August 27th, 2010 Posted by Mairi
Part II
Risk Management
For years the insurance and reinsurance markets have been talking about Enterprise Risk Management. Well, believe it or not, these days, risk managers should be looking at not just media, and communications in general, but also taking a good hard look at social media.
Again, Facebook is high on the list of factors that could impact on reputational risk. Facebook is probably the least useful tool so far in business to business social media for insurance and reinsurance markets. Those doing it well include Insurance Journal, Travelers and of course the rather wonderful Allianz Knowledge – who astonish and amaze at every turn.
So – don’t get to “het up” about it, as we say in Scotland. Like all social media, it is not rocket science – it just takes a wee bit of time to learn and understand – and a whole lot of common sense. Just think about what you want to say and who you want to say it to – before you do anything – and don’t do anything on Facebook that does not fit in with your corporate image or guidelines.
For those new to this, have a look at the recent Business Insurance webinar on the risks associated with social media – Marsh’s Simon Barker makes a lot of sense when he talks about social media in context of enterprise risk management and also on how to react to negative comments. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: enterprise risk management, ERM, facebook, insurance, reinsurance, social media
Posted in digital, insurance, public relations, reinsurance, risk, risk managment | No Comments »
August 20th, 2010 Posted by Mairi
I know I’ve promised Part 2 of the Risk and Rewards of Facebook, but that can wait. I’m just back from my hols and it has been a pretty exciting couple of weeks for rein4ce and the lesson is on hold because I want to bang my own drum today.
All the excitement in the office is due to the fact that:
- We made it to number four spot in the top ten most influential PR companies (it is on page 26 at the top) in the market in Reinsurance Magazine. They said of us: “The new kid on the block, ex-journalist Mairi Mallon’s rein4ce is making waves, especially in social media. One to watch, especially in Bermuda: she is pulling in new clients at speed”. And…
- Our blog was put on the list of Lexus Nexus’ Insurance Law Community’s Top 50 Insurance Blogs – which, by the way, is an excellent list of industry blogs from all kinds of market participants and their service providers. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bermuda, PR, blog, insurance, public relations, reinsurance, social media | No Comments »
July 26th, 2010 Posted by Mairi
Part 1
The risks of Employees:
Last week Facebook hit half a billion active users. Many in the insurance and reinsurance world would say “so what”, but in the most basic business, let alone complex risk management, Facebook’s risks and rewards have to be understood.
If you don’t know the risks with employees – here they are: basically your staff can go on and do oodles of reputational damage if you: a) hire substandard people who don’t know the boundaries; and b) don’t tell them they can’t. From criticising competitors to revealing trade secrets, Facebook is number 1 when it comes to giving managers the jitters. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: facebook, insurance, reinsurance, risk, Risk Management, social media guidelines
Posted in facebook, insurance, reinsurance, risk, risk managment, social media | 1 Comment »
May 28th, 2010 Posted by Mairi

Hurricane Ike 2008
The start of the Atlantic hurricane season on June 1 never really meant that much to me until I went to live in Bermuda and within the first month became glued to the weather reports as swirls of clouds spun slowly towards this unprotected dot in the middle of the Atlantic.
As it came nearer, I was surprised by the ferocity of the winds bending and stripping the trees, the swell that turned the turquoise ocean to dark muddy water, the rip currents that pulled the sand from under your feet and made you retreat from the water’s edge quickly. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Season, Nat/Cat, rendez-vous
Posted in Bermuda, catastrophe, hurricane, natural catastrophe, p/c markets, reinsurance, rendez-vous, risk | 1 Comment »
March 26th, 2010 Posted by Mairi
I had a busy week last week in Bermuda, with the excellent World Insurance Forum, a breakfast briefing on social media for international business, and helping organise, PR and co-chair Reinsurance Magazine’s Bermuda Reinsurance Club. I managed to zip around on a moped for a while, re-living my youth, but did not make it to swim with the dolphins again – next time when the wind is not so high.
The World Insurance Forum was video cast, so if you were not there, you can watch it. Some really good sessions to watch if you are stuck in an airport with an iphone and some time to spare – very modern and 2.0 of WIF to record the sessions. And there was lots of great coverage of the Bermuda Reinsurance Club both before the event (well, I am a PR person…) and after…with cover in Bernews, four stories in The Royal Gazette (the best two linked here) and The Bermuda Sun. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bermuda, Bermuda Reinsurance Club, Dublin, European Insurance Forum, LinkedIn, PR, World Insurance Forum, blog, conference, insurance, public relations, reinsurance, social media | 3 Comments »