Flock Together: The Corvus InnoSummit

Last month we hosted the inaugural Corvus InnoSummit in Boston. This convocation saw the entire Corvus Flock united from around the country, along with a group of Corvus’s closest broker partners. The group of seventy came together to learn, ideate, and better understand one another, and hopefully to have a bit of fun. In the end, all of these goals were met in spades. Here’s how it happened.

Corvus InnoSummit Highlights

The concept for the InnoSummit was born from a simple concept that is at the heart of software product development: you must understand your users and their problems in order to build products they want. We invited dozens of brokers who work closely with Corvus so that all of us Corvids -- not just those whose jobs involve talking to brokers on a daily basis -- could meet and talk to the folks who use the insurance and technology products that we create.

A Deeper Understanding of Technology Solutions

These alternating presentations gave way to stimulating discussions, facilitated by our friends at Thoughtbot. Based in Boston, Thoughtbot is a design and product development consultancy that has helped companies like AIG, Merck, and DigitalOcean build great digital products. Their team brought the exercises that they use when working on products for their clients: to create problem statements, sketch out (literally) new ideas, interview users, and create storyboards for an entire digital experience.

Gaining Knowledge and Insight From the Brokers

Corvids and Brokers Discussing Problem Statements With a Moderator From Thoughtbot

We sought (perhaps a bit selfishly) to gain knowledge and insight from the brokers. But we truly hoped and made efforts to ensure that brokers had a positive and enriching experience. That was validated in some of the comments we received. One broker who attended said that he’s “never seen an event where the brokers’ needs were the primary goal,” and that “It sent me home with an incredibly positive attitude towards the relationship with Corvus. I already felt this was an important relationship, but seeing that our concerns were the primary focus of this event really lets me know that we will grow together in amazing ways.” Lauren Baldwin of Risk Placement Services said that “The event showed me that Corvus is willing to listen to feedback and continue to evolve the CrowBar in helpful ways for brokers.”

Members of every team at Corvus came away brimming with ideas -- new features to build, new educational content to create, and new ways of thinking about what we do. We look forward to sharing the fruits of these ideas in the coming weeks and months!

After the success of the meeting, we also look forward to future iterations of the Corvus InnoSummit bringing together more brokers and more Corvids to learn from one another and drive our products forward.