Magazine

By: Volume 105, No. 2

To Bob Pendleton, technology was never exciting. He saw it as a bother, an annual cost that he preferred to spend on other things. Nor did Bob spend much on marketing. He had a small community, and he relied on referrals to fill the void created when clie

In this presidential election year, it’s difficult to turn on the television without being bombarded by political news and commercials. With all of the speculation about the candidate horserace and predictionsf or November, it’s easy to forget that Congre

Her name was Nell, a constable’s daughter from Canada, and I was determined to make her my valentine. I had already purchased a dozen red roses, a box of dark chocolates and a little lacey something at the unmentionables counter at Macy’s. All I needed wa

How was your “Super Tuesday”? Mine was terrific! That’s because Jan and I sat back and enjoyed watching the results and we didn’t even have to vote! Why? Because we’re from Iowa, remember? We voted in January—and we haven’t seen a candidate since!

What defines a person’s professional life? What shapes and molds it into a satisfying career? A recent McKinsey Quarterly survey presented those questions and several others to working professionals around the wo…

One of the most common coverage questions involves adding additional insureds to a business auto policy. The Big “I” Virtual University’s “Ask an Expert” service recently received the following question: “A contractor is driving his van on premises to do

In our consulting practice, we work with big companies, small companies, old companies and new companies. While the actual laws of branding never change regardless of an agency’s size, which laws are most relevant for a particular agency often do…

By: Volume 105, No. 1

In 2000, former Big “I” President Tom Baker Jr., who’d sold his agency not long before to another agency, took over the insurance operations of the Wallace State Bank in Houston. When the bank expressed reservations about the insurance business five years