URMIA's 2024 Annual Conference Overview

In this episode of URMIA Matters, Michelle Smith, Executive Director of URMIA has a conversation with Colorado Robertson, Director of Risk Management at Mississippi State University and Chair of URMIA's 2024 annual conference in New Orleans and Jack Voorhees, Senior Director of Events for URMIA. Together they talk about what to expect at the 2024 URMIA annual conference, including the educational lineup, the city of New Orleans, networking opportunities, our host hotel, and the return of the Spouse, Family, Partner, Guest Program. Listen now to get excited about New Orleans!

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Transcript

URMIA Matters Season 5, Episode 8: 2024 URMIA Annual Conference Overview

MICHELLE SMITH

Hello, everyone. I'm Michelle Smith, Executive Director here at URMIA, and I'll be your host for today's episode of URMIA Matters. Today, we're going to chat a little bit about one of my favorite topics, the upcoming annual conference. As the excitement builds and registration has opened, we want to tell you all about it.

With me are Colorado Robertson, the 2024 Conference Chair, who by day is the Director of Risk Management at Mississippi State University. And Jack Voorhees, our Senior Director of Events, one of IRMI's newer staff members. So welcome to the podcast, friends.  

COLORADO ROBERTSON

Thank you very much. Good morning, Michelle.

Laissez les bons temps rouler.  

MICHELLE SMITH

Exactly. Before we get into that, though, I always like to ask our guests to tell the listeners a little bit about themselves. So, Colorado, will you kick us off? Tell us a little bit about yourself, your background. Professional path in risk management, where you're from, what you like to do outside of work, that sort of thing. 

COLORADO ROBERTSON

Absolutely. Uh, so as Michelle said, I'm at Mississippi state university now and a great Starkville, Mississippi. I've been here for about three years now. Uh, before that I was at LSU go tigers for, uh, nearly 10 years and risk management, and then graduated, uh, from LSU as well, a few times. Uh, grew up and born and raised in Louisiana, and, uh, that's kind of looking forward to bringing everybody down to Louisiana and, uh, in New Orleans this fall. 

MICHELLE SMITH

Yeah, so you're, uh, our conference chair in more than one way, the host, local host, and the, uh, overall conference chair for, uh,  Is this your first time on the podcast though?  

COLROADO ROBERTSON

This is actually my second time on the podcast. I think I was on the seventh episode. If anybody wants to go back and watch that one to, uh, to bump up the numbers.

Um,  but it has definitely taken off since then. So glad to be back. 

MICHELLE SMITH

Yeah, you were. I remember when I first came to URMIA five years ago and we were talking about launching the podcast. You were a real proponent. Thanks for your support. Glad to have you back.  

COLORADO ROBERTSON

So, uh, glad to be back. And yeah, still drive down to Louisiana just about every weekend.

And the URMIA podcast is on my rotation. So, uh, I definitely, uh, am an avid listener. I will not be listening to this episode though. I don't know if I can handle listening to myself talk.  

MICHELLE SMITH

Okay. That's fair. That's fair. We're glad you're here. Thank you. Jack, welcome to the team, team URMIA. Uh, what can you share with the listeners about yourself? 

JACK VOORHEES

Thank you very much. I'm so happy to be at URMIA. Uh, my name's Jack Voorhees. I joined URMIA about five months ago. However, I've been working in nonprofit trade associations serving higher education for about 20 years. Previously, I worked with an organization called CSHEMA, Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association, uh, and also serving students and professionals working in college unions. 

MICHELLE SMITH

Well, welcome to URMIA and welcome to the podcast. This is your first official podcast, right? 

JACK VOORHEES

Yeah, that's exactly right. 

MICHELLE SMITH

Great, great. Okay. So let's dive right into the discussion. Um,  tell us, um, Colorado, uh, what you are like, How do you approach this? Like, this is your first time being the conference chair. Um, why did you decide to apply? Why, why now? Um, and what do you think you want folks to walk away from the conference experience with?  

COLORADO ROBERTSON

Yeah. Um, well, you know, as y'all know, New Orleans has been in the making for quite some time. Uh, it was originally slotted, uh, to be a conference back in the early 2020s, but COVID got in the way and changed up our schedule a little bit.

