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Fund-raising events, skill-stretching exercise on tap for risk management students

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Promising “old friends and new opportunities,” the 25th Spencer/ Gallagher Golf Tournament will tee off at 8 a.m. April 10 at the Maderas Golf Club in San Diego.

The tournament is sponsored by insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and the Spencer Educational Foundation Inc., which works to fund the education of future risk management and insurance leaders.

This has been going on for 25 years, which “shows the commitment that the industry has to education,” said Timothy Boston, director of marketing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for Gallagher. “The industry knows we have to bring in young people.”

It's also one of three activities at the 2016 Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. conference April 10-13 in San Diego.

In addition to spending quality time with other industry professionals and participating in a breakfast and buffet-style lunch, golfers will have the chance to compete in hole-in-one, longest drive and Par 3 contests.

Andrew Miller, director of development for the Spencer Educational Foundation in New York, called the golf tournament “a hallmark event” at RIMS. “We're so thankful that Gallagher and their team there have been doing this (for 25 years),” Mr. Miller said. “We're grateful they see value in supporting education.”

Such events enable “us to do more for students and industry professionals,” such as award grants to organizations including the risk management fraternity Gamma Iota Sigma, and fund scholarships and other experiential learning programs, he said.

5K run

Another event that aims to raise funds for the Spencer Educational Foundation is the second annual Spencer 5K Fun Run, presented by Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc.

Participants will start walking or running at 6:30 a.m. April 12 on a scenic 3.14-mile course through San Diego's Embarcadero Marina Park. But sneakers are not required, as some will register simply to raise funds for the event.

“Fun is in the title — we did that by design,” said Jarrod Magan, Memphis, Tennessee-based vice president of client technology services for Sedgwick. “We wanted it to be something that everyone felt, "I could participate in that.'”

Having raised more than $12,500 from the inaugural run last year, Sedgwick says its goal is $20,000 this time around.

And thanks to feedback from participants, the run is no longer just an individual competition. Teams of five are welcome.

The top three finishers among females, males and teams will be recognized thanks to a chip-timing system, new this year, Mr. Magan said. Navy and pink shirts in men's and women's sizes will also be available to participants this year, he added. There has been “overwhelming support for the race ... we had people coming up to (us) last year and asking to sponsor it. So that was a no-brainer, reaching back out to them for this year,” Mr. Magan said.

In addition to sponsors including Advisen Ltd. and One Call Care Management, Starbucks Corp. will provide complimentary coffee and tea at the event, Mr. Magan said.

“Spencer is a big component of funding the next leaders of risk management, and we're a big supporter of that,” Mr. Magan said.

“That's the lifeblood of this industry, and to be able to encourage and support it any way we can getting more leaders and more people into this space, we're obviously very supportive of that,” he added.

Student challenge

The competition doesn't end there for risk management and insurance students participating in the Spencer-RIMS Risk Management Challenge. Three four-person teams from several universities will be selected from a pool of eight to compete in the final round of the competition at 2 p.m. April 11. The winning team will be crowned that evening.

For this year's challenge, the students were presented with a case study by The Lego Group asking them to identify risks associated with fast growth and offer potential solutions, RIMS said.

In addition to gaining experience in critical thinking, the participants will network with industry leaders and present their findings to a panel of risk manager judges.

“The Risk Management Challenge, and RIMS as a whole, is a great experiential opportunity for students,” Mr. Miller said. “They not only get to attend sessions, but they also get to network with key people in the industry.”

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