Well, the 2016 WCRI Annual Conference is behind us, and as I wait for my flight home to the Sunshine State it is time to let the massive amount of data provided coalesce and cogitate within the deep dank recesses of my mind.
Most of that info will likely be lost in there for the ages, but I know that some topics will wend their way to the pages of this blog. WCRI has undertaken the Herculean effort of statistically analyzing injured worker outcomes in 15 states. It is a notable effort, putting measurable analysis on a critical and overlooked area of our industry. After all, workers outcome is one of our “final products” and it deserves this attention. I’ll be writing on that next week.
I also have ample fodder for the ongoing Opt Out debate. WCRI had two sessions on that topic this week, and as you might expect, I have a thing or two to say about it. Spoiler alert: I am more convinced than ever that the Oklahoma Insurance Department has a tremendous amount of culpability for the mess that is the Oklahoma Option.
WCRI is a very hospitable event for bloggers and the press. They set up a table at the very front of the room for us, complete with outlets for charging a myriad of electronic devices. Also, custom password wifi access was provided us. I must admit, I felt a bit out of place at that table. A notoriously poor note taker, I sat silently as those around me furiously hammered away at their keyboards, madly working to get the information presented to their readers as expeditiously as possible. For some reason I kept thinking of the scene in the movie “Airplane” where all the press, given the “big scoop”, ran to a line of phone booths knocking them over and falling to the floor.
Yeah, it looked a lot like that.
Fortunately for you, I am not a reporter, and I don’t generally race to convey the most current news. Other people do that; I just simply comment on those stories when I’m good and ready. And sober. Well, usually sober.
At one point, Joe Paduda (commonly known as Comrade Joe), who was sitting next to me, stepped out of the room leaving his MacBook Air unoccupied. I was truly tempted to seize the opportunity and access his @Paduda Twitter account to send a ream of #Trump4President posts. Personally I am not a Trump fan, but that really would not matter. If you know Comrade Joe, it would have been hysterical.
So, the weekend and a long flight home await. I’ll be back on Monday with more on that workers outcome study. Until then, be sure to tweet conservative messages in support of @Paduda. He loves it when you do that.