You know you’re an ERM geek when a 45-minute discussion on the current state of enterprise risk management glides by … and there are hours of topics left in desperate need of attention.

That’s how I felt last week after connecting with Laura Taylor, Aon’s global leader of ERM.

Our conversation ranged from risk management nuggets embedded in Vanity Fair’s coverage of the financial crisis to the ERM’s defining characteristic (“intimacy”). Uh, it was kind of hot.

One of my primary research objectives recently involves developing a handy maturity model for the risk-related case studies I produce. Several such models already exist, including Aon’s model (see pages 3-7 and pages 46-47 of this report) and RIMS’s model, among others.

(I know I’m neglecting others; if that includes your model, send me a note and I’ll be sweet on you, too.)

My own “model” is designed to give readers a quick fix on how my case-study subject’s progress relates to their own risk management evolution. It will be available within a couple of weeks online and also in the next issue of the magazine.

I’ll also share more on the state of ERM from my conversation with Taylor here shortly … ###