A New Year? Yes, please!! MICA started off 2020 strong by reintroducing “MICA Lunch and Learns”. In February, Nancy Zachariades (Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty) and Mark Smieya (Travelers Insurance Company) walked through the “Anatomy of an Ocean Cargo Claim” with 30 colleagues and friends at the Park Avenue Tavern in Manhattan, New York. It was the first of several Lunch and Learns that MICA had planned to host as part of its commitment to providing educational events for marine insurance professionals. Sadly however, this was to be our last in-person event for the year due to COVID-19. Other MICA networking events had to be cancelled, including the Spring and Winter Luncheons, the Golf Outing and our 76th Annual Dinner.
We were able to successfully adapt to virtual gatherings though and in October we hosted our first remote “Lunch and Learn”. The topic “General Average & Salvage”, presented by Tom Bradshaw (AIG) and Stephen Rible (Mendes & Mount), with trivia questions by Louis Magnan (J.S. Held) was well received by a global audience of more than 100 marine industry professionals from the US, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Ecuador, Argentina and more. MICA also participated in the annual Marine Insurance Day with a presentation on “Covid 19 and Marine Insurance Implications” by Nathan Ahart (RLI), John Woods (Clyde & Co.) and Damon Finneran (Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty). These were exciting examples of how we can still maintain our connections in a virtual environment.
While we are brought together by our membership in the marine insurance claims community, our relationships often reach far beyond the confines of the business world, into long-lasting friendships. As we look forward to the new year we reflect not only on the many changes, challenges, and difficulties that our Covid 19 world has brought us, but also on the resilience shown by ourselves, our colleagues, and our industry as a whole.
We sincerely wish you and yours a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year - whatever it may bring, we look forward to a brighter 2021!
MICA Board of Directors: Nancy Zachariades (2020/2021 Chair), Thomas Bradshaw, Boriana Farrar, Jay Hamad, Louis Magnan Jr., Eileen Monreale, Jonathan O’Hara, Tony Pruzinsky, Mary Ranno, Jim Ruggiero, and Gina Venezia
MICA #NEXTGEN Committee: Carole Rouffet, Patrick McNamara, Alina Togorean, Nathan Ahart, Justin Heilig, Louis Magnan Jr. and Jay Hamad
MICA memories of 2019 & 2020 ...
MICA Next Gen Committee at MICA 2019 Holiday Luncheon at Battery Park Gardens, NYC. L-R Louis Magnan, Jr. , Carole Rouffet, Alina Togorean, Patrick McNamara, Nathan Ahart, Justin Heilig and Jay Hamad
MICA Lunch & Learn, February 2020, at Park Avenue Tavern,
New York City with instructors Nancy Zachariades and
Mark Smieya.
Stay tuned for updates from MICA.
Until then, we wish you a happy & safe 2021!
