On The Road Again

That was fun!  The RIMS team couldn’t be more thrilled with the results from our very first RISKWORLD™. After months of difficult planning – and late nights worrying whether our dream of an in-person meeting would actually become reality – it came together beautifully and exceeded all expectations.

Risk professionals from far-and-wide hopped on the road again and showed up in San Francisco.  RIMS was proud to welcome nearly 8,500 attendees to this world-renowned risk management experience. What I loved about RISKWORLD was the overwhelming focus on the future.  From sessions and keynote speakers to the animated conversations in our Marketplace and at the social events, future trends and ensuring our organizations are ready for them dominated the conversations. RIMS Show Daily Magazines gives a great recap of each day’s happenings.

We successfully delivered a hybrid RISKWORLD as well, making our event more inclusive for new attendees to engage with the Society. Our in-person and hybrid RISKWOLRDs were amazing learning experiences – for both attendees and staff – that we know will lead to even greater success in the future. Planning is already underway for RISKWORLD 2023 in Atlanta from April 30 – May 3. Mark your calendars.

Focused on the future, a new era for RIMS was announced shortly after the conference. The Society is excited to share that Gary LaBranche FASAE, CAE will serve as RIMS next CEO.  Beginning June 1, Gary will bring his wealth of association leadership experience to RIMS and will no doubt inspire and create opportunities for staff, volunteers and the greater risk community. At the same time, we wish RIMS CEO of 18 years Mary Roth an outstanding and well-deserved retirement and sincerely thank her for her invaluable contributions to advancing our profession.

To find the road to future success, risk professionals need to know where their risk programs stand today. At RISKWORLD, we proudly relaunched the modernized RIMS Risk Maturity Model (RMM)®. The completely revamped model is a guide for strategic risk professionals to identifying their risk program’s maturity level, target areas for improvement and track its progress over time. The model was created by risk professionals, for risk professionals and, for now, the complimentary tool is available to everyone.  

While we didn’t have to hit the road for it, the first-ever RIMS-WTW Asia Pacific Virtual Risk Conference was also a resounding success and will positively impact the Society’s global development efforts in the region.  A big thank you to WTW and all of the amazing risk professionals who shared their professional journeys and experiences.  I know our team is looking forward to working with WTW on several RIMS-CRMP certification opportunities for business leaders in the area so stay tuned.

A great sign of progress is growth and RIMS is growing.  Just down the road from me, the Society announced its 80^th chapter.  The Greater Bluegrass Chapter – now my hometown chapter – was confirmed by RIMS Board of Directors in April. The confirmation is a testament to the outstanding and dedicated local risk leaders who deserve all the credit for making this happen. Chapters are so important to RIMS.  It is where great ideas are born and great relationships are made. The Society now has 65 chapters in the United States, 10 in Canada and five outside of North America (Australasia, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand).  To find a chapter near you, check out this interactive chapter map.

The fun continues in the second half of the year and I’m looking forward to getting on the road again for an outstanding lineup of RIMS regional events and workshops. And, for those that can’t make the trip, I encourage you to check out all of the new online education that RIMS has added in recent months.

Again, I can’t express enough how great it was to see the RIMS community in-person. The energy and the passion we witnessed at RISKWORLD was legendary. I’m genuinely optimistic about our profession’s future. Thank you for your continued support and engagement with RIMS.

Sincerely,

Patrick Sterling
RIMS 2022 President