LEAP of FAITH

A hush blanketed the room filled with some 500 attendees at the Insurance Conference Planners Association's 2001 annual meeting in November. The audience had just heard Gary Pearson of Aon Corp. speak about the whirlwind of contingency planning he was involved with after September 11, when Aon lost more than 170 employees who worked in New York's World Trade towers. Then a comment rang out from another planner on the podium: “Try to outsource that!” he yelled. The crowd cheered.