Tuesday

Now that 24 hours have passed, students have begun to feel more comfortable about the Redbird Risk Management Challenge. After one day, Team C.I.A. has gotten out of the gate ahead of the other teams.

Tuesday's activities provided students with some of the skills needed to make better risk management decisions for their businesses. In addition, they were introduced to one of the major components of the Challenge: the "Shark Tank" presentation. 

Shark Tank

Technology has disrupted so many industries agriculture, newspapers, and retail shopping. Today, the insurance industry is ripe for disruption and many "insurtech" companies are developing new technologies for application to insurance.

For the Challenge, students will identify a technology that has promise for application to the insurance industry. As the most significant activity of the week, over the next three days, they will develop their insurtech ideas and present it on Thursday night.

Links for the Matrix

• https://riskandinsurance.com/protecting-those-who-care-for-kids/
• https://riskandinsurance.com/crisis-preparedness-at-its-best/ 
• https://riskandinsurance.com/the-lunch-pail-risk-manager/ 
• https://riskandinsurance.com/weathering-harvey

Monday update

It was an early start on the first day of the Redbird Risk Management Challenge! Today, students learned who their team members were and one of their first decisions was to choose their company names.

• CIA - Cooper, Irene, and Abigail 
• JAR Protects - Jade, Aaron, Ada, Ramon 
• JJ's Red Hots - James, John, Lauren, Virginia 
• The 5 P's - Griffin, Nicole, Paul

In the morning, they learned about the structure of the Challenge and how they will work together to manage the risks that their business will face over the week.

Students were a bit uncertain how the week will unfold, but as we progressed through the first couple of activities, students saw how their businesses are affected by

• Strategic risk management decisions related to pure risk - deciding to prevent losses from occurring, reducing the impact to their businesses, and/or transferring the uncertainty to an insurer
• Other revenue opportunities - over the course of the week, there are many different activities where teams can earn additional dollars for their business. These activities involve a mix of teamwork and luck. 

Sunday update - Welcome

Students (and their guests) were welcomed to campus today to begin the Redbird Risk Management Challenge. After checking in and getting an orientation about the Katie School of Insurance and Risk Management and getting a tour of the State Farm Hall of Business, students participated in several "ice breaker" activities to get to know the other that they will be spending time with during the week.

Jim Jones, Executive Director of the Katie School

As the Executive Director of the Katie School of Insurance at Illinois State University, it is my pleasure to welcome you to campus, and congratulations on being selected to the Redbird Risk Management Challenge! Dr. Kevin Ahlgrim and I will be guiding you through many many challenging activities, all involving you having to identify and manage risk. You will also have lots of fun working with talented students from around the country.

Today we welcome 14 students from all across the United States. We have students coming from Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and New Jersey. We hope you enjoy your time at Illinois State and we are glad to have you on Campus!

During the week, these students will operate in teams running a business. Your business will have a number of chances to generate revenue. Your team will also manage certain risks for your business. Your ability to manage these risks will affect your success as much as your ability to earn revenue. This is a competitive program, and we will have many small competitions within the game as well. The top two winning teams will receive prizes. Play fair, respect your teammates and competitors, and have fun!

The Katie School Risk Management Challenge is funded by the generous offers of our corporate sponsors. We would like to thank State Farm, COUNTRY Financial, and Travelers for their support along with support of all the industry sponsors who contribute to the Katie School Hall of Fame. The Katie School Hall of Fame supports our efforts in developing risk management literacy and careers in risk management for students and teachers in secondary education.

The Katie School is recognized by A.M. Best as one of the four top performers in the United States. The program has also been recognized as a Center for Global Insurance Excellence (GCIE). The actuarial program at ISU has been designated as a Center for Actuarial Excellence and is a Causality Actuarial Society University Award Winner.

• Learn more about the Katie School: https://business.illinoisstate.edu/katie/about/

• More information on the Redbird Risk Management Challenge: https://business.illinoisstate.edu/katie/outreach/risk