Full IWOGC Local History

The focus this year, under the leadership of President Barbara Deller, was the attaining and retaining of members as well as continuing educational offerings to our three local associations. We held two classes for “Rules of the Road”; a CWC class; and a “Mentors & Proteges.” Most of the classes are held in the educational facilities of the Cincinnati Financial Corporation, but we have also used conference rooms of agencies to make it as easy as possible for our members to attend a class.

We began the century with 75 members and national and local dues of $91.50. The number of those members who have achieved the CPIW designation now stands at 28.

At our annual “I” Day, Region IV Vice President, Martha Woodside, was the conferring officer for our new CPIW’s: Barbara Bush, Susan Partin, and Eva Miller.

Shauna Lieberman was elected to the position of Regional Vice President at Region IV Conference held in Cleveland, March 2001. This year marked the first time the Ohio Council (comprised of 17 local associations) has hosted a regional conference. Shauna was also the runner up in the Regional CWC Speakoff—having already won the State Speakoff at the annual meeting.

May 15, 2001 was the date of our Annual Awards & Appreciation Night (formerly called All Industry Night) when we honor our employers and sponsors. This year’s event was hosted by our association and held at the Sharonville Convention Center. The keynote speaker was Sandy Masters from CPCU-IIA, and was very well received. We were told employers were impressed with the quality and professionalism of NAIW members and educational programs. We also recognized our “Women of Excellence.” Members who had taken an educational course of any kind during the past year were given a certificate of recognition. This year’s program had a new addition—the awarding of scholarship dollars to three high school students who submitted a winning essay on the topic of insurance. These scholarships are co-sponsored by CPCU;IWOGC;The Cincinnati Insurance Board and Northern Kentucky Agents Association.

This is the night all three associations recognize their Insurance Woman/Outstanding Member of the Year. This year, Phyllis Sapp was named for our association; Connie Petertonjes for Miami Valley and Lorene Friedman for Northern Kentucky.

The 2001 National Convention was held June 6-9 in Greensboro, NC. Four members made the trip by van: Barbara Deller, President and Voting Delegate; Charlene Naylor, President-Elect and Alternate; Shauna Lieberman, RVP Elect; and Phyllis Sapp. National President was Candy Robinson, whose theme for the year was Excellence Through Action. Point of Excellence nominees received a special pin and had a specific seating area during the convention business meetings.

At this year’s convention, Phyllis Sapp was named the national winner of the first Arlene G. DeSemone Memorial Life/Health Essay Award.

Thanks to a gracious volunteer, Clay Willis at Cincinnati Financial Corporation, our association has entered the world of cyberspace with our very own website, www.iwogc.org. You can find information about the current officers, the program schedule, read the President’s monthly letter and much more.

“I” Day 2001 was held November 14th at the Hyatt in downtown Cincinnati. This year’s CPIW designees are: Debra Ross; Shirley Krieger; Susan Necessary and

Mary Kay Correll. The conferring officer was Shauna Lieberman as Region IV Vice President. Unknown at the time, this was the last “I” Day under the current format. There will be no specific “I” Day in 2002, but will resume under the new format of Insurance Education Festival in April 2003, to be held at the Paul Brown Stadium.

2002

The 57th Annual Region IV Conference was held at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center and the Marriott Hotel in Covington, KY April 4-7, 2002. The conference was hosted by the Kentucky State Association of Insurance Women, and Shauna Lieberman, Regional Vice President was the presiding officer. The National representative for NAIW was Chris Kelly-Storbeck,CPCU,CPIW,DAE, National Secretary. The Conference theme was “Blazing New Horizons Together.” Conference Chair was Juanita Vickers, CPIW,DAE of the Northern Kentucky Association of Insurance Women. There were approximately 235 in attendance for the three day event. Two CE classes were offered and taught by our sister association member, Linda Hanley, CPCU,AIS,CPIW. After the welcomes and opening ceremony, the first item of the business session was the CWC Speakoff. All four states had very accomplished candidates, but of course we could only send one to the National Convention in Anchorage, Alaska. Region IV was very well represented by Geraldine Parhm, FLMI,CPIW from the South Bend/Mishawaka Association in Indiana.

Other winners were: From IWOGC, Doris Gibbons, Rookie of the Year. The AAMGA Award was accepted by Charlene Naylor, IWOGC President on behalf of the association. From Toledo, Donna Wymer, Claims Professional of the Year. From Cleveland, Diane Ziemann, Ins. Professional of the Year. Diane was also Ohio State Director for the 2001-2002 term. The Thursday night welcome party was a disco theme—Friday night were the State Dinners and the Saturday night banquet was a southern cotillion with a “Gone With the Wind” theme at Tara. Most dressed for the period and the RVP and her court were escorted by U.S.Marines. The delegates elected Tamre “Tam” Hileman of the Buckeye Insurance Women in Van Wert, OH as our next Regional Vice President.

