Year: 2012

I normally write about sessions and cutting edge information when I attend conferences. I try to convey some of the thoughts and ideas that germinate here, and give a sense of what is on the mind of attendees and professionals in the industry. But this week is Orlando. The annual conference here could easily have…

First there was the “The Rumble in the Jungle”, and the “Thrilla in Manilla”. Now we have “Mobsterfest at Lobsterfest”. Or “All You Can Beat Shrimp”. “Crackin’ Jab at the House O’ Crab”,  “Beatin’ Face At That Darden Place” (only current or ex food and bev people like me will likely get that last one).…

What happens when you cross an idiot weather person with a Chinese television station? You get a terrific video of safety “China style”. Actually, that is not fair. I’ve seen far worse in this country. Perhaps I should explain. We’ve all seen the TV weatherman giving a live remote from the beach during a hurricane.…

I read disturbing news last week. Very disturbing news. Birth rates in this nation have dropped to their lowest level in over 25 years. While we were once the envy of the world, maintaining a “replacement perfect” rate of 2.1 births per woman in this country, we have in recent years slipped to an unimpressive…

I have often lamented that employers do not understand that workers' comp is a controllable cost. Too often they treat it as a necessary evil that they must simply contend with, and never really pay attention to the fact that they have influence over costs; through both prevention and effective claims management. That is why…

I think claims people in workers' comp do not get a fair shake from the industry.  I have heard a few people over the years use the phrase “he's just a claims guy”, or “they are only in claims”, when talking about some person who happens to work in that area within the workers' compensation…

August 9th represents the one year anniversary of this blog, “From Bob’s Cluttered Desk”. When I launched it, I really had no idea what I would use it for, or how often I would post. When I announced the blog, I wrote at the time that I hoped to post with more reliability than a…

Last week I wrote about a corporate CFO and Treasurer who torpedoed his own career by videotaping himself ripping a drive thru cashier at Chick-Fil-A over the beliefs of her company’s president. While this simpleton proved that you don’t need to possess intelligence or common sense to attain high positional status, that was not that…

Yesterday a federal court stopped Tennessee Titans offensive line coach Bruce Matthews attempts to receive workers’ compensation in the state of California. The three-judge 9th Circuit court upheld an arbitration award barring the former offensive lineman from attempting to get benefits under workers’ compensation law in California.  Mathews spent 19 years playing football for the…

Ok, I have to confess. It is Sunday night. I am sitting in a bar at Harrah’s in St. Louis, MO, preparing to attend a conference to learn all about MSA’s, MSP’s and any other acronyms I cannot think of at the moment (more on that at a later date). As I sit here I…