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The IBIS Conference has stood the test of time
IBIS – which originally stood for the International Benefits Information Service – celebrated its 40th anniversary this year in Lisbon but the volcanic ash cloud prevented me from being there. Having attended the majority of IBIS Conferences (around 30 over the years), I was particularly sorry not to be able to attend on this of all occasions.
If I think back to the year that IBIS was founded by Bruce Spencer, Jack Dyer (John K. Dyer, Jr.) and Vince Simone – 1989 – it was such a different world for employee benefits. You could say it was a different world full stop. Then, it was so hard to obtain reliable information on a wide range of countries and the whole idea of international employee benefits – co-ordinated at the international headquarters – was comparatively new. There were some shining lights in the corporate world, such as Eric Rogers at Unilever in London and Joe Kostrab at ITT in New York, and there were quite a number of excellent international consultants, such as Burt Murdock and Ashley Cooper. However, the global consulting teams didn't have the depth of nowadays. The pooling networks were also in their infancy, with the Swiss and the Americans in the lead here on developing technique. All this spelled opportunities for innovation and excitement and many of these pioneers have subsequently been inducted into the International Employee Benefits Hall of Fame.
What IBIS had over other conference sponsors at the time was the fact that the IBIS Conference was annual – it has never missed a year – and anyone who paid the fee could attend. This meant that the whole international employee benefits field (representatives of multinational companies, consultancies and insurers) could gather in one place regularly and share ideas at a time when there were hardly any other comparable forums. Bruce,
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who is very knowledgeable in the subject matter, masterminded the conferences, with a great deal of input from Brian Jackson of Metropolitan Pensions Association, John Martin of Watsons, Walter Kruijswijk, Yogee Thakkar, Gunter Becher and others who helped determine what were the hot topics. I gather that Max Horlick – one of the best informed and most enthusiastic benefit specialists I can think of – is also still active at IBIS.
The first IBIS Conference I reported on was in 1974 when the theme was 'Employee Benefits In A World of Politics and Inflation'. This gives the flavour of the time. Bruce was adept at finding a theme each yera which must have become increasingly difficult. Many people believe that the IBIS Conference (now part of the IBIS Academy) has always been in Europe but, in fact, in 1974 it was held in San Francisco and in 1980 it was Toronto. However, the event has settled in Europe ever since then. In those early days there were also some highty successful IBIS Seminars, focusing on either a geographic region or a topic, held either in the United States or in Europe.
I am pleased to say that Richard Polak continued the best of the tradition of IBIS when he took the enterprise over from Bruce in 2002. It published news reports and country manuals (and still does) as well as holding conferences. The only significant difference is that, instead of being owned by a publisher, it is now part of a consultancy: IBIS Advisors. Richard introduced the idea of the IBIS Academy, which combines the IBIS Institute with the IBIS Conference both held in the same week, with a couple of days' overlap. Colin Pugh, who was involved with the IBIS Conference for many years and also the IBIS Institute both in Brussels and in Chicago, continued his association until 2008. Paul Roels has taken up the baton.
The IBIS Conference has always had its strong supporters, some of whom have attended year after year. However, this has become less true as people change their jobs more frequently through either choice or necessity and sometimes even moving from international to domestic (poor things!). With today's budget restrictions people often have to take their turn or finance their own conference attendance.
One distinctive feature of the IBIS Conference is how the country location is highlighted in the conference programme. The social aspects complement this in reflecting the richness of the local culture. You never come away wondering which country you've visited!
It is unusual for an organization to change hands and retain its essential character but this is very much what has happened with IBIS. When it comes to conferences, this organization has stood the test of time and I salute its achievements.
IStJ-B
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