October 14, 2022 - Insurance agent Joe Nguyen and a group of 30 agents came together in Las Vegas, NV for the first-ever Agents Hosting Agents conference in 2005.
Realizing the value agents could gain from in-person networking events like AHA, Nguyen decided to turn the conference into a non-profit organization that has since hosted over several thousand attendees.
Now with their fifth conference planned for April 19-21, 2023 in Anaheim, CA, we caught up with the AHA President and Co-founder to learn more about what inspired the conference, what to look forward to next year and how Melon Local has teamed up for the event.
Melon Local: What inspired you to get involved in AHA?
Joe: Du Vo was the first Vietnamese agent in the Orange County area, and he was a very successful agent when I had just started.
Once I gained some traction with my agency, he came up to me and said, ‘Joe, I believe that if we can get good agents together, there are so many good agents out there through different parts of the country. All we know is just Orange County. We can start a study group so we can find some great agents throughout the country, and I think we can learn a lot.’
We started a small Vietnamese study group back in 2005. At the time, there were about 30 of us who had met in Las Vegas. From there, we realized there are so many things we can learn from other agents, and we can just create an environment where we can share ideas and best practices and explore the possibilities of what could be.
We also wanted to celebrate together with different cultures so we can best meet the needs of the communities we serve — whether it be Hispanics, Asians, African-Americans or the general market. We want to learn everything and all the possibilities in the insurance world.
ML: What kind of value can agents expect to get from AHA?
Joe: Here’s the exciting thing: you know, when you surround yourself with great people, you will become great! I believe that if we surround ourselves with great agents, then we become a sponge and absorb things to become better. Believe it or not, these are all top, extremely qualified agents attending.
The reason we have these agents here is that there are also new agents and aspiring agents — agents who are motivated to do great things — they get an opportunity to surround themselves with these agents and ask them to become mentors and become part of a community.
Again, this is designed solely to share best practices — that is the main thing. If we can make each other better, of course, the company will become better. And if the company can become better, we can only benefit from that. And that’s what makes our company number one because agents always help agents.
We are a non-profit because our company has given us so much. This is our way of the community giving back. Success to me is not what we make for ourselves — success to me is what we can do for others. It brings joy to me if I can help new agents become better because they can see what they can actually become and actually see what’s at the end of the rainbow.
ML: We’re excited to serve as this upcoming conference’s title sponsor! How does it feel having us be a part of this event?
Joe: Melon Local was the first company that stepped up. Before we even opened up the registration, Melon Local reached out and offered to be a title sponsor and a great partner.
I originally found out about Melon because I heard agents talk about them quite a bit. I think Melon Local has great things and the way you put things together. It’s unbelievable. I’m not a social media guy. I’m an old-school guy.
Melon Local is actually the one who opened up everything for me with Facebook and Instagram. It’s a blessing that someone does all this for me. Melon Local has really been on top of things, they post some great stuff for me. And people think I did it. It’s out there. I get a lot of impressions on LinkedIn with everything you post. We are starting to get more business from Facebook, our company website and all of that other stuff!
From the bottom of my heart, I think it’s an awesome thing that Melon Local is sponsoring the event!
ML: Is there anything new and exciting agents can look forward to?
Joe: It’s going to be a lot different. We’ve learned from the past. We only allowed 15 sponsors for this event because we want to make sure that all the sponsors get a good chance to meet with agents, and we don’t want to have too many where it’s not fair that agents don’t have enough time to visit them.
So, we want to make sure to keep it to a small number of sponsorships so that agents can visit every table at the event.
We also have the funding, so we can spend more on entertainment, and we can really have a great dinner event. I also think we’ll be able to create a really good list of agents.
The platform speakers are going to be well-known agents. These platform speakers basically dedicate their time to be with us just to give back. They will also get a chance to meet the new leadership. It’s going to be very exciting!
To learn more about the Agents Hosting Agents Conference V, click here!