Call for Speakers – Share Your Expertise at the AEU Forum

The American Equity Underwriters is seeking knowledgeable, engaging speakers to contribute to the 2027 AEU Forum.

The Forum brings together maritime professionals from across the country for practical education, industry insight and meaningful discussion around the challenges employers face every day.

For 2027, we are inviting presentation proposals related to a select group of topics identified as priorities for our audience.

Who Attends the AEU Forum?

The AEU Forum is designed for experienced professionals working throughout the maritime industry, including those responsible for:

• Workplace safety
• Claims management
• Human resources
• Operations
• Risk management

Our attendees value practical information, real-world experience and ideas they can take back to their organizations.

Speaker Topics

We are looking for presentations on topics that are relevant, engaging, and actionable. Suggested topics include:

• Innovations and best practices in employee health and safety
• New tactics in HR strategies for workplace wellness
• Effective claims handling and return-to-work approaches
• And more
  

What We’re Looking For

Strong Forum presentations are:

• Be grounded in experience. We value real-world examples, case studies, lessons learned, proven practices and practical tools.
• Offer something useful. Attendees should leave with ideas, strategies or insights they can apply in their own organizations.
• Be appropriate for an experienced audience. Forum attendees are seasoned professionals, so presentations should go beyond introductory or surface-level information.
• Be educational, not promotional. Sessions should focus on helping the audience—not selling a company, product or service.
• Come from an experienced speaker. Prior experience presenting to professional audiences is required.
• Leave room for collaboration. You do not need to submit a fully developed presentation. We are interested in your expertise, perspective and proposed approach. If selected, AEU will work with you to refine the session for the Forum audience.

Above all, we are looking for speakers who know their subject, can engage a professional audience and have something meaningful to contribute to the conversation.

Submission Process

To be considered, please complete the following form. Speakers are typically confirmed 4-5 months before the event. All submissions will be reviewed, and selected speakers will be notified before that time.

Submission Deadline: October 15, 2026

What Happens After You Submit?

AEU will review submissions based on relevance to the Forum audience, practical value, speaker expertise and overall fit within the 2027 program.

Submitting a proposal does not guarantee selection. AEU may contact potential speakers to learn more about an idea, discuss adjustments to a proposed session or explore another format or topic based on the needs of the Forum program.

Selected speakers will participate in AEU’s speaker preparation process leading up to the Forum.

Questions?
Contact Maggie Hudson, VP, Assistant Director of Marketing, The American Equity Underwriters, Inc.