On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Chapter I am pleased to report, what we believe to be, the best year ever experienced in our Chapter history. So much was accomplished in such a short period that the annual report may not do it justice. Among some of the outstanding accomplishments to note were the following:

BYLAWS

Under the direction of Peter F. Palestina, CPCU, Chapter Parliamentarian, the Chapter amended its Constitution and bylaws on April 5, 1999. The new bylaws were approved by the CPCU Society’s Board at their October 1999 annual meeting. The new bylaws brought language up to present day standards and also allow the Chapter to conduct its business in a more efficient manner. Prior to this, the last bylaws update was in 1988.

CANDIDATE RECRUITMENT and DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Chaired by Val Katz, CPCU. The Committee maintained an active list of candidates and sent out invitations to our meetings. On-site discussions for CPCU and IIA candidates were conducted. Good luck letters were mailed to candidates encouraging their continuance in the program. This Committee also intertwines with the Personal Sponsorship Committee with at least 25 CPCUs involved. A booth was maintained at I-Day and solicited Chapter contributions to the Harry J. Loman Foundation.

CAREERS IN INSURANCE COMMITTEE

Committee Chairman Phil Spinelli, CPCU reviewed the booklet "There is a Career for You in Insurance" published by the Society and determined it would be appropriate literature to disseminate at a Career Day academic workshop. In addition, it was believed that the booklet would have made a great handout at a Project InVest program that the Chapter has sponsored from time to time, but the coordinator did not have the time to commit to the work involved as the sponsor intermediary, so those efforts will be renewed next year.

CHAPTERGRAM

Peter F. Palestina, CPCU, Editor of the Chaptergram since 1983, published four issues (eight pages each) which were distributed in September 1999, December 1999, March 2000 and June 2000. In addition, two two-page interim Chaptergrams were published; one August 1999 and the other February 2000. These issues were mailed piggyback with monthly meeting mailings in order to save postage. The current issue is also always published on our website. We continue to receive compliments from both internal and external readers about the Chaptergram and we do send it to members of other chapters who are on our mailing list. It also serves as a model for other chapters.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Perhaps the one low point for this year is the fact that none of our monthly breakfast meetings were filed for CE credits. This is expected to change next year with better attention to filing requirements and deadlines. However, each breakfast meeting did qualify for earning CPD credits. In addition, many of our co-sponsored seminars and workshops were filed for and qualified for CE credits as well as CPD credits.

DIRECTORY

Through the efforts of the Membership Committee chaired by Pat Rakowski, CPCU , a Membership Directory continues to be available on the Chapter’s web site.

EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Chaired by Val Katz, CPCU, worked with the Seminars Committee, Insurance Society of Philadelphia, I-Day and the Speakers Bureau in bringing educational value to the members and the general public.

EQUIPMENT PURCHASE – LCD PROJECTOR

The Chapter made an investment in equipment by purchasing an InFocus LCD projector that can be utilized by our speakers and guest speakers. Oftentimes we had to rent these machines at a very high cost. This will save us money in the long run and will also help encourage our members to prepare Power Point and other visual aids that can be useful when we make presentations.

ETHICS AWARENESS ESSAY CONTEST

Val Katz, CPCU Chaired and conducted our first ever Ethics Awareness Essay Contest with the Cherry Hill School District. Students wrote about Internet Ethics during the month of May and the awards were presented at the School Board public meeting of June 12, 2000. Val was assisted by Chapter member Maria Perez - Freedman, CPCU. There were over 400 people on hand for the ceremony.

FIRE ESSAY CONTEST

Peter Palestina, CPCU, chaired the 16^th annual Fire Safety in the Home Essay Contest co-sponsored by the Council Rock School District in Bucks County, PA. The contest was held in October 1999 during National Fire Prevention Week. Awards were presented to the winning elementary students at two public meetings. The first was on November 22, 1999 at the Council Rock School Board Meeting and the second was on November 23, 1999 at the Northampton Township Board of Supervisors public meeting. PA House of Representative member Roy Reinard, III presented commendations from the House and also had our Chapter and the winning students’ names entered into the state registry. Elected officials of Northampton Township, and Upper Makefield Township presented citations to the winning students, who reside in the respective municipalities. Both meetings were broadcast live over the local cable network to five municipalities. Peter F. Palestina, CPCU and Cynthia Wolkiewicz, CPCU made the presentations.