Uh, but we're glad to finally be hosting, uh, a conference in New Orleans. It's definitely a city that, uh, is an experience in itself, and we hope that everybody will be able to make it down to New Orleans or join us virtually. Uh, and I think that's exactly what we want. We want this to be an experience and, uh, one that, uh, our members can take away from, uh, not just, uh, enjoying New Orleans or, uh, but it's also the experience of the educational sessions.

It's the experience by networking and getting to see, uh, Uh, their fellow URMIA members, either virtually or in person in New Orleans. Uh, but coming back together. I mean, New Orleans is definitely a, uh, a city that is built to host. Uh, there's an unbelievable amount to do in New Orleans as well. And our conference committee, uh, has done a great job of, uh, being able to bring New Orleans into the conference.

Uh, so we'll be talking a little bit about some of the ways that you'll be able to interact with New Orleans and the experiences that are, uh,  And then also, uh, we'll talk a little bit about other ways that you might be able to get out and find some other experiences of your own, uh, and come back to New Orleans and hopefully see some of your, your friends that you've, uh, you've, you've developed with your colleagues over the years.

Uh, and it's, it's definitely a great atmosphere. to spend time with people. We also have a great educational experience for folks, definitely focusing on both resiliency, emerging risk, uh, as well as we'll be talking a lot about artificial intelligence and the impact that will have on our industry, on our offices and on our institutions. 

Yeah, that's right. Um, you know, the conference is a great combination of things, and one of those is having a great experience. Great host city and thankful that we're able to finally get to New Orleans. Um, the host hotel is, is in a great location as well, centrally located. And then the content that we're going to, um, put on is, is also. 

Just top notch set of, uh, breakouts, um, keynote speakers, um, general sessions, and URMIA is sort of unique in that way. We lead with our education that we don't open our registration until we have that educational lineup. So, um, it's already on the website. We invite you to, um, take a look and, and I'm really happy to see that what the committee originally started talking about is, is coming through in that, um, lineup of education.

MICHELLE SMITH

So. One of the most popular features at URMIA's annual conference is the networking, which Colorado mentioned old and new friends. And can you tell us a little bit about what we have on tap for our members and ways they can connect? 

JACK VOORHEES

Yeah, one of the things I'm learning about, um, URMIA members is they love to get together and talk about, uh, shared concerns and, um, solutions to their problems.

So we've come up with, um, a lot of great opportunities. Uh, first of all, we've, uh, scheduled some optional tour opportunities on both on Sunday and Tuesday. Uh, we've got two campus tours of,  uh, Tulane and  I'm going to start over. 

Uh, we've got campus tours of Tulane University and Loyola University, uh, on Sunday and Tuesday. Uh, some shopping if you want to go down to Magazine Street and see some of the neat shops, uh, that are down there. Uh, New Orleans has a famous cooking school, so if you are interested in watching, um,  cooking demonstration of some Creole food that's available on Sunday as well.

Then, uh, Sunday night, uh, thanks to Gallagher, we'll be going to the Sazerac House, which is right across the street from the hotel. It is a beautiful remodeled historic building with a three floor, um, exhibit on the history of the Sazerac cocktail, which was created in New Orleans, so that'll be great. Um, we'll also take you through a taste of New Orleans that night.

Um, all the classic food that you come to know and love from New Orleans. Uh, Monday night, uh, if you want to get together with some other colleagues that don't have other dinner plans, we've arranged for some meet and greet dinners. You can register for those, um, when you register for the conference, uh, that'll include a set menu, um, at, uh, one of two restaurants currently we may add to that if we have more interest. 

Uh, the closing event on Tuesday night is at the world famous Pat O'Brien's, um, on Bourbon Street. Uh, Pat O'Brien's is closed that night, so we have an exclusive use of that space. Um, all inclusive, uh, dinner and drinks will be offered that night. Then at the hotel, uh, we have some community space set aside, so if you got some downtime, need to check some emails, or just want to have a cup of coffee, the community space will be on the second floor. Uh, for you to hang out and connect with others. And then of course, um, between the three breakfasts and two lunches and various receptions and other breaks, we have plenty of time to connect with others. 

