there are a lot of people in the field working to alleviate the devastation for so many people, there remain a lot of claims people unaffected in their jobs and, therefore, still available to attend. PLRB attendees had a veritable smorgasbord of workshop classes from which to choose, depending on their own specialities and training needs. From case law updates, negotiating strategies, and coverage issues, to water damage mitigation options, environmental clean-up procedures, and roofing loss evaluations, to brain injury claims, analyzing intellectual property claims, and many more, there was pretty literally something for everybody. These regional adjusters conferences are still a fairly new addition to the national conference held each year by PLRB/LIRB. In the western regional, they have taken to alternating from Northern to Southern California. Last year’s event was held in Santa Clara. Next year will be held in Sacramento, leading up to the National Conference in Seattle the following year, according to O’Dowd. Next year’s National Adjusters Conference is being held in Boston April 13-16, 2008. More on that may be found at www.plrb.com. Barbara Larsen, of Cunningham Lindsey, and Joan Barrett, of Market Share. Lenny Towle, of FRSTeam chats with an attendee. Jeff Crone, V&M Restoration, Inc.; Kerry Levan, Ward-Tek, Inc., and Jeff Stoner, Stoner & Company. Frances Hewitt, Tucknott Electric Co. Joan Barrett, of Market Share; Steve Drake, of Restoration Clean-Up Company; and Travis Sumners, of Relocation Housing Specialist. Justine Bone, DataSafe, Inc; and Frances Hewitt, Tucknott Electric Co. Steve Sheffin and Kevin Gass, of Settlement Solutions, Inc. The Crawford gang	Scott Powell, of PLRB welcomed the crowd. Tom O'Dowd, of PLRB Danell Cassetta and Karen Cowan, of Restoration Management Company. Classroom session presenter, Joe Kneppers, of Madsen Kneppers. Brain Injury Claim presenter, Steven Carter, PsyD LP. Gary Janz, of CRDN, and Kathy Woodward. Sandy Masters, of CPCU Society Danell Cassetta, of RMC, and Don Sams, of Sams & Associates. Debi Collum and Jacqueline Souza, of Sequoia Insurance.

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