It pains me a bit to write this. There are many things I like about Philadelphia. I cherish its history, as well as its culinary contributions to the realm of the sandwich; namely the Cheese Steak and the classic Hoagie. However, while I was largely impressed with the RIMS conference, the city left me with the feeling that it was not prepared to accommodate it.
First the conference:
Good sessions. Good attendance. Good exhibit hall. A classically well run RIMS conference that largely met all expectations.
Some standout items for me, in no uncertain order:
A Killer Mobile App – If you have a smart phone and did not take advantage of the mobile app they offered this year, you missed out on a tremendous tool. Sponsored by Sedgwick, it provided up to date activity alerts and text reminders, as well as comprehensive session and exhibitor information. It included the ability to rate sessions, and a killer map locator service for quickly finding specific exhibitors in the exhibition area. It offered much more, and both RIMS and Sedgwick get a big thumbs up from me for making this available this year.
Lunch & Learn – I have been to these before, where you select a table at lunch for its designated discussion topic. It is not unusual at these to wind up at a table with friendly people who never manage to actually get to the scheduled topic. That is not a criticism, by the way, as I am just as guilty as anyone else for wandering off the chosen path of dialogue. This lunch however, was not that way. I ended up at a table discussing the impact of an aging workforce. I chose that subject since I figure I am aging, and wanted to find out how I was going to screw the system up as I did so. It was a great time. The 8 of us engaged in some off topic chat, but then delved into the topic at hand, and actively talked about many of the challenges we faced. A randomly diverse group, we had attorneys, risk managers, and a representative from a Security trade organization who was looking to work with RIMS on common interest areas. We were all so engaged that we did not realize that many of the other tables had finished and gone back to the conference. We all exchanged cards and finally went our way. Great group. Time well spent.
Sessions – This year I specifically attended claims management sessions, and found them to be quite good. I wrote about one yesterday, and will have another article early next week regarding “not” screwing up your claim.
Exhibit Hall Pub Crawl – Attendees got to sample local beers while wandering the hall. A terrific, outside the box event for RIMS.
If I could improve just one thing, one thing that would have made this conference an “A+”, it would be:
For the Opening General Session, lose the Teleprompters. Show some humor. Take a risk, folks. The opening session had some strong moments, including a clever opening video playing off Philly's “Rocky” connection, but quickly settled in to a teleprompter dominated give and take between RIMS Executive Director Mary Roth and President Deborah Luthi. While I am certain they are quite competent and talented in their roles, the presentation quickly took on the feeling of an extended actuarial review of the entire US Tax Code. All 80,000 pages. While the intent was good, much of the information they discussed would have been better presented perhaps in a lively panel discussion that allowed for true give and take, losing the over scripted feel.
The featured speaker following, Oakland A's Manager Billy Beane, was well positioned and worthwhile.
The City of Philadelphia:
While there were some notable strong points in Philly, such as the quality of the food and service attendees found at many receptions, there were some major issues that significantly hurt the grade assigned to this year's host city.
On the positive side, Philly did not disappoint in the culinary arena. Notable standouts would be the El Vez, which was the location of NWCDN's reception, and The Water Works Restaurant, home to the MedRisk party on Tuesday night. The Ritz Carlton did a very nice job for Safety National, and of course there are quality Cheese Steaks in abundance throughout the city.
But the areas where Philadelphia failed were significant. The two primary areas were hotels and transportation.
Hotels sold out quickly, and were more expensive than any conference I have attended in the last 12 years. With rates at some locations approaching $500 a night or more, this city really worked hard to bust corporate travel budgets. This was a big topic with attendees I spoke to, with terms like “price gouging” being used by more than one. Now I am a free market guy, I think hotels can charge whatever they like, but I also think that people are free to vote with their feet, and choose not to support those operations in the future.
And prices weren't the only issue. There was a palpable sense that hotels and the city may have just been a bit overwhelmed by it all. My hotel, the Crowne Plaza of Cherry Hill, NJ, was a conference hotel that was reasonably priced – and 12 miles from the convention center. I was happy to be at this location as I am a regular customer of the chain and its related properties (I am a points guy, after all). Normally they are a great operation. This time was a bit different.
I arrived very early, and did not expect a room to be available at 11AM, but figured I would check in. I was told to come back about 1:00 or 1:30 and hopefully my room would be ready. I did so. It was not. I waited in the lobby (I have been working to lose weight, and waiting in the bar would've proved counter-productive to that goal. The days ahead would be challenging enough). I watched through the afternoon, as guest after guest was told that “check in is 4:00”, and was turned away. Eventually several of us began commiserating, as it seems misery loves company, and we could not understand how no rooms had become available in the course of the afternoon. Finally, at 4:00, they started checking people in. The result was a line out the door.
Of course, when I finally got my room, I suddenly believed what they had said about my room not being ready. After a 5 hour wait, this is my room, just as I found it after check in.
Interestingly, I spoke with a couple other people at the conference who experienced similar problems at different hotels. I have never encountered this before, but the whole sordid scenario plays hard on the Philly grade I've assigned here.
Transportation was the other issue that was largely negative. With several hotels located a significant distance from the Convention Center, attending evening receptions was more challenging for those depending on conference shuttles, which stopped running at 6PM. Cabs were plentiful, but not a cheap option. I happened to have a rental car, but incurred about $50 in additional parking fees over the course of the conference. The transportation issue that really stood out to me was the available flights and security at the airport. Flights were very difficult to find a few weeks before the conference, and many people had to get creative to reach the city. Apparently airlines added flights to accommodate, but the airport did not apparently adapt.
For the return on Wednesday, the airport was mobbed. Hundreds of people were snarled in security, trying to catch their plane to head home. TSA has approximately 15 screening lines at the Philadelphia International Airport.
4 were open.
One of the benefits of traveling as much as I do is I have earned the privilege of accessing the “Fly By Security” line at most airports. I am one of those annoying people who zips by those who have been trudging through the cattle line for 45 minutes, gets his ID verified and moves right on in to security.
THAT line was over 30 minutes. I can't even imagine what the people in the standard line were enduring. Obviously this was a hot topic amongst the milling masses, and those not affiliated with the conference were confused as to why things were so hectic. One TSA agent explained to the man in front of me that this was, in his words “chaos”, and that a large conference in the city had caused airlines to add capacity.
Clearly someone forgot to tell the guy who writes TSA's work schedules.
Overall, the RIMS Conference is a great experience, I highly recommend it, despite the issues I write about here. I was disappointed in key areas of the host city, and I don't think the hotels and transportation facilities put their best foot forward.
And I think RIMS should scratch Philadelphia off the list of future conferences as a result.