Welcome to The Communications Bringing Claims Professionals
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 Bryan Harrison |
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volunteer events and become the bringer of the messages of the vendors who provide services? I asked, and he answered. “It’s a long and sorted story,” he said with a grin. “Early-on, I was working for a medical supplies company, mostly outfitting wheelchairs for CP (cerebral palsy) inflicted children,” he said with a more serious tone. “My boss was a character, but the job didn’t pay much, and I had a wife and a baby boy at the time who were relying on me to provide for them. While the work was gratifying, seeing these poor kids trapped inside such severely impaired bodies was constantly heartbreaking to me.” Looking for something that might better feed his family, without being quite so emotionally charged, Bryan answered an ad for a Sales Rep for Casualty Adjusters’ Guide. “The Publisher at the time was looking to expand their one Northern California edition into a two: for San Francisco and N. Central Calif. (Sacramento),” explained. “My Dad had been a BI (casualty) adjuster at State Farm in my early years, so I asked his opinion of the Guide. With his recommendation of the CAG, I embarked on promoting the publication and helped them launch the Sacramento edition,” he said. Always an independent contractor for the CAG publishers, Bryan was able to explore other avenues on his own time. He pursued the graphic design field. “I set myself up to design brochures and ads for my clients on my little Macintosh Plus computer, the original one with the nine inch screen.” As Betty Neblett, then of Rochat & Smith Appraisers, was set to take-on the presidency of the East Bay Adjusters Association she inquired with the CAG publishers about publishing a monthly newsletter for their members. “The CAG folks were contractually barred from doing this, so Betty effectively talked me into doing it on my own.” In the early 1990s there were many more claims association organizations than there are today. The idea of having an independent publisher to produce their individual newsletters proved to be a pretty hot ticket. The concept of the Claims Conference of Northern California emerged around that time, though Bryan is hesitant to say he suggested it. “The Combined Claims Conference in LA was having very good success,” he stated. Once again, Betty Neblett, this time with former Executive Director of the California Association of Ind. Insurance Adjusters, Gene Riggs, decided to put together an event with primarily volunteer efforts. They gathered support from regional claims associations, eight of whom offered up a couple of volunteer representatives each, and began what became the annual CCNC. Betty and Gene encouraged Bryan to take an active role from the start. “I guess a lot of it had to do with my contacts and involvement throughout the region,” he says. “They needed someone to do design and production work, and I was that guy.” Meanwhile, opportunities continued to come fast. “A year or so after CCNC’s initial event, I was invited in as a partner in an upstart internet development business, Taylor Solutions, LLC. That was a great learning experience, but also added to an extra load to my overloaded obligations,” he said. “Learning to manage all of this was a major growing experience,” he chuckled as one can only do years after the fact. “We built the business to where we had as many as seven employees, and were struggling to keep our heads above water. Tammie eventually purchased the design portion of the business and went off on her own, creating TLC Designs. “I managed to refocus my efforts and concentrated on the four (4) Northern California publications we started with, while continuing to do volunteer work for the CCNC, having started a web site for the group. I’ve heard it described since as ‘reinventing yourself’,” he laughed. Bryan’s concept has been successful in part because he has continued to adapt to the technologies of communication to deliver the news about the insurance claims scene, and the fact that the whole production of the newsletter is entirely paid for by the vendors that support the industry. “The service providers are the engine that drives the delivery of the minutia that carrier personnel need to know,” Bryan explained “The events, people, happenings and even job openings - all the stuff that can help people in their careers.” In August of 2007, Bryan incorporated his business as Association News Network, Inc. “The relationship between Association Network News and the claims associations has been described as synergistic - I am able to supply the means for the groups to get their respective messages out while providing a cost effective vehicle that allows the vendor community to target their marketing efforts - which serves to keep me employed. It’s a win-win-win.” Music has always been a huge part of Bryan’s life. Inspired by favorite bands (The Beatles when he was four or five) and his older cousins who played in a band in LA, he first seriously picked up the guitar at 13. “I learned the basics of playing guitar in 8th grade folk guitar class,” he explained. “I was part of a band into my early 20s,” he said, “but saw the long road ahead and family obligations took over.” Still, he persisted, playing in a few garage bands in the late 80s and early 90s, the most serious of which was Stone Biscuit. As a newly divorced dad, he would share custody of his two kids, Chris and Sarah, and spend his off nights performing at open mic events, initially at the first place he found- The Sweetwater Saloon in Marin County. There, Bryan was recruited to play at the Lost and Found Saloon in San Francisco’s North Beach, where he became a regular. He fell into a cool crowd of new musician friends, playing often there and at the Hotel Utah in the City. Out of those early days, where he met his current band mates Jim McLaren, Dave Coan, and later Elisa Welch, he formed what was known for some years as BHB (Bryan Harrison Band). “I was never comfortable with the band being my name,” he tells us. “For years I tried shift the emphasis from it’s origin, being all about my song-writing, to more of a joint effort kind of band.” Just this year, the group found a name they all could be pleased with, and became “The Buds”. The Buds have found a great organic niche, playing at numerous Farmers Markets around the Bay Area, They have, in fact, just released a new CD called “Organic Tuneage”. “We’ve played a bunch of markets where new fans have asked about getting a CD of our music,” Bryan explained enthusiastically. I have a solo CD, ‘Thru the Open Gate’, and Elisa has her record, ‘The Wheel’, but we didn’t have anything that reflected the sound folks would hear at these venues. So, we recorded one in my living room.” The record has been well received in initial revues. “It’s certainly not a highly produced 48 track super-overdubbed product,” Bryan says, “but it does fill the need of providing a product that sounds like us.” He gives credit to a dynamic CCNC committee that is enthusiastically making it look easy. “We’ve had some good teams over the years, and perhaps I’m a bit biased,” he said with a big smile, “but we have a truly wonderful crew putting this event together this year.” The early response to the call for registrations and sold-out hotel rooms contributed to the energy around the committee and the all-important buzz surrounding the educational event. “The new continuing education requirements for adjuster licensing has been a big draw for us this year,” he stated. “I’m very proud of all that the claims industry organizations represent.”
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