The debate over whether to keep reforming the current stateregulatory system or modify it with more direct federal involvementis about to heat up, as representatives from the American InsuranceAssociation and the National Conference of Insurance Legislatorsface off this week in an online showdown.

AIA President Marc Racicot will duke it out with Rep. GeorgeKeiser of North Dakota, secretary of NCOIL, in a debate availablefree of charge to anyone who wants to sign up online, starting onSept. 24, from 11 a.m.-to-Noon EST.

The debate, moderated by NU Editor In Chief Sam Friedman, is themain event of "Facing The Future Of Insurance," the second annualonline conference and exposition produced by National Underwriterand two of its affiliated publications, Claims and TechDecisions.

Rep. Keiser is stepping in for Sandy Praeger, president of theNational Association of Insurance Commissioners. The Kansasinsurance commissioner had to bow out of the NU debate taping inthe midst of dealing with the fallout from last week's crisis withAIG.

To register--at no charge--go tohttp://presentations.inxpo.com/Shows/Summit/09-08/Registration/agenda.htm.

The conference will feature seven sessions, as well as a virtualexhibit area. Besides "The Great Debate," NU will present two othersessions:

o The State Of ERM--Enterprise & Entrepreneurial RiskManagement, Sept. 25, 11 a.m.-to-Noon EST.

Moderated by Assistant Managing Editor Caroline McDonald, thissession offers two parts, each led by board members of the Risk andInsurance Management Society.

The first section--featuring Daniel Kugler, assistant treasurerof risk management at Snap-On Inc.--shows how "entrepreneurial"risk management can raise a risk manager's profile, promote theirvalue, better measure results, and develop relationships with peersand senior management. Tips will be offered for getting the mostout of captives, as well as repositioning risk management's goalsand processes to become a profit center.

The second part--featuring John Phelps, director of businessrisk solutions for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida--revealsresults from a newly released RIMS survey on enterprise riskmanagement. Among the questions: How widespread is ERM? Howeffective is it? To what extent is the C-Suite engaged in the ERMprocess?

o What Does It Take To Tackle Workers' Comp Risks?--Sept. 25,12:30-to-1:30 p.m. EST.

The three winners of NU's second annual "Award For Excellence InWorkers' Compensation Risk Management" share the secrets of theirsuccess in a session moderated by Mr. Friedman.

Risk managers from ServiceMaster (David Hopps), The Walt DisneyCompany (Tim East) and Select Staffing (Fred Pachon) providepractical insights on how to reduce accident frequency andseverity, improve back-to-work performance and more effectivelymanage claims--all while gaining senior management and companywidesupport for loss control and safety initiatives.

Other sessions at the virtual conference include:

o Hail Damage To Roofs, Sept. 24, 12:30-to-1:30 p.m. EST.

This course gives students a comprehensive look at hail damageto all major roofing types. Among the points discussed is haildamage to asphalt composition shingles, wood shingles and shakes,concrete and clay tiles, slate, built-up roofing, modified bitumenroofing, single-ply membranes, polyurethane foam, and metalroofing.

For each of these roofing types, the instructor--Tim Marshall,P.E.--discusses the hailstone size needed to cause losses andtypical characteristics of hail damage. He also compares typicalhail losses to other common types of roof damage.

o Predictive Analytics: Unstructured Data Dilemma--Sept. 24,2-to-3 p.m. EST.

With estimates that up to 90 percent of the data received byinsurers is unstructured, a carrier's ability to garner qualityinformation and turn it into useful predictive analytics can beextremely difficult.

"Semantic technology solves this problem by recognizing topicsand concepts, extracting information, and categorizing it," saidKaren Pauli, research director in the insurance practice atTowerGroup. She will provide an overview of predictive analyticsand then funnel it down to the problem of unstructured data and howits absence from the data pools utilized by predictive analyticscan decrease its accuracy.

Kaleb Adams, assistant vice president of claims research for TheHartford, will continue the discussion by offering the hows andwhys of implementing semantic technology from an insurerperspective.

His remarks will include an analysis of the unstructured dataproblems that The Hartford was facing, why they wanted to solve it,the results they're seeing having implemented the technology, andthe benefits they expect to see in the future.

This session will be moderated by Robert Hyle, associate editorof Tech Decisions.

o Speed And Ease: Underwriting At Its Best, Sept. 24,3:30-to-4:30 p.m. EST.

Speed-to-market and ease of doing business have become two ofthe most hyped phrases in the world of insurance. This sessionexplores the latest trends, strategies and implementations thatmaximize automation efficiencies between underwriters and agents toturn the hype into profitable reality.

Speaking are Robert J. Asensio, chief information officer ofDarwin Professional Underwriters, and Donald Light, a senioranalyst at Celent.

o Claims In A Climate Of Change, Sept. 25, 2-to-3 p.m. EST.

This session, moderated by Claims Editor Eric Gilkey, confrontsthe fact that whether or not global warming is a reality, there arealready legal cases and insurance claims being tendered.

In this free-form discussion, an insurance defense attorney anda coverage expert will explain what constitutes a global warmingclaim, summarize current climate-change litigation, and provideguidance in assessing whether coverage might apply.

Speakers include legal expert Suzanne Badawi, a partner in thelaw firm of Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps, and coverageexpert Diana Reitz, editorial director of FC&S Online, anaffiliate of NU.