COLORADO ROBERTSON

So connect with others and I promise you will not leave hungry. If you leave hungry, then that is on you. But, uh, we've got a great opportunity, um, and lots of, like Jack was saying, lots of, uh, traditional, uh, unique experiences here in the French Quarter. Uh, great courtyards, some, uh, some great environments, and I've already ordered the perfect weather.

Uh, so don't worry about that. Uh, we've got all that worked out.  

MICHELLE SMITH

Thank you. That's a, that's a big one. I'm glad you have that taken care of. So, uh, for those,  Nice. For those who can't join us in New Orleans, tell us a little bit more about the virtual opportunity you mentioned earlier.  

COLORADO ROBERTSON

Yeah. So we have a great, uh, we understand hopefully everybody will get to join us, but we know that there are certain circumstances where you may not be able to join us in New Orleans.

Uh, so we'll continue to, uh, grow our virtual, uh, presence with the annual conference. Uh, Jack and Michelle have worked to increase the number of of uh, educational sessions that are going to be available from four to five. Uh, and you'll also have opportunities to participate in the general session. So we have some great keynote speakers and general sessions lined up this year.

Uh, and you'll be able to participate in those. Uh, and just, you know, making sure that you can, um, Engage other people within your campus community with risk management. You can also expand, uh, and have others join that virtual, uh, conference participation, uh, across your university. So this is a great opportunity to invite others, uh, to listen in and join the conversation around some of the topics that we'll, that we'll have for you. 

MICHELLE SMITH

Yeah, I love that we've come up with a way to make it to spread the information that by one get four additional free virtual attendee opportunities is really important to help us tell our story across campus and  registration is going to open in June for our virtual attendees and we expect we'll have a great  line up for them to experience and to share with their colleagues and our numbers will be great.

So, um, back to New Orleans though, Colorado, I know you're a big fan of New Orleans like I am. What are a couple of things that maybe aren't on the website that we've shared publicly that you would recommend for folks to see or do or eat while they're in New Orleans?  

COLROADO ROBERTSON

Yeah, so Michelle, like you said, there's just so many and there's something for everybody, uh, in New Orleans.

So, uh, we definitely encourage you to check out the website, uh, Jack and the New Orleans, uh, and Company Visitors Bureau set up a great website so you can explore all the many different things New Orleans has to offer that we won't be able to get into the podcast today. Uh, but just some of the things that I like to do is I'm not necessarily a late night person, but New Orleans is also great to spend time in the morning.

Uh, so I think some of the best things will be in the unique French quarter. It's historic, it's old, it's unique, it's charming, uh, and getting up and getting out early before everybody else hits the streets and that nice, cool, uh, fall weather that we're going to have. Uh, and finding a good coffee shop or a patio or a courtyard to have coffee in, uh, or some of the great breakfasts that they have to offer just, you know, blocks away from the hotel, uh, is a great experience as well.

Uh, Uptown New Orleans is also great to visit if you have an opportunity to come in on the, uh, on Sunday, uh, we'll be at Audubon Park for the golf outing. We'll be on the beautiful campuses of Tulane and Loyola. Uh, and taking the streetcar up there, uh, to experience uptown New Orleans is also a great experience.

As far as food there, we can spend an entire podcast talking about the food and the restaurants in New Orleans. Uh, I will give a shout out to some of the classics. Uh, you know, we'll, we'll have, uh, I think some people will be going to Antoine's. Uh, last, uh, when we were in New Orleans in February, we went to Two Jacks, uh, home of the Grasshopper, which I will be sure to share with all of you guys.

Uh, when we get to the conference, uh, this fall, uh, you can Google it if you need more information in the meantime. Uh, but those are some great things to do. Uh, also, you know, New Orleans has become known for the National World War II Museum, uh, which is a great experience. It takes up multiple city blocks, uh, and if you're interested, uh, in World War II or just a great museum to learn a little bit more about the American, the story, uh, that will take, uh, You know, some time you could spend a half day there.

You could spend an entire day or multiple days just in the National World War two museum, which is just about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. So those are just some of the great things that you can do. But for those that aren't as adventurous, don't worry, we'll be bringing in all those New Orleans. 

