004: All Skills are Transferrable with Emma Chapman
What is the BIBA Conference and why is it such a crucial event on the insurance industry calendar?
To what extent are skills from external industries transferrable into insurance careers?
How can the mobility of such external skills into insurance roles be better communicated in the current recruitment landscape?
In this episode, we’re very pleased to be speaking with Emma Chapman, Head of Conference at BIBA. This year’s BIBA Conference held in Manchester in May attracted 9000 people across two days. The event aims to unite brokers, insurers, and the wider insurance community to do business, establish and build relationships, and much more. In conversation with Sandra Lewin, Emma discusses how her background in theatre has informed her decision-making in curating and arranging the annual conference over the past eight years. As such, she is a testament to the transferability of skills from seemingly unrelated industries into the wide array of roles available in insurance.
Quote of the Episode
“You go to conferences for so many reasons. Number one is to do business, we know that. Fundamentally, people say [that, at BIBA,] they get a month's worth of business done in two days. Brilliant. But what else can you get?”
The BIBA Conference is, first and foremost, a springboard for networking, bolstering existing business relationships and fostering new ones. Yet, in a post-COVID landscape in which many people have hybrid work schedules and a more intertwined work-life balance, it is harder to entice people to attend these events. BIBA’s first in-person conference after the pandemic was in 2022, and it was a huge success, which can largely be attributed to people’s glee at being able to attend such events and network face-to-face. In 2023, Emma and her team faced a challenge of how to improve upon this warm reception, now that hybrid working patterns are seemingly here to stay. They decided to bring a flavour of fun and theatricality to the conference, with puppies available to cuddle at a Wellness Zone, and with a speech from Sir Mo Farah.
Key Takeaways
Emma studied a Drama and Theatre Studies degree at Exeter, and went into Stage Management in the West End. After several successful years managing a variety of big productions, she sought a change and became involved in event organising, eventually working for BIBA via an agency before being invited to arrange the conference in-house post-pandemic. Theatre and insurance are undoubtedly very different industries, but Emma’s role at BIBA entails a need to put on a spectacle for conference attendees.
She argues that her theatre background has significantly informed her work at BIBA, emphasising that if and when you do decide to switch roles or even industries into insurance, your past experience will always be beneficial in one way or another. You should never consider your previous working roles or plans as a barrier to entry or transition within the industry. Emma’s daily work at BIBA is extremely varied, but it is ultimately founded upon building and maintaining mutually beneficial business relationships, organisation, and an ability to meet deadlines – all skills she developed in her previous career which are transferrable to and crucial in an insurance career. Indeed, Emma suggests that taking skills from external and ostensibly unrelated industries into insurance is extremely beneficial to ensure a consistent inflow of fresh ideas and perspectives.
Emma argues that we must actively combat the common misconception that insurance careers are boring, noting that she’s never had an uninteresting day on the job. She emphasises that insurance is something which everyone must experience and engage with from a client perspective. As such, irrespective of which industry one initially works in, everyone is in a strong position to contribute ideas to insurance, as every year, we all have to purchase or renew car insurance, home insurance, life insurance, and so on.
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“Because we now live in a semi hybrid world, it takes even more to get people out of their homes. You have to deliver something that you cannot get at home, more so than when everyone was in offices, because everyone was always leaving their home. Everyone was always travelling; it was very easy to go to things after work.”
“What I love about my job is it's so varied. I mean, we organise literally everything to do with the exhibition… So, my day could be, depending on where we are on the lifecycle of the event, it could be signing off on social media, ordering 1000s of chairs, approving budget, briefing contractors, sorting out the advertising, paying for things, booking things. It’s a real smorgasbord of things. And that's why I love what I do so much.”
“If you spent some time understanding the insurance industry, you could be an excellent addition, [if you] come with outside ideas. That's what I'm always passionate about: there are these transferable skills in so many different career choices.”
“For example, as an event organiser, someone who does event organising for a pharmaceutical company, something totally different to insurance, but because you are still organising a live event, an engaging thing for delegates, you still need to listen to the feedback, and work out whether what you're giving is what people actually want to receive. They would come with amazing ideas, and vice versa. There almost needs to be this give and take between industries, so that you constantly have fresh ideas coming.”
Resources
BIBA – The BIBA Conference wins Best Association Event Award: https://www.biba.org.uk/press-releases/the-biba-conference-wins-best-association-event-award/
About the Guest
Emma Chapman is the Head of Conference at BIBA (British Insurance Brokers’ Association), leading a team who organises its annual conference.
Emma’s LinkedIn Profile: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/emma-chapman-29a97610b
About the Host
Connect with Sandra on LinkedIn and find out more: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sandralewin
