NSSTA 2006 Winter Regional Meeting

The National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) hosted its Winter Regional Meeting at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix January 11-13 2006. The meeting featured record attendance, business and educational programs; committee meetings; plus a reception.  Representatives of The Legal Broadcast Network (LBN) attended the NSSTA meeting and recorded audio video podcast interviews with many speakers and attendees for future Internet broadcast and distribution.

Congratulations to Larry Curtis and the NSSTA Education Committee for their excellent work in selecting and organizing guest speakers with industry veterans in an educational program that focused on selling structured settlements. The guests included: keynote speaker, Congressman J.D. Hayworth of Arizona; Susan Bradley of the Sudden Money Institute; Daniel Shapiro of the Harvard University School of Law; Mark Leach of Conquest Training Systems; Amy Lieberman of the American Arbitration Association.

NSSTA members who participated in the educational program included: Tom Little; Joe Costello; Brad Cantell; Mike Tucker; Andy McLean; Mark Alpert; Tom Ronce;  Larry Curtis; Mark Wahlstrom; and S2KM weblog author, Patrick Hindert.  NSSTA representatives Randy Dyer; Eric Vaughn and Peter Arnold also spoke.

Wahlstrom, LBN’s President, and Hindert repeated a podcasting presentation in Phoenix (entitled “Introduction to Podcasting”) they also delivered at the NSSTA 2005 Fall Regional Meeting.

NSSTA President Jeff Bowers chaired the NSSTA business meeting where several NSSTA directors and committee chairpersons provided reports including: Dick Lewis and Brad Cantwell (Long Range Planning); Larry Curtis (Education); John McCulloch (Broker Relations); and Tom Murray (Government Benefits).  Bowers announced that NSSTA will be using a new survey tool to obtain member input on industry issues.  An independent accounting firm administers the survey and maintains confidentiality of member input.  NSSTA receives the survey results without any informational linkage to specific NSSTA members.

NSSTA will continue to improve its educational programs by building on the successes of its 2006 Winter Regional and targeting these priorities:   

1. Internet technologies – In Phoenix, NSSTA’s education program included an introduction to podcasting plus a series of podcast interviews featuring speakers and attendees. NSSTA, however, has been slow to implement XML-based technologies - and to educate its members about Internet transition and survival strategies.  The issues are immediate and long term      for NSSTA.   NSSTA should survey its members about Internet technology and begin to think strategically about the Internet. 

2. Wider vision – NSSTA needs to widen its vision and re-examine structured settlements in the context of continuing industry legal developments. The NSSTA Legal Committee should be contributing more than tax updates to NSSTA’s educational program. NSSTA should be updating its members regularly about all legal developments impacting structured settlements. Especially during a time of industry change, NSSTA should be encouraging multiple viewpoints and perspectives about the most important industry issues. 

3. Public policy – Public policy will continue to play an important role in the development of structured settlements. Public policy should remain a central focus for all structured settlement industry leaders. NSSTA should prioritize and elevate the discussion of public policy in the context of existing and developing structured settlement laws.  Although traditional thinking should be acknowledged, new thinking is needed. NSSTA should identify and recruit the “best and the brightest” to discuss and debate structured settlement public policy. 

4. Business practices and products – As a trade association, NSSTA pays close attention to anti-trust issues involving  business practices and discussions about business practices. With due respect to anti-trust considerations, the same laws impacting structured settlement public policy are also impacting structured settlement business practices - and products. NSSTA should be educating its members on a regular basis about legal developments relating to structured settlement business practices as well as new product opportunities and requirements. 

S2KM Limited is an associate member of NSSTA and regularly attends NSSTA meetings. The NSSTA 2006 Annual Meeting will take place May 7-10 in Puerto Rico.

For previous S2KM reports about NSSTA meetings, see:

    1.  NSSTA 2005 Fall Regional Meeting

    2. NSSTA 2005 Annual Meeting