One annual tradition that continues to deliver excellence involves the AIP Marketing Alliance Members in Motion Conference, which combines an atmosphere of wholesalers, agents, carriers, and the AIPMA team in one location. For 2025, AIPMA returned to the Godfrey Hotel in the Detroit suburb of Corktown for a couple of days of educational sessions and fun social events.

“Fantastic. I can use that term to describe just about everything that happened during our 2025 Members in Motion Conference,” AIPMA President Rick Kisser said. “Each year, AIP Marketing Alliance strives to set the bar high, and once again, the fantastic combination of our valued wholesalers, amazing speakers and sponsors, a combined effort of the AIPMA team, and some fun social events delivered a memorable event at The Godfrey Hotel.”

The two-day event encompasses educational sessions geared toward industry topics, sales ideas for annuities and life insurance, and taking time to catch up with everyone during the flexible schedule.

Tuesday set the tone for this year’s conference as Austin Naal of Western & Southern Financial Group kicked things off by discussing how AI is impacting today’s marketplace. He shared how to use some AI tools, like ChatGPT, have many core capabilities including knowledge, brainstorming, creation, development, and interpretation. Agents can apply these capabilities to their business through brand and awareness, sales and recruiting, research and preparation, and development.

Jared Herzog of North American and Jeff Barnes of EquiTrust completed the Tuesday educational sessions by sharing sales ideas and positioning annuity products. The night culminated with a strolling dinner in the rooftop Ambassador Lounge with everyone mingling and enjoying the table-side magic of Jasen Magic (who always impresses during our conference).

The streamlined conference continued with a busy Wednesday as our valued carrier sponsors kicked off the content with the tag team of Steve Zimmerman and Troy Haman from North American sharing life insurance ideas to unlock agents’ sales potential in the next 90 days through coaching, picking sales ideas, and developing a custom business plan.

They were followed by Josh Giesemann (American Equity), Tim Burns (American National), and Tom Ross (F&G), who covered a lot of annuity content and sales ideas leveraging their carrier’s respective strengths. After a quick break, AIPMA’s wholesalers also were treated to 15-minute breakout sessions with Kevin Zarling (Allianz), Clay Crume and Patrick Robertson (Corebridge Financial), Brian Cournoyer and Veronique Laroch (Foresters Financial), Pat Murray (Protective), and Scott Gabrilson (Prosperity Life).

AIPMA Vice President of Business Development Chris Howe also gave a quick update on AIPMA’s resources including the addition of Annuity Rate Watch, 13 underwriters to help with niche life insurance cases, the new Life & Annuity Resource Center (LARC) for agent training, and how wholesalers should leverage AIPMA’s portals to increase efficiency by adding industry tools and resources for their agents.

Wednesday’s schedule then took a turn to the social events as everyone traveled by bus to The Hub Stadium in Novi for a curling competition and lunch. The teams were named based on real Minor League Baseball teams, which led to the Hartford Yard Goats winning the GOAT trophy ironically. The team consisted of Becca Spalding, Michael Staeb, Ryan Thomas, and Malory Kreider!

After a brief break, the Members in Motion Conference attendees dined on some delicious food (including a risotto bar) and finished off the evening with our annual Casino Night. Everyone enjoyed blackjack, Texas hold’em, craps, roulette, horse racing, and other games with the opportunity to win grand prizes including a TUMI Backpack, YETI cooler, Shinola watch, KitchenAid mixer, Breville Espresso Machine, or a Blackstone Griddle. Congrats to the winners of these prizes as we hope you enjoy them!

AIP Marketing Alliance received a lot of positive feedback from this event as we followed up with our sponsors and attendees to see how we did in 2025.

“Another word you heard a lot during the conference was family. You see a lot of hugs, smiles, and laughs as each conference seems like an annual family reunion,” Kisser added. “It’s not just conversations about products and tools – it’s taking the time to ask about each other, enjoy a great meal or a cold drink, and rekindle in-person with the people our team values most.”

With that in mind, you can see the highlights from the conference and special “Thank You” messages from our team in the video below.

AIPMA will return September 15-17, 2026, to the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester, Michigan, for next year’s Members in Motion Conference, which will mark 45 years in business for AIP Marketing Alliance. Our team looks forward to seeing everyone next year!

For more than 40 years, AIP Marketing Alliance (AIPMA), an Integrity Company, serves as a premier life insurance and annuity distribution partner to provide full-service support to independent wholesalers, brokerages and agents from our Troy, Michigan office. NOT AFFILIATED WITH OR ENDORSED BY THE GOVERNMENT OR THE MEDICARE PROGRAM.

AIP Marketing Alliance is committed to STRIVE in ’25 as we support our independent insurance wholesalers and agents. Visit our blog on aipma.com to stay informed on these upcoming launches and learn why wholesalers nationwide choose AIPMA as their distributor for selling life insurance, annuities, long-term care insurance, final expense, and much more. Ask about our lead services, myAIP CRM platform with customizable recruiter portal, and online tools/resources designed to grow your business. The difference is personal.

AIP Marketing Alliance, an Integrity Company, has developed this electronic communication for informational and educational use only. Be advised, AIP Marketing Alliance, Inc., does not provide legal advice, tax advice, or guidance on issues involving securities laws, insurance laws nor securities or insurance regulations. This material should not be relied on as providing any such advice or guidance to either agents or retail consumers. Within this communication, AIPMA shares links for usage as information only. This content should not be interpreted as solicitation to purchase life insurance, annuities, or other products or as advice designed to meet your clients’ specific needs. Content involving fiduciary, tax, or legal advice should be directed to your legal, tax, and financial professionals for specific advice or product recommendations. AIPMA will not accept any legal liability resulting from any use of 3rd party material(s).