PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Ginny Tworek

Welcome to the LOMA Society of Nebraska. After a year of transi-

tion, this will be our first full year as a LOMA Society. Our bylaws,

website, letterhead, banner, and bank account have been changed.

The paperwork has been completed, and now it is official. Our web-

site is also undergoing additional changes. We have a new webmas-

ter, and we have received an independent website assessment which

included several suggestions for improvement. Look for ongoing

changes in the near future.

This year we have opened our membership to individuals with any LOMA designation, not just

FLMIs. We also face a continuing membership challenge. Many of our Companies have reduced

staff and/or have limited the payment of membership dues from their budgets. Our challenge

will be to find ways to interest new LOMA designees in joining our Society.

Our activities for the year will be similar to years past. The 2005 Calendar of Events has been

posted on our website. This year the Spring Dinner meeting will be held in Omaha, and the Fall

Recognition Dinner will be in Lincoln. This is opposite of the dinner locations from the past. We

will again try a summer outing, probably a picnic at Mahoney State Park. The weather was un-

cooperative last year, but this year will be better. Watch for the picnic details, then come out

and join us in the park. I would also encourage everyone to become involved in community ser-

vice projects. Details on these types of activities will be distributed as they become available.

We once again have a group of Board members who are hard working and dedicated. Last year,

due to unforeseen circumstances, the Seminar planning had ground to a halt. Working in a very

limited timeframe, all of the Board members got together and pulled off an excellent Seminar.

This year, I expect business as usual with continued excellent results. We have already had a

successful Spring Breakfast meeting with a large, enthusiastic group of attendees.

I look forward to another great year with the Society. I will see you on May 19th at the Spring Dinner meeting in Omaha. Get involved in the Society!

Ginny Tworek FLMI/M, ACS, HIA

1 Spring 2005

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May 19 SPRING DINNER — 5:00 pm, Georgetowne Club in Omaha Board Meeting- 3:30 pm July 28 Summer Activity: Picnic at Mahoney September 15 WINE & CHEESE MEETING - 4:30 pm, Board Meeting afterward Mahoney State Park-Kiewit Lodge Upper Level September 18-20 Annual LOMA Conference- Orlando, FL October 27 ANNUAL SEMINAR, Mahoney State Park-Kiewit Lodge Upper Level November 17 RECOGNITION DINNER - 5:00 pm, Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln Board Meeting- 3:30 pm December 8 Winter Board Meeting - 3:30 pm, dinner afterward Location in Lincoln-TBD

Contact your company rep or visit our Web site, www.loma-ne.org, for more information and updates.

2005 Calendar of Events

LOMA Society BALANCE SHEET as of December 31, 2004

Assets:

Checking $1,589.91

Savings $22,494.06*

Total Assets $24,083.97

Liabilities & Equity:

Liabilities $0

Equity $24,083.97

Total Liabilities & Equity $24,083.97

*Savings kept in reserve as contingency to cover the Society's annual expenses.

Spring 2005 5

Negotiating The Art of Getting what you Want

Speaker: Holly Murphy-Barstow, President, Barstow and Company, LLC Holly@BarstowAndCompany.com

Realize that you negotiate every day.

Much of negotiation is just common sense and good business etiquette.

ALWAYS ASK “Is that the best you can do?” Practice Daily!

Common Negotiating Situations: New Job; Pay raise (or benefits or status); Spouse – vacations, spending, family time, schedules, chores; Kids – bedtimes, curfews, chores, television & movies, allowances, dat-ing, loans; New Car; New House; Divorce

General Attitudes for Negotiating Success:

• Confidence • Preparation • Willingness to Walk Away— establish a BATNA

BATNA: Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. Establish prior to entering a nego-tiation. Allows you to not accept less than what you would consider fair.

Specific Attitudes for Negotiating Success:

• Able to be yourself • Not Afraid to Ask Questions • Able to Negotiate for Yourself • Maintain Focus on Goals • Avoid Empathy Trap • Ability to say No • Emotions are recognized, but don’t interfere

Men’s Negotiating Style: WIN, zero sum, minimum of small talk, get down to brass tacks, outcome takes priority over relationships, want to reach agreement quickly.

Women’s Negotiating Style: Very social, consider it rude not to have small talk first, consider time spent developing relationships well-spent, want all to feel good, willing to take time to satisfy all parties, relationships take precedent over outcomes.

