This year's RIMS Annual Conference & Exhibition in San Diego will be even bigger and better than before according to its president Janice Ochenkowski.

The conference, which kicks off on Sunday and runs until next Thursday, is expected to host about 10,000 attendees, including 900 first-time attendees, alongside a sold-out exhibit hall boasting more than 400 exhibitors, including more than 100 new companies, as it celebrates its 46th year.

It will also feature some 400 expert speakers leading 130-plus educational sessions, with approximately 20 sessions focusing on Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and two off-site workshops at PETCO Park and SeaWorld.

There will be four hot topic sessions entitled Green by Design: Insurance Coverage for Building Green, California Wildfires, Building Resiliency through ERM: Responding to the Call for Private Sector Preparedness, and 2009 Medicare Legislation as well.

And Ms Ochenkowski hopes the event will be a big hit among delegates, exhibitors and speakers alike, and will provide everyone with a new way of thinking and talking about risk management.

She is also looking forward to welcoming the Bermuda contingent to the conference.

"I think the conference provides the Bermuda insurance and captive industry with a forum to highlight the benefits to do business in Bermuda," she said.

"I have previously toured the exhibit hall with the Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Paula Cox and the chairman of the Bermuda Insurance Development Council Roger Gillett and the chairman of the Bermuda Insurance Development Council sub-committee Allison Towlson and I think it would be a wonderful opportunity to strengthen our relationship with Bermuda and the insurance and captive industry there.

"There will be 900 first-time attendees and I think for the Bermuda market this is a great way to reach out to new attendees in the industry."