DM: Data Mining Methods in Insurance and Direct Marketing (response to J

[eric]

Jakob,

You wrote:
     I am trying to find out whether there in practice have been
     made any comparison of different data mining methods with the
     purpose to predict damages in an insurance company respectively
     to predict the additional sale and drop-out behavior as to
     direct marketing activities....

If formal training is feasible for you, I'm not sure whether you are 
aware
of the courses offered by The Gordian Institute.  Gordian is not 
affiliated
with any software tools company, and provides objective application
workshops rather than instruction through the eyes of a particular 
product.
The Gordian Institute has courses which seem to target several of the
topics that you mentioned.  Here are a few titles of Gordian courses 
that
relate to your interests:

   - ADVANCED DATABASE MARKETING
   - ADVANCED FRAUD DETECTION TECHNIQUES FOR THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY
   - DATA MINING: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE

A more detailed announcement of Gordian's Data Mining course follows 
which
provides contact information.  I hope this helps.  Cheers.

   - Eric King

            ___________________________________________________
                   DATA MINING: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE
                A broad-brushed, intensive introduction of
                methods, applications, tools and techniques
                                offered by
                           The Gordian Institute
                        http://www.gordianknot.com

                   August 5 - 7, 1998 in Portland, Maine
            September 16 - 18, 1998 in Santa Clara, California
                     November 4-6, 1998 in Dallas, TX
                            Registration: $1495
            ___________________________________________________


WHAT MAKES THIS COURSE UNIQUE?
This course focuses on actual use and implementation of data mining
methods.  The instructor will also show how to evaluate various
data mining products.  Exercises will reveal impressive results
from the same tool that may have failed in other categories.  The
workshops will save immeasurable time and effort in assessing and
selecting which suite of tools and techniques will perform best for
your application.


WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
     - The basic principles of data mining
     - The different methods of data mining and how they compare
     - How to prepare raw data for data mining
     - How to analyze and validate the results
     - What questions data mining can answer
     - What are the pitfalls and how to avoid them
     - What commercial products are available and how to evaluate them


REQUEST FULL COURSE DETAILS
You will quickly receive complete details to include pricing, course
outline, instructor background, site logistics and registration form
through any of the following:

   - Email:  agent@gordianknot.com
     Send an Email message with your request in the subject field:
        - Data Mining Course Details
        - Gordian's Quarterly Electronic Newsletter
   - Toll Free: 800-405-2114
   - Direct: 281-364-9882
   - Fax: 281-754-4014
   - http://www.gordianknot.com

_____________________________________________________________________