Spring Breakfast Speaker Notes:

The 3 C’s of Negotiating: CONVINCE, COLLABORATE, CREATE

CONVINCE Use Active Listening Skills

Clarifying Encouraging Summarizing Purposeful Questioning Skills Ask Open Ended Questions SHUT UP – let Silence be your friend Columbo Technique Repetition in Question Form Anchoring Skills Determine fair range Anchor Initial offer Rhetorical Skills Develop Themes Highlight Benefits Lead to Conclusion (don’t lecture) Manage Expectations Anticipate Objections Use concessions wisely

COLLABORATE Develop Relationships Leverage Other Relationships Determine Interests Use Value Differences Expand the Pie, Identify New Options Agree on Mutually Agreeable Solution

CREATE Examine Assumptions Explore Other Alternatives Try Different Things Create New Paradigms

Resources you may find helpful:

BOOKS: Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury Getting Past No by William Ury CAREER – www.monster.com, www.careerbuilder.com, www.rileyguide.com, www.salary.com, www.jobsmart.org, www.salaryexpert.com, www.wageweb.com.

CARS – www.kbb.com, www.Edmunds.com, www.carprice.com, Consumer Reports, CarFax.

HOUSES – any websites that list local properties, county assessor, MLS listings, Realtors.

DIVORCE – lots of great books, check your public library. FIND GOOD ATTORNEY!

Spring 2005 6

Spring 2005 7

Spring Breakfast Evaluation results

Advance Publicity 31% Exceeded 69% Met Comments: Very good!

Meeting Location 45% Exceeded 55% Met Facilities 48% Exceeded 52% Met Food 33% Exceeded 65% Met 2% Not Met Comments: Less sweets, more whole grain & fruit Coffee too weak! A few more healthy choices would have been better. Table could be set up where there is more room to get around. Service 25% Exceeded 75% Met Speaker 84% Exceeded 16% Met Comments: Holly did a great job - it was informative & easy to listen to! I'm not easily impressed but Holly was good - very good! Great info, lots of stories & humorous examples. Entertaining and interesting. Presentation skills are great! Very helpful - outlining the steps to negotiation will help in my job. Excellent stories as illustrations; great humor. Too bad she needed to rush at the end.

Door Prize winners at the Spring Breakfast Meeting: Al Leaders, Mutual of Omaha--Borders Book Gift card Diane Peabody, Mutual of Omaha--Outback Steakhouse gift card Sara Robak, Mutual of Omaha--Jefferson Pilot Financial book bag Terry Clarke, Physicians Mutual--Olive Garden gift card Sandi Weinberg, Physicians Mutual--Jefferson Pilot Financial portfolio Michelle Lane, Principal Financial Group--Mutual of Omaha umbrella Lana Stevens, Woodmen of the World--FLMI picture frame Scott Parsons, Lincoln Benefit Life--Mutual of Omaha T-shirt

LOMA

Spring 2005 8

Members Present: Rachael Eldridge, Anjilynn Antonelli, Jon Boomgaarden, Jeff Kent, Melissa Rowlet, Ginny Tworek, Lanae Miers, Laurie Schneider, Dan Kohl, Christina Bentley, Steven McKern, Sheila Hoffert

Members Absent: Denise Cyr, Coleen Moser, Dick Van Haute

President Ginny Tworek called the meeting to order at 3:41 PM.

The minutes of the last board meeting, held on December 8, 2004, were approved.

Company Reps are being asked to assist with soliciting for a new membership director.

Dan Kohl and John Markley have agreed to take over the responsibilities of the website. Hani is working to transition these re-sponsibilities to John. A list of recommendations for enhancements has been compiled for the website and will be used for future changes.

2004 Annual Seminar summary was handed out and reviewed. We will continue to keep the budget on a cash basis. Discussion was had regarding the budget for 2004 and proposed budget for 2005. Please refer to the budget report.

President: Nothing additional to report at this time.

Vice President: Nothing to report at this time.

Secretary: Nothing to report at this time.

Treasurer: Refer to the budget report. An audit is being done. Melissa, Laurie and Dick will go to the bank once this is com-plete and change everything over to Laurie.

Program: Melissa will get the speaker information to Jeff at least 3 weeks prior to the Breakfast.

Scholarship: Jon reported that Education Quest is a non-profit organization that offers scholarships. An application will be sent to them with our information. No fee is charged to advertise our scholarships with this organization. Twenty-three colleges are accredited with the state of Nebraska and will be used to promote our scholarship. Five channels will also be used to promote the scholarship this year.