Experiences into the conference. So you'll have an opportunity, uh, to participate in the conference and get some of those, the food and get some of the experiences, uh, just by participating in some of the great sessions, uh, and networking opportunities that we have.  

MICHELLE SMITH

Yeah, I would, I would echo those recommendations.

I'll also add the famous cafe demand for a beignet. Um, they also, if you ask or find on, um, some different menus around town, a smaller, uh, Cut of a beignet with the famous powdered sugar, but also some lavender. So lavender beignets were my favorite experience back in February when we went to new Orleans.

Um, again, plenty of restaurants, just a culturally rich city, um, to explore and get outside the quarter as well. Um, plenty of tours. So you can choose your own adventure while you're there. So we encourage you to tack on a few days after the conference to, to experience that as well. But, um, the, that's a little bit of the inside information, Jack, where can people go find out more about the things that we have planned? 

JACK VOORHEES

Yeah. So URMIA has, uh, made a, an investment in some new software that really pulls together, um, a lot of information about the annual conference into one place. That, uh, previously we had done with spreadsheets quite frankly. Um, but one of the benefits of that is that we've got a new website for the conference.

So if you had to URMIA. org slash AC 2024, that's AC 2024. Um, the entire agenda is currently posted so that you can see all of the educational sessions and other features of the conference. Um, we. We'll be continuously updating this website as we get more information, including announcing the keynote speakers, um, other optional activities and things like that.

Um, and, um, we also have all of our sponsors currently listed. Um, we've done an incredible job getting, um, sponsorship lined up for this conference. Um, and we really do appreciate their support. So be sure to go to the website and check out who our supporters are.  

 Yeah.  

MICHELLE SMITH

Yeah, this functionality is, is really great.

And this will transfer over into the conference app, which will be in people's handheld devices as they hit New Orleans, um, filtering for exactly what you're looking for. If it's a specific track, or if you're attending virtually. You can filter the agenda for those sessions specifically. So definitely, um, a step up in that regard.

And then, um, yeah, our, our affiliate partners are just wonderful people and companies that our campuses do business with year round, and we're really happy to, to see them join us in new Orleans side by side at the meals and at the educational, um, breakouts, as well as serving as presenters and moderators.

So we're really thrilled to have all of their support as well.  

COLORADO ROBERTSON

And, uh, as everybody's checking out this awesome new website, you'll see that the educational sessions, uh, there is a lot of them this year, uh, and there's a lot of great content. We were overwhelmed with the number of, uh, educational, uh, track submissions this year.

And it was very difficult to choose, uh, just even though the limited number of slots we have, we were able to expand those, but even with expanding them, there was a lot of great ones that were left on the table. Uh, but for the ones that were selected, Uh, if you have an opportunity to check that website out early, uh, look at the tracks.

We tried to arrange them in the best scenario, but another option would be is if you typically only have one or two people join, uh, you know, consider we've got some great pricing this year, uh, that we'll talk about in a few minutes, but try to potentially bring some other, uh, individuals from your campus or, you know, Uh, if you're having to leave some people back at home, consider, uh, registering some of your staff that may not be able to attend, uh, attend in virtual sessions so that you can get the most, uh, availability out of accessing, uh, all this great content that's on the website already, uh, and being able to get that to as many members as possible. 

Yeah, you can use that or you don't have to use that, but you can cut that if you want to, but.  Paul's.  

MICHELLE SMITH

Yeah. I think that the, um, educational lineup is, is key. We also are introducing two new formats of a way of learning and having a conversation. Um, one is a fishbowl style, um, where, um, travelers is going to, you know, Help lead some conversations around, um, around set up where you bounce ideas off of, um, each other.

And then a group of people sitting in an outer circle respond to those ideas. And there's a moderator as well. So, so that is one of the two new, um, educational. Formats we're going to do. The other one is to a way to preview some of our technology. That's just been coming out in full force, um, to help us with our risk management, um, operational activities and, um, using some AI as well.

So we're going to have some. Demonstrations, sort of a poster session like where we have someone talking about the technology that they're using, how they're solving a problem, and you'll be able to experience six different types of technology in this, this poster session  type format. So, um, you could, they're quick hits 10 minutes for the presentation, five minutes of question time before you move on to the next round.

