Show Friday EXPO Daily E G EXHIBIT HALL PRIZE GIVEAWAYS WINNERS • Mark Fisher: Winner of Benefits Selling Expo grand prize, a Dell Studio 17 inch Laptop courtesy of Purchasing Power. • Ron Cisco, Jr.: Winner of a Nike® SQ SUMO 5900 driver from AmWINS Group Benefits, Booth #329. • Mike Dunn: Winner of a Garmin GPS from Conexus, Booth #510. april 3, 2009 www.BenefitsSellingExpo.com Jim Davidson named Broker of the Year By John Sullivan Congratulations to Jim Davidson, who was named Benefits Selling’s Broker of the year at Thursday morning’s keynote session. Editor and conference chairman Denis Storey introduced and awarded Davidson the prize. Davidson was one of five finalists vying for the prize, and ultimately chosen by the magazine’s Editorial advisory Board. “i was quite surprised, but humbled,” Davidson said in an interview following the presentation. “you had so many experts in the audience, so it was nice to get the recognition from them. i think it was probably more of a longevity award. i’ve been around for what seems like forever, so it was for the old guys.” Davidson’s modest, but his industry tenure is indeed long. he received his insurance license in 1972 and started his first company in 1978. he’s entrepreneurial and didn’t want to work for anyone else. he used to call himself hardcore unemployable, he jokes, but it didn’t sound quite right. So to what does he attribute much of his success? he was an early entrant into the voluntary business. “we wrote our first voluntary plan in 1979,” he says, “and we actually wrote the first voluntary universal plan in 1981, and we’re proud to say they’re still a client. we take pride in the fact that we have a number of clients that have been with us for over 25 years. and we’re proud to say we have a number of employees that have been with us for over 25 years, which is really the key to building the business.” his company, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Eoi Service Co inc., has 40 employees and offices in every time zone, with the most recent satellite office opened in New Jersey; which means quite a bit of travel for Davidson throughout the year. “ i have 40,000 miles so far this year alone on United airlines. The goal last year was to become a 1K member (United airlines frequent flier program). The goal this year is to not be a 1K member.” we asked Davidson for additional thoughts on his success, which he • Joe Morales: Winner of a Darryl Royal autographed football from Brokers National Life, Booth #428. • John Warwick: Winner of a Flip Ultra Series Video camcorder from Unum, Booth #211. • Liz Hatfield: Winner of an iPod Nano from eflexgroup, Booth #216. • Tim Byrne: Winner of $100 from Boston Mutual Life Insurance Co., Booth #802. Continued on page 4 TODAY’S SESSION HIGHLIGHTS Pat Buchanan “The Right View on Health Care” 10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Grand Ballroom B Dave Keller “Improve Individual Medical Sales” 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Trinity A Don Cooper “Develop a Relationship” 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Trinity B SEE YOU IN 2010 Stop by the registration desk to sign up for 2010. APRIL 19-21 Washington, D.C. 1 KEYNOTE SPEAKER BREAKOUT SESSION BREAKOUT SESSION next page