Seminar: Rachael reported that continuing education credits for licensed field agents may draw people to our seminar. She asked the Board if we could consider using our seminar for continuing education credits for licensed agents. Woodmen’s field agent dept would be willing to work with the filing agencies to verify requirements needed for these credits. Speakers would be needed as soon as possible. Everything is needed by the first part of August with promotion mid-August. A list of topics has been provided. The topics must be product-driven, not management. We are asked to consider including a product track with our semi-nar. Rachel would work with the Seminar Director to put this together. Further information will be gathered for discussion at the next meeting.

Board Member Reports

Budget Discussion

Website Updates

Membership Director

Approval of Minutes

BOARD MEETING MINUTES — January 20, 2005

Education: Nothing to report at this time.

Membership: Nothing to report at this time.

Audit: Nothing to report at this time.

Society Rep: Nothing to report at this time.

Communications/PR: Dan reported that Adobe Standard software is needed for our publishing purposes. FrontPage is of-fered through our website company. $250.00 in expenses is expected for the needs of the newsletter.

Past President: Nothing to report at this time.

The next scheduled Board Meeting will be held at Mahoney State Park on March 9, 2005 following the Spring Breakfast Meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:57 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Anjilynn Antonelli

Members Present: Rachael Eldridge, Anjilynn Antonelli, Jon Boomgaarden, Jeff Kent, Melissa Rowlet, Ginny Tworek, Laurie Schneider, Christina Bentley, Sheila Hoffert, Dick Van Haute, Debbie Thielen

Members Absent: Lanae Miers, Dan Kohl, Steven McKern, John Markley

President Ginny Tworek called the meeting to order at 10:07 AM.

The minutes of the last board meeting, held on January 20, 2005, were updated and approved.

Debbie Thielen, a Rerating Analyst at Physicians Mutual, is the new membership director.

Dan and John will be working on the website updates. The board roster and schedule will be included in these updates. Rachael will review the education information for updates. Jon confirmed that all scholarship information is current.

A speaker has not been decided and any suggestions would be appreciated. Medicare reform is a topic of interest. Discussion was had regarding the start time for the meeting. The social will begin at 5:00 PM with dinner at 6 PM.

Board Member Reports

May Meeting Plans

Website Updates

Membership Director

Approval of Minutes

Next Board Meeting

Spring 2005 9

BOARD MEETING MINUTES con’t— January and March 2005

BOARD MEETING MINUTES — March 9, 2005

President: Ginny reported that the President’s operating and activity reports were submitted to LOMA. Filing of the Registered Representative form with the Secretary of State for Nebraska is currently in process.

Vice President: Melissa requested door prizes for upcoming meetings. Marketing Departments may have items to give away.

Secretary: Thanks to Melissa for taking care of speaker notes at today’s meeting. Review of board roster was requested. Final updates will be sent out next Friday.

Treasurer: The final budget report was distributed. Bank changes are in the process of being made to add Laurie. A couple of checks will be given to Melissa since she is in Omaha and Laurie is in Lincoln.

Program: Jeff reported that 15 more people than last year attended today’s meeting. The next meeting will be in Omaha at the Georgetowne Club. As previously discussed, the start time will be 5:00 PM. The menu is currently being finalized. The summer activity will be in early August, possibly the 4th or the 11th. Enhanced promotion efforts will increase participation. Jeff will check the availability of Burr Oak Shelter. The Spring breakfast for 2006 will be held on the 1st Thursday in March.

Scholarship: Jon reported that the website is updated. Education Quest has also been updated. All colleges have been con-tacted and all the distribution is now being handled properly and easily accessible to students. The newsletter will be updated with the current information. Some committee members changes have been made with April Rempley leaving and Jill Davis joining. Company Reps will be notified and the newsletter updated with the current scholarship information. Rachael has been working on updating the Education and Company Rep information.

Seminar: The theme for this year’s seminar is “Taking Care of Business” and will be held on October 27th. A preliminary agenda was reviewed. Chuck Hagel is set to speak. Mark Bonkiewicz is an alternate choice if Chuck Hagel is not available. Field representatives are being targeted with both the Insurance Education and Training and Development. tracks. Sambrose College does Continuing Education credits for agents, but due to the timeframe of our presentation, may not be able to work with us on this.

Education: Nothing to report at this time.

Membership: Ginny reported $18,000 in membership dues received.

Audit: Melissa reported that the check register is needed from Steve.

Society Rep: Not available to report.

Communications/PR: Christina will be following up with everyone for update of the website by the end of March. Pictures and bios may be added to the website, depending on speed of the site.