FRANKLIN AWARD

Josephine Battisti, CPCU Chaired this committee. Our recipient for the 18^th annual award was Robert Seltzer, CPCU, President Cohen-Seltzer, Inc. The presentation was made at the Doubletree Hotel in Philadelphia on March 23, 2000. 226 people attended including many past award recipients. The keynote speaker was former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski. Chapter President Pete Palestina also used the forum as an intro to Ethics Awareness Month, displaying posters and remarking on ethics as part of his speech to the audience during the luncheon ceremony.

FRANKLIN AWARD SEARCH COMMITTEE

Chaired by Phil Spinelli, CPCU the Committee worked diligently to compile a list of candidates for consideration of the Franklin Award. Th Committee also encouraged membership participation in the nominating process through the Chaptergram and the website. A list of potential recipients was forwarded to the Chairman of the Selection Committee so that a worthy nominee could be designated as a recipient.

FRANKLIN AWARD SELECTION COMMITTEE

Chaired by Art Hanebury, CPCU and was responsible for selecting this year's recipient Robert Seltzer, CPCU.

GOOD WORKS

Cynthia Gantz, CPCU, Chair of the Good Works Committee, reported this years Chapter’s participation in the May 6, 2000 Philadelphia Special Olympics held at Northeast High School. Representing the Chapter and wearing their CPCU Chapter hats were many Chapter members who volunteered their time and effort. This year we more than doubled our number of Chapter members who volunteered to help with this worthwhile event. There are two other projects that are considered Good Works (Fire Safety Essay Contest and Scholarship Grants), and we list them as separate items for this report.

INTEREST SECTIONS

Due to the efforts of Chapter Secretary Clint Gillespie, CPCU, a Personal Lines Interest Section was endorsed by the Society. This year, the Chapter began to formulate an effort to generate interest in creating Interest Sections within the Chapter with the assistance of John Kelly, Interest Sections liaison for the CPCU Society. John set up an Interest Sections table at the May meeting containing literature and was available to answer questions. Cindy Wolkiewicz, CPCU has been appointed Interest Sections Chair and will continue to generate interest of our membership during the upcoming year.

MEMBERSHIP

The Membership Committee comprised of Pat Rakowski, CPCU (Chairman), Courtney Algeo, CPCU, Denise Forbes, CPCU, Jim Fryer, CPCU, Jim Jones, CPCU, Davis Shepherd, CPCU, Don Sutton, CPCU, Charles Walker, CPCU, William Wares, CPCU, Rina Williams, CPCU and Mary Wong, CPCU) met several times during the year. The Committee coordinated activities with the Resources and Surveys Committees and posted several articles in the Chaptergram and on the website. This Committee was instrumental in putting together our first Mix & Mingle event that was held on April 26, 2000. The Committee also encouraged retirees to become more active in the Chapter. Members worked on a calling campaign to contact over many people on the unpaid members list encouraging them to come back in the fold.

MEMORIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE

Chaired by Phil Spinelli, CPCU. A part of the Chapter's website is dedicated in memoriam to past Chapter members. We try to diligently update this section by searching out information or photographs of these former members who have passed away. This is an ongoing activity which will be carried forward to subsequent Chapter years.

MISCELLANEOUS COMMITTEE

New this year was what we called the Miscellaneous Committee Chaired by Kathleen Frenzel, CPCU. The Miscellaneous committee was used as a catch all when various committees and chairs needed help. What we did was whenever a member expressed a desire to help out in some capacity we put them on the Miscellaneous committee and then used their expertise where needed. Some examples of this were Sharon Ehrhardt, CPCU who is working on a research project and David Shepherd, CPCU who is assistant Webmaster for our website and also was instrumental in helping coordinate the Mix & Mingle. A few of our new designees were also recruited into action. Kathy was impressed with the number of people who wanted to get involved and hopes that the Miscellaneous Committee will continue to grow.

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ( FORMER CHAPTER OFFICERS’ LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE )

The NLI (National Leadership Institute) conference was held on June 8-10, 2000 in Las Vegas, NV. Five Chapter members attended: President Peter F. Palestina, President elect Val Katz, Secretary elect Lilly Cowan, Secretary Clint Gillespie and Director elect Rita Hoffstein. Each brought back many ideas to implement in the next chapter year and Pete spoke at two sessions (How to Create and Maintain an Effective Chapter Website and How to Market Your Chapter) being instrumental in bringing many of our chapter procedures and recommendations to those attending the NLI. Our chapter website was a highlight as well as the Chaptergram and an Excel spreadsheet awards tracking program developed by Pete during the year. Many chapters commended our chapter on its efforts and we have developed a communications link with several of the members across the country in attendance at this worthwhile event.

