I'm back again with some party photos and my almost-totally-made-up -and-inane captions (that should be a sufficient disclaimer to shield me from lawsuits, no?) But, before I get to that frivolity, I want to mention a very worthy charity fundraiser.
Cara LaTorre and John Vanasco of Aon New York are organizing a cocktail party (beer, wine and premium drinks) on Thursday, January 14th from 6 - 9 pm at the Public House, 140 East 41st Street in Manhattan. All net proceeds will be used to create "comfort packs" for children undergoing radiation treatment at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx. This is being done in the name of Carolyn Sullivan, the precious 9-year old daughter of Pete (Aon New York) and Jeanne Sullivan who passed away in September after a courageous battle with cancer. Tickets are $60 in advance or $65 at the door. For more information, or to buy your tickets, please contact Cara at charity11410@yahoo.com or call 212.441.2372. You can also call John at 212.441.2281. This is an open party and you are encouraged to spread the word to as many people as possible (if a certain threshold of attendees is met the bar will close to the public that night and hold only this event.)
To read about Carolyn and her wonderful life, please go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/carolynsullivan
This is for a great cause and promises to be a very enjoyable night for all so please make every effort to attend. And feel free to bring a friend or five.
Speaking of enjoyable nights, many of you, but probably not all, are familiar with the industry tradition of the first Wednesday of each December. This is commonly referred to as "C&S Night." The tradition started sometime long ago. A Google search turned up nothing on the history of the C&S dinner or even the Casualty & Surety Society itself so, since nobody seems to know much about it, I'll arbitrarily say it started in 1954. Sounds good. It was a black-tie dinner held at the Waldorf Astoria (I think they discontinued the actual dinner in 2001 or thereabouts) for, generally speaking, the more prominent people in the industry (and, often times, those filling in for the more prominent; yours truly attended the black-tie affair once, in 1998 or so.) Many companies would host cocktail parties in various suites of the Waldorf before the actual C&S Dinner and people jockeyed for invitations to these. Afterwards various companies would host their own dinners in ballrooms and at restaurants around the city to celebrate (what, exactly, they were celebrating, nobody was sure, maybe just the closing of another accident year in the insurance industry...)
So C&S Night became what I used to call "the single most fun night in the industry each year." I'm not sure if it's good form to put your own words into quotes but I'm going with that.... Anyway, now that the actual C&S dinner has been discontinued, and things in general on the insurance social scene are being scaled back -- or discontinued totally -- I think that my pronouncement no longer holds true. I'd say that currently (for professional lines anyway) that the most enjoyable night of the year would be one of the nights of the PLUS International Conference (especially when it's well-chronicled by a blogger...) But C&S Night lives on (some might say "limps on" half-heartedly) and, I'm glad to say, that one bright light hasn't dimmed on the first Wednesday in December: the ARC Party. It's been called "the single best insurance party of the year" in one prominent insurance book (I forget which one...) and it continues to hold that title. Hosted by the incomparable Chris Cavallaro (that ought to get my invitation renewed for another year...) and his ARC colleagues, it's a great event where collegiality reigns. ARC, as you probably know, is one of the premiere wholesale brokerages in the U.S. So here, my friends, with no further bloviation, are some photos from this year's party which was held on Wednesday, December 2, 2009.

This is a photo of the lovely Dana Cavallaro and her grandfather father, Chris (did I just cost myself next year's invite?) As you can see, Chris's wife must be very attractive because Dana's looks did not come from dad (although he's a great guy!)

Pictured are George Blume (PIA), Kevin Donohue (CNA) and Kevin Finn (Hanover), three of the giants of Fidelity underwriting. These three are the youngest Fidelity underwriters in the industry (by ten years). Free career advice: young underwriters would be smart to learn Fidelity, everyone with expertise will be retiring soon.
No folks, a GQ model party was not being held next door to the ARC party. This is Brian Hickey (PIA), Pete McKeegan (Rockhill; don't worry, nobody else has heard of it either) and Ray Santiago (AIG AIU Holdings Chartis). Brian's eyes did not get caught in a flash bulb mishap, he's using his Death Stare on an insured who filed a claim last month. The three are celebrating their recent induction into the industry's "$100 Million Club." No, that's not premium booked, it's expense accounts run-up (just kidding, lighten up Francis...)