Our Annual Awards and Appreciation Night was hosted this year by our sister association, Miami Valley Insurance Women on May 8, 2002 at the Sharonville Convention Center. The theme was “Home of the Brave.” Keynote speaker was Colonel Kenneth Morckel of the Ohio State Patrol who spoke on Homeland Security. Scholarships were awarded to three local high school students who were winners of the essay contest, and sponsored by IWOGC,MVIW,CPCU,CIB and the Kentucky Claims Association. Outstanding Member/Insurance Woman of the year awards were given to: Doris Gibbons, IWOGC; Juanita Vickers, NKAIW; and Mary Ann Cox, MVIW. Rookie for IWOGC was Sandy Weitlauf and Annette Brunner was named for MVIW.

The 61st Annual Convention was held in Anchorage, Alaska May 12-15, 2002 at the Hilton Hotel and Egan Convention Center. Those representing IWOGC were:Shauna Lieberman, RVP; Phyllis Sapp, Ass’t to the RVP; Charlene Naylor, Local President and Delegate; and Doris Gibbons, Alternate Delegate and Regional Rookie of the Year. For the first time, Credentials were done electronically on lap top computers. National President Aleta Stephens theme throughout the year has been “Leadership in Partnership.” At the first business session, the Leadership tree was unveiled. This was a Christmas tree which had been decorated with ornaments donated by associations and individuals from all nine regions. These ornaments were later auctioned at a silent auction with the proceeds going to the NAIW Education Foundation. President Stephens recognized all those who were Golden Gavel nominees, and the first graduating class of the DAE (Diversified Advance Education) designation. She also introduced NAIW’s new focus on Cyber Crime.

The Insurance Women of Anchorage were our hospitality hosts and did a wonderful job of keeping food available for grab and go breakfasts and breaks.

July 6, 2002: We mourn the passing of our past president, Betty Pennington who had been quite ill for several years. Betty was 89, and the only surviving members of her family are three grandchildren. Her son, Robert preceeded her as well as her husband, Hal. The Pennington Agency is now being carried on by granddaughter, Dawn Collier.

The August summer social was arranged by social chair Teresa Flenner and was a dinner cruise o one of the B&B Riverboats. In spite of the cost ($42.00) a good number of members attended and had a pleasant time cruising the Ohio River.

The September meeting program was conducted by Membership Chair, Shauna Lieberman and was devoted to getting back to basics to benefit our newer members. We also heard from Cheryl Geisler from HOSTS regarding mentoring in the elementary schools.

October 15th was the Joint Meeting held for the benefit of State Director Cathy Wolford’s visit. This year IWOGC was the hosting association. Members from MVIW and West Central Ohio attended. The CFC Choral provided musical entertainment. Meeting was held at the Four Points Sheraton in Kenwood with Debra Ross, President as presiding officer.

November 8-9, 2002 IWOGC hosted the Annual Meeting of the Ohio Council of NAIW held at the Embassy Suites in Blue Ash. The highlight of the meeting was the CWC Speakoff---Terri Dull, Ins. Women of Cleveland won the opportunity to represent our state in the Regional Speakoff. Officers for the coming year were also elected for the Ohio Council. Sue Shaw, Ins. Women of Akron will be the next State Director. Charlene Naylor was named Insurance Woman of the Year for the Ohio Council. We also set a record for having 22 first timers at the meeting, and 13 were from IWOGC.

The regular November meeting program was geared toward Education with emphasis on President Bush’s declaration of “No Child Left Behind.” We also continued the “I Can” series before our meeting. Topic was “Business As Un-Usual.” Class facilitator was Phyllis Sapp. Our Good Works committee donated $500. to the United Way to aid the tornado victims of Van Wert (a tornado did considerable damage on Saturday, Nov. 9th).

The December social was held at the LaComedia Dinner Theatre in Springboro.

We lost another member in October, 2002. Ginny Burkhart had been a longtime member until her retirement.

2003

The “I Can” series continued before our regular meeting in January. This month’s topic was”The New Math—Education IRA’s”. Class facilitator was Phyllis Sapp.

Our guest speaker was Susan Hunter of Toastmasters—very informative and an incentive for our own CWC program.

The February meeting was conducted by Membership Chair, Shauna Lieberman and more basic information about NAIW explaining in depth the various designations, primarily the CPIW and DAE, which is new. Shauna thanked all the members for their part in our efforts to bring the National Convention to Cincinnati in 2006. For her efforts, she was awarded the Champion Award from the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau.