NATIONAL SERVICE

Several members applied for National Society service for the upcoming year and others served on National Committees during the current year.

NEW DESIGNEES LIAISONS

The New Designee Liaisons for this year were Mary Ann Ryan, CPCU and Lilly Cowan, CPCU. As New Designee Liaisons, their primary responsibility was to identify a 1999 New Designee to assume the role of New Designee Chair for the 1999 CPCU class. They contacted Patricia Mahoney, CPCU who was identified and recommended by Ann Myhr, CPCU. Pat and Mary Ann also enlisted the assistance of one other 1999 CPCU graduate, Beth Timko, CPCU. Once Pat and Beth were on board, Mary Ann guided and assisted them with their responsibilities as chairpersons which included inviting the New Designees to the September Breakfast Meeting and Philly I-Day. They also distributed welcome gifts (CPCU Society pins) at I-Day. New Designees were also invited to the April Mix & Mingle.

NEW DESIGNEE REP

Patricia Mahoney was our New Designee Rep for the class of 1999. Assisted by Elizabeth Timko, CPCU, Mary Ann Ryan, CPCU and Lilly Cowan, CPCU. Congratulatory letters were sent to the new designees in August along with an invitation to attend the September breakfast meeting as guests of the Chapter. The Committee met in Boston after the conferment to celebrate and talk about Chapter activities with Chapter President Pete Palestina, CPCU. An upbeat biography of the Journey to Success as a CPCU designee was composed by the Committee and posted on the New Designees area of the website. October brought the Committee together to discuss I-Day and letters were sent to all new designees inviting them to I-Day as guests to receive recognition by Society President-elect Bruce Williams, CPCU. A reception was also held prior to the luncheon by the Board.

NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE

The Committee this year was chaired by Frank Mason, Jr., CPCU. The Committee's role was to recommend a slate of candidates for officers and directors for the upcoming year. Their work was completed in February and the full slate of recommended candidates were elected at the April meeting.

PERSONAL SPONSORSHIP COMMITTEE

Chaired initially by Val Katz, CPCU and then taken over by new Chairman Rita Hoffstein, CPCU, this Committee worked in similar fashion, and in conjunction, with the Candidate Recruitment and Development Committee. At least 25 Chapter members were Personal Sponsors during the Chapter year.

PHILLY I-DAY

Val Katz, CPCU was our Chapter’s Co-Chairman member of the I-Day Executive Committee and reported that our I-Day, held on December 8^th, was in every respect a smashing success. With 405 people attending, we received very positive feedback on our morning sessions. Our morning General Session, featured key industry executives comprising a panel moderated by former Insurance Commissioner Constance Forster. The panelists discussed the new distribution channels for the industry and its repercussions on the industry we know today. We attracted thirteen exhibitors who graciously donated several door prizes for participants and Walter Bateman, CEO and President of Harleysville Insurance Companies gave a wonderful speech on the value of continuing education in our evolving industry. Bruce Williams, CPCU, President Elect of the CPCU Society congratulated our new designees, presented diplomas along with Chapter President Pete Palestina, CPCU, and administered the CPCU Charge to all CPCUs in attendance. The afternoon sessions were well attended and were approved for two Continuing Education credits.

PROCEDURES MANUAL

Pete Palestina, CPCU has put together an Awards Planning Excel spreadsheet program which helped guide the Board on the criteria established for each Chapter award available at the Society. This has been a helpful start to an expanded guidebook that will eventually be put together and made available to all officers, directors and chairs. The undertaking is a comprehensive one and could take several years to complete.

PROGRAMS

Program Chair was Ann Myhr, CPCU. Average meeting attendance this year, as of the May meeting, was 82. The topics were:

PROJECT INVEST

Anne Kopanski, CPCU, chairperson directed this committee. Unfortunately, there has not been much of anything to report on the status of the donation that the Chapter has made to InVEST from time to time. In May of this year Ann came to a Board session on behalf of InVEST seeking funds. However the Board required further information and a history of how prior monies were spent and how they would be spent in the future should the Chapter continue to make contributions. A submission proposal was made by InVEST officials headquartered in Virginia, relative to educational materials. The proposal is under consideration by the Board and may be acted upon by the current year ending June 30, 2000. InVEST is involved in activities that help bring an understanding of the insurance mechanism to school children. In past years, the Board approved the purchase of five textbooks, to be used by high school students.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Larry Crawford, CPCU took over earlier this year as the Chapter’s Public Relations Chairman. This Committee plays an important role in securing public recognition for chapter activities, advising the public through the media of important events, and gaining recognition for the CPCU designation. Assisted by Chapter President Pete Palestina, CPCU, the committee sent out many press releases and was successful in having several articles published, not only in the printed media, but on internet news sites as well. During the past couple of months, Larry has sent out many Public Service Announcements. In addition, the Chapter kicked off an intensive Anti- Insurance Fraud campaign by placing two ads in the newspaper and also conducting several speaking engagements on the subject during the month of May. This has perhaps been the best year ever for our public relations efforts, mainly due to the drive of Larry and the tutelage of Pete. The future for the Chapter PR has never looked better and is in good hands with Larry at the helm. Larry has some great ideas for next year including the expansion of the list of media contacts.