Past President: Dick reported that the by-law changes were submitted and he is waiting for approval from LOMA. The final copy will be sent out when received. No new information on the FLMI banner from LOMA. Dick will follow-up on this.

The next scheduled Board Meeting will be held at the Georgetowne Club on May 19, 2005 at 3:30 PM, prior to the Spring Dinner Meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:48 AM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Anjilynn Antonelli

Next Board Meeting

Spring 2005 10

Spring 2005 11

LOMA Society of Nebraska Scholarship Drive

Full-Time Scholarships

The LOMA Society of Nebraska will award up to $4,000 in scholarships this year to full-time upper-class students at Nebraska institutions of post-secondary education. The scholarships will be awarded to persons who will have Junior, Senior, or Graduate academic status at the start of the Fall 2005 semester. The recipi-ents should have a record of academic success, but genuine interest in a chosen field and the ability to clearly express one's career ambitions are more critical factors than high grades. In awarding these scholarships, some additional consideration will be given to a student who is a child or relative of a person holding a LOMA designation. Part-Time Scholarship

The LOMA Society of Nebraska will award up to $1,000 in scholarships this year to either: • a LOMA Society of Nebraska member, or • a full-time employee of a company (insurance or financial) that is associated with the LOMA Soci-

ety of Nebraska, who has not attained a LOMA designation, but plans to take or is taking LOMA courses.

In addition, the applicant must be attending or plan to attend a Nebraska institution of post-secondary education part-time, have a genuine interest in a chosen field to enhance their career, and have the ability to clearly express one's career ambitions. Application Process

For additional information or to obtain an application, visit the LOMA Society of Nebraska web site at www.loma-ne.org or contact Jon Boomgaarden at jon.boomgaarden@mutualofomaha.com or (402) 351-8759. The deadline for application submission is June 3, 2005.

Society Member Spotlight

Name: Dan Kohl, FLMI, PCS, ALHC Position/Title: Customer Relations Specialist, Ameritas Group Dental and Eye Care. Place of Birth/Where you were raised: Harlan, Iowa. Raised near Portsmouth, Iowa, pop. 200. Educational/Career Backgrounds: Bachelors of Journalism from UNL. My major was news-editing, and subjects of emphasis were biology, chemistry and English. Past careers include being a real es-tate agent and a tax preparer. Hobbies: Family trips to zoos/parks, photography, golf, and news and editorial reading and writing. Other Facts about you: How about a story? When I was very young playing on our farm, I occasion-ally put myself in some situations where I’d need to escape from an irritated cow. A creek had carved through our pasture and one escape was to jump the creek. One day I slipped, and landed feet-first in the shallow creek. Hard. I got stuck deeply into the mud and couldn’t get myself out. I remem-ber the cow looking down on me, quite pleased with herself perhaps considering whether to jump on me. It was hours, and until dusk before my mom came and found me. Thanks again, mom!

Spring 2005 12 / end

2005 Membership Information

Member Company 2003 2004 2005

Allstate/Lincoln Benefit Life 32

Ameritas Life 92 85 67

Central States Health & Life 23 16 9

Central States Indemnity 15 3 0

Continental General 4 3 5

Deloitte & Touche 5 0 0

EiStream Inc. 1 1 0

Insurance & Business Svcs 1 1 1

Jefferson Pilot Financial 21 12 14

Lincoln Benefit Life 48 49 See Allstate Lincoln Direct 1 1 0

Mutual of Omaha 163 142 127

NE Department of Insurance 0 0 0

Northwestern Mutual 0 0 0

Physicians Life 34 30 28

Principal Financial Group -GI 11 5 4

Principal Financial Group -Omaha 3 4 2

Professional Insurance Company - Genworth 0 0 1

Resource Insurance Consultants, Inc. 0 1 1

Security Financial Life 6 4 0

State Farm Insurance 23 14 1

TAG/TMI 7 7 4

University of Nebraska Medical Center 0 0 1

Woodmen Accident & Life 1 1 0

Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society 65 56 47

World Insurance 18 15 14

TOTAL 542 450 358

Remember to bring canned food to LOMA Society events. Help the hungry in our communities plus earn extra tickets for door prize drawings.

A note from the Nebraska Food Bank Network, Inc.

The Nebraska Food Bank Network, Inc. would like to thank the LOMA Society of Nebraska for the donation received December 3, 2004, of 116 pounds of food.

You can help to build and strengthen your Society! Do you know someone who could benefit from professional educa-tion and/or networking? Tell them about educational opportunities

through LOMA and the LOMA Society of Nebraska!