And, um, we're really thankful to those folks who are taking the risk with us on these new types of formats and presentations. So, um, Um, all of that, uh, is to get you excited about registering. So Jack, tell us where folks can register.  

JACK VOORHEES

Yeah. So head to that website, URMIA.org slash AC 2024 and click on the registration tab.

Um,  registration is open for institutional members during the month of May. Uh, one of the great benefits of registering now is that you get a 200 discount. If you register before June 3rd, and I know some of you probably are thinking, well, Jack, I can't pay until after July 1st because of our fiscal year and we've got you covered. So when you get to the checkout screen, just press the pay later option and we will send you an invoice that you can hold onto and then process it after your fiscal year, if that's what you need.  Uh, for our virtual participants and affiliates, you can register starting on July, or excuse me, June 3rd.

Um, prices do increase as time passes. So, um, if you know that you can attend the conference, there's no reason not to register early and take advantage of those discounts. 

MICHELLE SMITH

Awesome. Thank you. I know everyone is rushing there right now. Pull over before you do that.  Colorado, we had a great time in February and early March with the board  meeting that was held at the New Orleans Marriott, as well as some time together with our programming committee as we were sorting out all those proposals that we got.

Um, anything specific about the hotel or, um, information you'd like to share about our location, our host location?  

COLORADO ROBERTSON

Yeah. So, uh, we have a great hotel. Uh, it's a definitely a business hotel in new Orleans. So it's right on canal street. Uh, just, uh, in walking distance of all of our, all of our events and activities at the edge of the French quarter.

Uh, so it's a great location. The room rate is great, 239.  So hopefully that would allow people to, uh, to stay. Come enjoy the conference. Bring a few of your members from your institutions as well as potentially stay a day or two and explore New Orleans on your own. Uh, New Orleans is also a great place to get to.

They just completed a brand new airport. Uh, they're gearing up to host the Superbowl, uh, in February. Uh, so that's going to be a, a great experience. There's actually more than 40 direct flights that you can get from cities around the U S and internationally. Uh, and those prices aren't bad. I just actually had our student go in and do some numbers.

Uh, and right now the average price to get from New Orleans from the top 25 cities in the U S is only about 250 round trip. Uh, and that's with Delta American United. Uh, I'm not going to put all of you on Spirit, uh, if you don't want to go on Spirit, but those prices are as cheap as a hundred dollars. So Spirit and Southwest definitely flies direct to New Orleans from lots of cities.

Uh, so go ahead and book your hotel. Uh, get, get your registration done, book your hotel and go ahead and look into airfare. Uh, there's very reasonable cost. So, uh, cost is an understanding that we have as part of URMIA and being able to get members to attend. Uh, we're also looking forward to welcoming back all of our URMIA friends from, uh, California this year as the travel ban has ended.

Uh, and those are some great flights I'm getting from California to New Orleans as well. So even cross country flights, uh, there's direct flight options as well as, uh, very affordable. Uh, getting into the city from the, from the, uh, from the hotel, uh, I mean from the airport is also, uh, a pretty straightforward drive, uh, to get, uh, from the airport downtown.

Um, and, uh, once you get there, you, you don't have to get back in a car if you don't want to. Everything is in walking distance, uh, within the hotel and lots of great things, uh, to do, uh, in the area of town that we're in.  

JACK VOORHEES

Yeah, I'll just add one more thing. There's no reason that you can't make your hotel reservation. I think some people, um, have a misconception that you have to make a prepayment or somehow there's a penalty if you need to cancel. There's no prepayment. You just need to put a credit card down to make the reservation. That doesn't need to be the credit card that you use to pay for the room when you arrive.

And you can make changes or cancel it up until 72 hours before you arrive. So, book your hotel. Make sure you get a room at the hotel, uh, for the best conference experience. 

MICHELLE SMITH

Yeah, the lobby is, is set for additional networking outside of the things that we've intentionally programmed. Um, and we are, I have to throw, um, the, the, uh, URMIA cares project.

