THE GREAT INSURANCE DEBATE

FORT WORTH

TEXAS

THE GREAT INSURANCE DEBATE

FORT WORTH

TEXAS

“As new clients we have been incredibly happy with the service provided by DeWitt Stern.They’ve brought industry expertise and smart ideas like the DeWitt Stern RPG.”

Heather KempDirector of Finance & Accounting The Santa Fe Opera

1. Post time – you own your posts, but context is key. You may not have a chance to explain it later. But, you can’t be held liable for some content posted by others on your website.

2. Copy right – you can’t just use someone else’s content, but retweeting and hyperlink-ing to another’s content are generally less risky.

3. Who’s the boss? – employees might provide the personality, but a business is typically responsible for what’s posted on its

RPG

SPOTLIGHTDeWitt Stern Cultural Institution Risk Purchasing Group (RPG) Newsletter

5 TIPS FOR SAFER SOCIAL MEDIA USE

Summer 2014

Jennifer Rose Adams 212.297.1454

Peter Shoemaker 212.297.1444

Joseph Bower 212.297.1481

RPG Team

RPG@dewittstern.com

www.dewittstern.com

account. Address who owns a social media account up front to avoid confusion later.

4. All ads up – advertising over social media has some of the same legal rules as traditional ads. You can’t make stuff up, mislead or spam people.

5. You win – social media contests are popular, but requiring people to Like/Follow an account to enter could raise an issue. Also, be aware of the network’s own contest restrictions.

If you hold an event off premises, such as a gala dinner with dancing, �reworks in a park or a jazz quartet performing at a high school, does your liability policy protect you if something happens? Under some policies, these are considered “special events” and you need to buy additional coverage. With the DeWitt Stern RPG, you have the coverage. "The great thing about the RPG is that the coverage is not limited to your premises,” says Anthony Pittari, VP of the DeWitt Stern Entertainment team. Pyrotechnics, gala cocktail parties and temporary stages are covered. “Once you are accepted into the RPG liability program, you are automatically covered for almost all of your off-premises events. We do ask our clients to advise us whenever they do these type of events so we can help with their risk management, but rarely is more premium charged,” states Peter Shoemaker, the creator of DeWitt Stern's RPG.

One of the leading Errors & Omissions markets, Hiscox Insurance Company Inc suggests the following tips when utilizing social media:

ARE YOU COVERED FOR SPECIAL EVENTS?

SPOTLIGHTDeWitt Stern Cultural Institution Risk Purchasing Group (RPG) Newsletter Fall 2014

THE GREAT INSURANCE DEBATEOn November 13th, DeWitt Stern pre-sented “The Great Insurance Debate” at the CFO/Arts annual conference in Ft. Worth, Texas. The mock debate presented a liberal approach to han-dling insurance versus a conservative approach.

Each year, the organization meets in a different city and vendors and experts are invited to make presentations.

“We founded CFO/Arts 1989 as a way to bring together finance leaders of large nonprofit arts organizations to network, learn and share best practic-es, to help us advance our missions in our communities.” says Rick Johnson, one of the founders and currently CFO of the Seattle Opera.

RPG TeamJennifer Rose Adams 212.297.1454

Joseph Bower 212.297.1481

Peter Shoemaker 212.297.1444

RPG@dewittstern.com

www.dewittstern.com

DeWitt Stern’s presentation was a “Meet the Press” mock political debate. On one side, Peter Shoe-maker of DeWitt Stern closely exam-ined insurance and other indemnity language –in other words, “sweat the details”. Conte Moore, also of DeWitt Stern, took a laissez-faire approach to arranging and buying insurance, claiming that a specialty broker isn’t required.

DeWitt Stern’s Joe Bower served as the moderator, posing questions from the audience including mock tweets and Facebook posts.

To answer the question of cyber li-ability, Conte Moore argued that was there was no need for it and asserted that no one had ever heard of an arts organization being hacked. Peter

Shoemaker countered with, “for the minimal cost of cyber liability, do you want to tell to your Board you never investigated the coverage or cost?”

Mr. Shoemaker then stressed the benefits of the RPG program because it automatically includes coverage not normally covered, such as pyro-technics and injury to performers. Joe Bower concluded the debate by thanking the venue host, Performing Arts Fort Worth (Bass Performance Hall).

RPG

Warm Holiday Wishes from DeWitt Stern

“We founded CFO/Arts 1989 as a way to bring together finance leaders of large nonprofit arts organizations to network, learn and share best practices, all to help us advance our missions in our communities.”

Rick A. JohnsonChief Financial Officer, Seattle OperaCFO/Arts Co-founderrick.johnson@seattleopera.org