It’s amazing what you don’t know until you learn it. When I started getting ready for National Real Time Day—something I’ll explain in a minute or two—I started researching Leap Year and Leap Day. I was just a baby last time Leap Year came around, so it’s an entirely new concept to me.

Did you know that Leap Year babies born in 1884 did not celebrate a single birthday on their actual birth date throughout their entire teenage years? What a bummer! No Sweet Sixteen party (if they even did them back then.) No nothing. That’s because February 29th fell on the year they turned 12 (1896) and then not again until they turned 20, in 1904. Of course, this fact clearly falls under the heading of “trivia,” which is broadly defined as useless information.

What is not useless information is what will take place on Leap Day this year! The volunteers with the industry-wide Real Time/Download Campaign are planning a special day—we’re calling it National Real Time Day, and it will focus on enhanced workflows and interface. We’re giving insurance carriers, vendors, users groups and other organizations a chance to join in and rally around Real Time and Download on that special day. The goal of National Real Time Day: Help independent insurance professionals gain awareness and appreciation for the benefits of Real Time.

We’re asking business partners to put together webinars, newsletter articles, mailings and more to help agents and brokers better understand what interface functionality is available and how to access and activate it. We’re doing that because a lot of folks who responded to our most recent agency survey said you just weren’t sure what was available and, more important, exactly how to get it to work.

We’ll be compiling a listing of events that will take place that day. And we’ll post it on our new Real Time Day page at the campaign website. When we update that page, I’ll share that info here, so be sure to subscribe to my blog, either via email or through RSS. Plus, I will post updates on my Facebook page about National Real Time Day. Please “Like” my page there, so you’ll be among the first to know.

If you work for a carrier, vendor, users group or association and would like to get involved, comment below or send me an email. If you’re an agent or broker who can’t wait until the 29th of February (and frankly, Real Time is so exciting, I wouldn’t blame you if you eager to get a head start), check out the implementation guide or go right to the implementation steps on the GetRealTime.org website.
Oh, and if you have any cool ideas on how we can make Real Time Day even more valuable to you or people you work with, comment below or drop us a line.

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