RESEARCH

Kathleen Frenzel, CPCU took the responsibility of drumming up interest in members conducting Research Projects. This year we saw one project completed and another started in process. A special thanks goes to Larry Gross, CPCU who concluded and submitted a project that addressed "Downsizing From An Insurer’s Perspective". In addition, Sharon Ehrhardt has started a project dealing with "The Availability of Residential Property Insurance in New Jersey Coastal Communities" and expects that project to be completed during the 2000-2001 Chapter year.

RESOURCES

Lilly Cowan, CPCU, Chapter Resource Chair reported that an updated, 3 page questionnaire was sent to 30 New Designees (Class of 1999) and 10 Transferees in early February, 2000. Lilly decided not to send the questionnaire to the entire chapter membership, as was done last year believing that it was not cost-effective to do so every year, and was primarily interested in input from new members. To maximize the response, a pre-addressed envelope was enclosed. Members also had the option to respond by fax. Reports were generated for each of 9 categories. The member interest data was listed by year of designation, and included name and contact detail (phone, fax, and company name.) Reports were provided to Committee/Section Chairs, so that they might follow-up with the individual new members.

SCHOLARSHIP

Rick Lee, CPCU, Chair of the Scholarship Committee, reported that the Committee continued to progress throughout the year, with the direction set by the Chapter President, Peter Palestina, CPCU. The Scholarship program now consists of:

SCHOLARSHIP GOLF BENEFIT

SECTIONS

Cindy Wolkiewicz took over as liaison for forming or encouraging Sections within the Chapter. There will be more emphasis for this next year. This year, a tabletop display was set up at the May meeting and staffed by John Kelly, CPCU of the Society. The June meeting will have a Personal Lines focus with the topic of Aggressive Driving and Road Rage.

SEMINARS

Cindy Wolkiewicz, CPCU, Chair of the Seminar Committee, reported that the chapter hosted the following workshops:

SOCIALS

Socials Chairman Art Hanebury, CPCU reported that we will again have the Annual Greater Valley Forge and Philadelphia Scholarship Golf Outing on June 16, 2000. In addition, the Mix & Mingle was held in April. Plans to work on a special Social outing for next year are being considered, such as paint ball, cocktail hour, night out show of some sort.

SPEAKERS BUREAU

WEB PAGE

Pete Palestina, CPCU, Chapter Webmaster, on October 1, 1998 launched our new and expanded web site at URL www.philadelphiacpcu.com. Prior to this the Chapter utilized the limited space as a web site provided by the Society. There have been over 2,400 hits to the site since its launch. The site has expanded from 87 pages last year to 128 pages and is the largest site of any chapter. Containing information about the Chapter’s past and present, responsibilities, online feedback, inquiries, e-mail links for every Officer, Director and Committee Chairs, our bylaws, a Bulletin board, this Annual Report and a Membership Directory among many other items. It is updated weekly and includes the Chaptergrams, recaps of each Chapter meeting and minutes of our Board meetings. The highlight of the site is its hundreds of photos depicting the many events that took place in the Chapter history. There are pages for a listing of all past Presidents, Franklin Award recipients and a Memoriam section for deceased Chapter Members. The website has been used as a model for other Chapters to emulate and was featured at the NLI conference on June 10^th where Pete led a session on How to Maintain an Effective Chapter Website.

YEAR END 7-1-1999/2000 OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

President Peter F. Palestina, CPCU

First Vice President Val Ullman Katz, CPCU

Second Vice President Ann Myhr, CPCU

Secretary Clint Gillespie, CPCU

Treasurer Rick Lee, CPCU

Director Cindy Wolkiewicz, CPCU

Director James Jones, CPCU

Director Rina Williams, CPCU

Director Josephine Battisti, CPCU

Director Kathleen Frenzel, CPCU

Director Arthur Hanebury, CPCU