One of the ones that we're working on is Krewe de Pink, which is an organization in new Orleans. Uh, we're going to be working with them on a couple of different projects, but one of them is that one of the ways you can support is to buy a pink cocktail in the lobby. Lounge area, and they'll donate a portion of those proceeds back to crew to pink so excited to support them. 

And, um, I know that that folks are working on next year's budget 71 renewals, lots of stuff going on. But if you can get this hotel books and the airfare and your registration done, then you can, you can forget about it for a little bit. So that's, that's one way to look at it, mark it off your list. So, um, one of the other great things about New Orleans is that we are able to bring back, um, some guest programming, um, which was very popular before the pandemic, um, especially in Boston, which was my first conference with URMIA.

We had lots of tours going off, um, at that time. And this year we've sort of re envisioned, um, the Spouse Family Partner Guest Program. And, um, Jack, can you tell us a little bit about that? The logistics and experiences that folks can have if they sign their, their, um, friends or family up for that. 

JACK VOORHEES

Yeah, I'm really excited about this.

Um, again, New Orleans just has so much to offer and it's such a great opportunity to bring someone with you. Because if the hotel's already paid for and you want to go and buy one more plane ticket. We've put together a program where spouse, family, partners, and guests can participate in together. So, we'll kick it off Sunday evening with a small reception to get to know each other.

Then on Monday, we've made arrangements for a jazz brunch, a live jazz brunch, in the French Quarter at a restaurant called Court of Two Sisters. Um, Then in the afternoon, we offer a bus tour of the garden district and the city and the cemeteries. And then on Tuesday morning, we've arranged for a live cooking demonstration at that cooking school that I mentioned earlier in the podcast.

And then leave some time in the afternoon for hopefully people have made new friends and they just go and explore parts of New Orleans that they want to make sure they see.  Also want to make sure that folks know that, um, uh, spouses and guests are welcome to purchase additional tickets to our opening and closing events.

So if you want to bring.  Uh, your guests with you to those events during registration, you'll have the opportunity to add those, uh, to their registration.  

MICHELLE SMITH

Yeah. That sounds like a lot of fun. Can I, can I do that?  

JACK VOORHEES

think we're busy, Michelle.  

MICHELLE SMITH

Oh, darn it. Okay. Well, I, this has been really, really helpful and sort of given a visual, uh, about what the experience is going to be like, um, the  website is fantastic.

A lot of information there. I hope that will help people as well. Um, and, you know, also just understanding a little bit more about the URMIA community and how we value exchanging ideas in person and in a fun environment and where we can talk about, you know, Things that other people get you might not get that at home or with other folks on campus But we're gonna we're gonna have a great time And I love talking about the city the conference and the experiences with some of my favorite people so thanks jack in colorado for being here and  Helping us with this information and if folks have questions, I would encourage you to feel free to Uh, to reach out to. 

All right. So I want to thank the committee. So just work, work it into so I can say the last few words.  That worked great. And I also will volunteer that if anybody has any questions or wants some inside information to, you know, reach out to me, I'll definitely throw that in there. But then I also just want to make sure we thank the committee and thank the affiliates for supporting it one last time before. 

Gotcha. 

Okay,  so it's been a lot of fun talking about New Orleans with you two. Thanks for being here with me today. Um, and then, you know, if you have any questions, I would certainly welcome you reaching out to the URMIA office or one of our fabulous conference committee members. Any last words of wisdom, folks,  for our listeners? 

COLROADO ROBERTSON

Yeah, Michelle, we enjoyed it. Uh, looking forward to it. Like you said, I can't thank our conference committee enough, especially, uh, our, uh, our subcommittee chairs, uh, Keisha, Paul, and Chauncey, uh, for helping bring this together as well as our two local institutions, Diane and John at Tulane and Loyola, that's been helping a lot, uh, as well as with Mark, uh, over at the state of Louisiana's office of risk management.

So really appreciate them. Uh, we're looking forward to hosting everybody in New Orleans. If you need any inside information or, uh, please reach out to me, let me know. Uh, and then, uh, you know, at the end of the day, we are looking forward to lots of, uh, lagniappe as part of this conference.  

MICHELLE SMITH

A little extra. I love it. Love it. 

All right. Well, thanks to you both. This wraps another episode of URMIA matters.