By Laws Chair, Doris Gibbons reported our revised By Laws were approved by National, and the members also voted to approve a Standing Rule change so that we could recognize those interested in becoming our Corporate Partners. Kathleen Walker from Insurance Overload Systems became our first Corporate Partner under the new rules. The annual fee this year is $100; however, this is subject to annual revision.

March is nationally known as “Ethics” month; therefore, the “I Can” series continued with Nancy Moore as facilitator and Barbara Benson as the program speaker. The topic was “Ethics-Shades of Black and White.” Deb Ross reminded us about the Insurance Festival on April 9th at Paul Brown Stadium.

On March 1, 2003 we lost another longstanding and faithful member, Ruth Schmitt who had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for several years.

April is usually a closed meeting due to elections. This year we decided to let our two new corporate partners present their products and services. Kathleen Walker of Insurance Overload Systems and Henrietta Nye of Keir Educational Resources presented a brief overview of their companies. Nominating Committee Chair, Charlene Naylor reported that for the first time in a number of years, we have two candidates running for each of the elected offices. Election results were as follows: Doris Gibbons has been serving as President Elect and will move up to President on July 1st. Susan Necessary was elected to the position of President Elect. Shauna Lieberman was elected as Vice President. Sandy Weitlauf was elected as Secretary and Rhonda Manley is the new Treasurer.

The 58th Annual Region IV Conference was held April 3-6,2003 in Lansing, MI at the Sheraton Hotel, and was hosted by the Michigan Council of NAIW. The theme was “Growing the NAIW Tree” There were 10 IWOGC members who made the trip by vans. Rhonda Manley was named Regional Rookie of the Year and will now go on to compete at National. Our sister association, NKAIW, came away with two awards – Northern Kentucky won the Pinnacle Award and Ann Westmeyer, Blue Grass Association won Insurance Professional of the Year. Conference attendees from IWOGC were: Debra Ross, President and voting delegate; Doris Gibbons, Rookie and Alternate; Shauna Lieberman, Immediate Past RVP; Charlene Naylor; Susan Necessary; Janet Partin; Barbara Deller; Barbara Benson; Phyllis Sapp and Rhonda Manley.

April 26th was the annual Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race For The Cure. As in the past Nancy Moore headed up our team of members who participated in the run/walk event at Sawyer Point Park on the Cincinnati Riverfront, and crossing the newly designated pedestrian bridge, known as the Purple People Bridge connecting Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

The month of May brings our Annual Awards & Appreciation Night. This year IWOGC celebrated 60 years as an association. On May 20th, our event was held at the Metropolitan Club in Covington, Ky. Phyllis Sapp was event co-ordinator. The activities were a power point presentation showing photos from our history books, a fashion show featuring two models for each decade in appropriated dress for the era and musical background. NAIW VIP guests were: Cheryl Blair Lee, National President Elect; Tam Hileman, Region IV Vice President; and Cathy Wolford, Ohio Council State Director. Also on the VIP guest list were John J. Schiff,Jr.CEO of Cincinnati Financial Corporation; Chad Bilz, club sponsor, Ron Eveleigh, Exec.VP Cincinnati Insurance Board to name a few.

The CPIW designees this year are:

• Julie Deininger, AIS, CPIW

• Shamal Desai, CPCU,CLU,AIM, CPIW

• Donna Ealy, AIS,CISR,CPIW

• Betty McKenzie, AIS,CISR,CPIW

The new DAE designees this year:

• Barbara Deller, HIAA,CPIW,DAE

• Shauna Lieberman,AAM,AIM,AIT,CPIW,DAE

From Northern Kentucky:

• Juanita Vickers, CPIW,DAE

The 62nd Annual Convention celebrated NAIW Harmony at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee June 11-14, 2003. President Linda Santiso was the presiding officer. IWOGC members traveling to the convention were: President and Voting Delegate: Debra Ross; Doris Gibbon,Alternate Delegate; Rhonda Manley, Regional Rookie Candidate; Shauna Lieberman; Phyllis Sapp; Barbara Deller; Susan Necessary;Charlene Naylor; Nancy Moore; Barbara Bush; Brenda Bush; and Janet Partin.

On a sad note, September 24, 2003, we lost another longstanding member and Past President, Betty Baker. Betty was 72 when she died, and had worked up to at least age 70 as Claims manager at USI Midwest, downtown Cincinnati.

In the fall of 2003, our Charter Member, Jean Mason entered the Deupree Health Center in Oakley since she can no longer get around without aid due to a deterioration of a hip joint.