Guidewire Software's 'Connections 2010' Conference Draws Over 350 Customers and Partner Attendees

Guidewire Software®, a leading provider of flexible core systems to property/casualty insurers, recently hosted its annual user conference, Connections 2010 in San Francisco, California.  More than 350 people attended from Guidewire’s 85 customers and its partner community. Centering on the theme of “Knowledge. Community. Success.”, Connections 2010 provided opportunities for attendees to learn, establish and renew friendships, and share ideas with one another.

This year’s guest keynote presenter was Roz Savage, the first woman to row solo across the Pacific Ocean.  Roz recounted her first voyage, across the Atlantic Ocean, presenting what she learned about herself and how to tackle huge challenges.

Day two’s keynote speaker was Guidewire’s chief executive officer, Marcus Ryu, who captured the audience’s attention with his presentation about finding ‘The Right Partnership between Man and Machine’. The discussion focused on the rationale and importance of gaining insight into how technology can be best suited to support human interactions and decision-making and applying this insight to the business of insurance.

The Connections program included over 40 break-out sessions, designed to address the varying business and technical interests of the attendees included sessions focused on each Guidewire product offering (claims, billing, policy/underwriting), roundtable discussions on a wide range of topics, and panel discussions and case study sessions with Guidewire customers sharing their experiences and best practices.

Panels included:

• Implementing BillingCenter – Real-World Experiences (with The Co-operators, NFU Mutual, and Sentry Insurance);
• Service Provider Management – Insights from Around the Globe (with Suncorp and AXA France);
• Using Assessments to Identify Business Value and to Build Internal Consensus (with Westfield, Accident Fund, and Amica Mutual);
• Workers' Compensation - 'Tales from the Field' (with Missouri Employers Mutual, and NJM Insurance Group); and
• Change Management as Part of a Guidewire implementation (with California Casualty, Kentucky Farm Bureau, and RBS Insurance).

Additionally, several Guidewire customers shared case study presentations of their projects: Amica Mutual, Earthquake Commission of New Zealand, Liberty Mutual, Mercury Insurance, Pacific Compensation, and Sentry Insurance.

Connections 2010 was sponsored by Guidewire PartnerConnect and technology alliance partners: Ernst & Young, Capgemini, PricewaterhouseCoopers, CastleBay Consulting, HP Exstream, IBM, and Thunderhead – who were on hand to discuss their services/solutions with attendees and to moderate roundtable discussions.

“Connections 2010 was very much a celebration of customer successes and Guidewire is enormously proud to play a role in those successes,” said Marcus Ryu, chief executive officer, Guidewire Software.  “We thank all of our sponsoring partners and most importantly, we thank our customers for helping to make Connections 2010 a successful event and for contributing to Guidewire’s success over the years.”