Leslie Hink (CNA), Joe Vaccaro (ARC), John Semeraro (ARC) and Jane Kornesczuck (Great American) (she gave me her card or I'd have no chance at spelling that) pose for the camera. In the best tradition of the industry, Joe is clutching a CNA umbrella. The overcoat is from Zurich North America. His shirt has a Travelers logo. That's an Arch tie. The suit was given to him by Chubb. The hair is his own (not everyone in the industry can say that...)
Peter Taub's Grandfather Taub of (Noah's) ARC and Kevin Guillet (PIA) strike a pose shortly after a heated debate over the new actuarial rules for IBNR accounting. I enjoy giving Peter guff about his gray hair because it draws attention away from my own (notice how I'm not in any of these pictures?) And, yes, the "strikethrough" feature is my new toy.
Jen O'Neil and Karen Parker (I forget their employers but if it's that important to you Google them) share a moment of comraderie while trying their best to each look like they weren't eating that desert on the table in front of them. Jen has a fork concealed in her right hand and Karen has chocolate under her fingernails.

Steve Barbal and The Other Jim Donovan (PIA) yukk it up with Judy "No Relation to George" Biancardi and Kathleen Ray (both formerly PIA and now with Hiscox) as everyone pretends to not be arguing over who wrote those losses at PIA. The photographer's guess is that none of these people are happy with the way they look in this photo. Tough.
Courtney Burns (Everest National), Andy Peterson (Zurich), Harris "Charlie" Tsangaris (NFP and FETA) and Sally Gregor (Everest National) discuss where they went wrong in their respective career choices. Andy, who I've always felt has been one of my closest friends, recently assumed a new role at Zurich that puts him in charge of the tickets for Zurich's luxury box at Madison Square Garden. He knows that those names I called him when he worked for me at AIG were all in jest and that I'd rip up all of those reviews if I could. Can't wait to see you in the luxury box Andy!

One of the industry's best brokers, Stan "The Man" Quirk (ARC) is seen here with Ken Schmaltz, owner of the prominent S&A Events company which does a fine job in running many insurance industry parties, golf outings and other events. Stan had to leave the party shortly after this photo was snapped because he had just placed the fleet coverage for Tiger Woods and needed to rush to the office to file a claim. Even the insurance industry gets into the act with Tiger Woods jokes!

George Blume (PIA) and Sandy "Wack" Nalewajk (Chartis) celebrate Sandy's recent induction into the "Executive Assistants Hall of Fame." George was also recently inducted into the "Get Your Arm Around All the Pretty Women at Insurance Parties" Hall of Fame. As you'd suspect, there are a lot of members.

Here's my very good friend Andy Peterson of Zurich again. I didn't have much chance to speak with him but we'll catch up at the Garden. Next to Andy are Shelby Robinson (Chartis) who, many people don't know, serves as Beyonce's double in many films and videos (that's a compliment Shel!), Coutney Burns of Evererest National and Leslie Hink of CNA. Andy was recently inducted into the "Gets Into Photos With Pretty Girls at Insurance Parties" Hall of Fame in Tampa, FL (you know why it's there...)

Joe Vaccaro (still with ARC as in the previous photo, pay attention...) and Peter Taub's Great Grandfather Taub laugh it up at the thought of not being in the office. Not pictured: Craig Thorsen (ARC) who was back at the office doing everyone's work for them (that may be my funniest line of the blog!) Craig is a great guy. Yes, I know I'm overusing the strikeout feature.

And, as regular readers of the LG Blog have come to expect, here is our mandatory photo of Sophie the Blog Dog. She's all decked out in her Christmas gear (sorry, dogs aren't PC.)

Not to be outdone, Sophie's older brother Jake gets into the act. His eyes clearly say, "I don't really want to be photographed in this ridiculous ear thing. I hope it doesn't appear on a blog." Jake is much more docile than his younger sibling (everyone is.)
So that's it. I hope you enjoyed this citizen blogger's attempt at chronicling some of the revelry of the ARC Party (and I hope you weren't offended, it's all in good fun -- for me.) All of the people pictured are excellent representatives of the insurance industry otherwise I wouldn't have taken their photos (sorry to those who were excluded....) Other insurance industry parties were held elsewhere on that night (Axis, for example, held a bash on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange) but I did not attend since, technically, I was not invited (word is, however, that the White House Party Crashers made it in...) Adios until next time kids.