Kevin Jenné heads for Korea.

Maybe it’s because I grew up during the angst of the Vietnam War—the protests, the POWs, the endless arguments about what it means to be a patriot, to love and to serve your country—that I am always somewhat surprised to hear of someone volunteering for military service during wartime. Whatever the motivation—to get out of a dead-end town, to earn a college education or special training, or simply to make the world a safer place—I’m overcome by that commitment and humbled by the sacrifices made on behalf of all of us.

Yet we see young men and women every day doing just that. What we don’t see as often is a 40-something father of six (and grandfather of one!) returning to active duty after many years of civilian life and weekend reserves.

But that is exactly what Kevin Jenné, Aartrijk’s director of research & strategic insights, is doing. Having recently finished a two-week reserve assignment in Korea, Kevin is now packing up his Seattle-based family for a one- to-two-year assignment as the Strategic Alliance Officer at U.S. Naval Forces Korea in Seoul.

In sharing with our team that he was leaving Aartrijk to accept this assignment, Kevin said, “I do feel compelled to accept this assignment, as there are very few officers who have the background and skill sets needed as the U.S. is dramatically restructuring the alliance with South Korea. It sounds trite when they say, ‘Your country needs you,’ but that is exactly what they are saying.”

We will miss Kevin’s brains and sly wit during his hiatus from Aartrijk, but we couldn’t be more proud of his patriotism. Godspeed, Kevin, and God bless America.

Our CEO, Peter van Aartrijk, regularly brings his gigantic labs, Molly and Betty, to the HQ office, where they welcome visitors with a lot of licking and pleas for petting, and then they settle in at Peter’s feet. Guinness, one of my two prison cats (they were part of a Pets for Prisoners program, which explains a lot), is almost always on the sunny spot of my office floor, while the other one, Harp, forces me to mute calls because of her caterwauling.

And while all that may sound like a distraction from the work we do for our clients, it actually is quite the opposite: Our animals calm us and amuse us, which enables us to focus and enjoy our work. And that’s not just us: In a nationwide survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, 73% of responding companies found having pets in the office created a more productive work environment among—and  27% had a decreased absenteeism rate.

But if you don’t have your furry favorite by your side at work, we’re happy to share ours. Just visit the Aartrijk Zoo.

Photo Credit - Flickr heardsy

Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. (Matthew 9:17)

The world of marketing, PR, branding and communication is being transformed. Consumers have rebelled against “push” marketing. They want to be heard when it comes to how you do business. Trusted relationships are more important than ever and control of your brand is in the hands of your customers.

Clearly “old” marketing and media strategy is failing. Social networking to the rescue, right? Not so fast. When it comes to social media it is not enough to engage the tools, build strategy and implement. Rather, success requires a change in culture and in the way in which business is done. Success with social media requires a culture that is customer centric, comfortable with transparency and understands that message and opinion lie primarily outside of their control. That is, success happens when the “new wine” of social media is put in the “new bottle” of a transformed company culture.

Rick Morgan

I don’t have time for this

It’s not appropriate for business

Show me the ROI

I don’t want my staff wasting company time on this

I am concerned about the E&O exposure

Objections or perhaps more accurately excuses to avoid having to deal with the social networking? Yes, but we have heard it all before.

Earlier today, I was just talking to a friend about the history associated with the use of technology in the insurance agency business. I reminded him that back in the early ’80s when the push was on for agents go become “automated” there was huge resistance. He then recalled how when e-mail was first introduced many agency owners adamantly objected to their staff using it and the objections were even stronger about “surfing ” the web at work.

Yes, there needs to be a corporate strategy. Yes, there needs to be a policy. Yes, there needs to be management and monitoring. Yes, there shoud be best practices guidelines. Yes, Yes, Yes. But lets get past the excuses and begin to reap the rewards that come with smart implementation social networking. The hoola hoop was a fad. The societal and business trends being fueled by the social web are not.

– Rick Morgan

Peter van Aartrijk discusses the social Web with Mike Wise of IdeaStar.

Agent Web sites are an agency owner’s “busiest storefront” — or at least they can be.

That’s one of the thoughts that Peter van Aartrijk, managing director of Aartrijk, shared during a recent podcast with Mike Wise of IdeaStar. In one of Mike’s “InsuraTech” audio podcasts, Peter discussed the social Web, agent Web sites, and how they can work together for an agency:

– The social Web is “not something to be feared. It’s something to be leveraged.”

– “You’re either LinkedIn or locked out.”

– “We like to think of the Web site as the busiest office for the agency … their busiest storefront.”

–  ”I’m worried about the calls agencies aren’t getting” because their Web sites cannot be found by people who get a word-of-mouth referral to the agency and then search for the agency via a search engine.

– “Convert that knowledge [of dispensing advice to consumers about risk management] … into text on a blog.”

– ”There’s a lot of general information out there. But what we bring to the table is the knowledge of how agents andd brokers and carriers can take advantage” of social networking.

Check out the podcast at: http://tinyurl.com/clmo5.

Or visit: http://blog.insurance-technologies.com/2009/04/insuratech-podcast-episode-28-peter-van-aartrijk-on-agent-websites-a-conundrum/

April 30, 2009