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June 30, 2002 at 08:00 PM
6,000 Gather To Celebrate MDRTs 75th
By
Nashville, Tenn.
A crowd of some 6000 Million Dollar Round Table members came to Nashville from all over the United States and 53 other countries around the world to celebrate the organizations 75th birthday.
In a development that its leaders would have had difficulty foreseeing 75 years ago, so many members came to this meeting from other parts of the world that they outnumbered the American members present.
Marvin Feldman spent the past year as president of MDRT visiting many of those countries where MDRT has a presence.
“One of the things Ive done internationally is try to talk with personnel at the U.S. embassies to help our international members get a visa so they can come to the meeting,” Feldman said in an interview.
Even though many U.S. embassies have clamped down with visa restrictions, Feldman noted that international attendees constitute almost 54% of those at this years meeting.
“Ive been visiting countries and associations, reporting on what MDRT is doing to make membership more valuable to them,” he said.
And, in response to the international membership, Feldman announced that a special 2004 MDRT meeting will be held in Hong Kong.
During his term as president, Feldman has focused on family values, professionalism, and productivity.
“Ive been trying to reinforce the idea that in order to be successful in this business and to be role models for other people, we have to be successful at home,” Feldman said. “We have to be role models for other individuals when they look to us for family values.
“Were trying to keep families together, were trying to keep businesses together–but we have to do it ourselves first,” he said. “Professional success that comes at the expense of your family is no success at all.”
Feldman noted that the whole person concept is something that people both in the U.S. and other countries are very excited about.
Raising the bar in the area of professionalism is something Feldman feels will come over time. “Every member needs to use the MDRT affiliation to differentiate themselves from the banker, or the stockbroker,” said Feldman. “What will set you apart from them is the quality of the relationships you build with your clients.”
Increasing the productivity of MDRT members has come in the form of the MDRT/GAMA mentoring program. As a result of this program, Feldman announced that 4,500 mentor/prot?g? teams have been formed. Over 1000 of those teams have now qualified for MDRT since entering the mentoring program.
Members should expect to see continued emphasis on the benefits of the mentoring program over the next year, according to Richard Sullenger, current first vice president, and incoming president of MDRT. While Sullenger feels the mentoring program is a success as it stands, he wants the program to continue to help get those younger producers, who may not be MDRT members, into the organization.
“We all came from some kind of mentoring program. Im asking everyone at this meeting to go home and mentor someone,” Sullenger said, in an interview.
Further involvement in the mentoring program is just one of the three areas Sullenger will be focusing on during his term. As next years president, Sullenger is anxious to increase U.S. membership levels, as well as continue the branding of the MDRT name.
“First of all we need to increase U.S. membership,” he said.
Sullenger noted that while international membership has grown by leaps and bounds, membership has decreased in the U.S. “I think for the first time international membership now exceeds U.S. membership.
