RENO is Right Around the Bend!
It’s hard to believe that the 2024 NACA Convention is only six months away! Next year’s Convention is being held at the beautiful Reno Grand Sierra Resort and Casino (https://www.grandsierraresort.com/) from January 21-25, 2024.
As a cat adjuster and IA firm owner with over 40 years of “seasoning” as a claims professional (and a dues-paying past president and now lifetime member of NACA), I find it difficult to put into words how rewarding being a member of NACA has been for my professional and personal life.
Since the 80’s, when NACA was considered a men’s social club for a handful of catastrophe adjusters (mostly from the great state of Texas), the organization has grown into hundreds of professional catastrophe adjusters from all 50 states, as well as some international members. From modest beginnings, today’s NACA convention incorporates unequalled adjuster fellowship, business networking claims-handling educational classes, software training sessions, a vendor expo and a cat adjuster career fair. In my opinion, there is simply no other type of event like the NACA Convention available to the new and seasoned professional catastrophe adjuster.
Unlike many other state, regional and national insurance conferences, which are historically targeted to managers and insurance company claims executives, the NACA Convention gets down into the trenches of cat adjusting. NACA sessions are taught by claims professionals who have their boots on the ground and want to share their experience and knowledge . Classes are offered to new adjusters as well as experienced adjusters wanting to fine tune their knowledge and experience. Other conventions expect their attendees to “take home” what they have learned and share with their teams back home. NACA sessions are designed for adjusters who actually work directly with policyholders and who settle claims. I invite you to go to the NACA website (https://www.nacaadjuster.org/) for a full list of this year’s sessions and exhibitors.
For new adjusters with little more than a couple of storms under their belt or maybe only a state adjuster’s license and a beginners training class, the NACA Convention will expose you to many of the leading independent cat adjustment firms and recruiters in the country. When I was a young adjuster, I could only wish for a one-stop-shop where I could take a copy of my work product, resume and my good work ethic in the hopes of increasing my odds of getting more storm deployments. Fast forward to today, and it’s ironic that cat adjusters can now attend a Convention at a casino to increase their house-odds in securing more work! If you are looking to better your odds, expand your adjusting-horizons and seeking additional employment opportunities, NACA 2024 is the place to be.
Let’s not forget, NACA’s trade show typically includes dozens of industry-related vendors. Expo booths range from the newest tools-of-the-trade to providers of adjusting-related products and services designed to assist adjusters in their daily claims handling, deployments and business lives.
As a current member of the NACA board of directors (BOD), the decision to go to Reno, NV was not an easy one. We on the BOD know Reno may be an extra flight connection for some of you and the weather in Reno in January can be hit or miss. However, because of the hotel industry’s last few years of low occupancy and recent inflation realities, all of our “go to” hotels in Vegas became cost prohibitive for NACA, attendees and vendors.
As a board, our primary purpose is to look out for the field cat adjuster and provide the “biggest bang for the buck.” By selecting Reno as our event location, we feel we have succeeded. We have secured, at a very reasonable rate, a resort-level destination which will be affordable for all attendees. The resort boasts a half-dozen sit down restaurants, just as many “grab and go” eating options and an assortment of watering holes for those attendees who enjoy an adult beverage or two. The convention space is accommodating to NACA’s needs, and the resort’s clean rooms have views of the adjacent mountains. It truly is a beautiful property and one we hope you enjoy.
In conclusion, although we are still an entire hurricane and tropical storm season away from NACA 2024, time literally does fly, and January 2024 will be here before you know it. Set a reminder today to register on the NACA website. As the saying goes, ‘the early bird gets the worm’, and the early NACA registrant gets a lower convention rate!
Hope to see you in Reno!
John Postava
Adjuster and Past President
National Association of Catastrophe Adjusters
