Today, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, is my last official day as CEO of WorkersCompensation.com. After almost 23 years I am leaving the company I helped found, and am saying farewell to a team of associates for whom I have tremendous love and respect. It is a time of mixed emotions, as I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure here. But new challenges lie ahead; exciting changes that appear to be hitting a very positive chord with the workers’ compensation industry. And while this is my last official post on WorkersCompensation.com, I am by no means finished blogging.
Believe me, I have much more to say. And as I’ve noted in the past, you all have a right to my opinion.
I will continue writing on the website BobsClutteredDesk.com, where all of my posts over the last decade or more have been archived. Select posts will also be featured on my new venture, WorkCompCollege.com. I’ve had the honor of participating in some pretty significant product and service developments over the years, but it is this blog, and the friendships and opportunities it has created, that continue to be one of my greatest joys.
Officially started on August 9, 2011, From Bob’s Cluttered Desk has posted 1,535 articles, which as of this publishing have been read a total of 7,366,837 times. It was named by LexisNexis as one of the top three workers’ compensation blogs in the nation and repeatedly selected as a “Top Blog” on our own annual Best Blog program (no, I wasn’t a judge). Personally, it has generated numerous keynote and other speaking opportunities and was critical to my designation by SEAK as one of the “Fifty Most Influential People in the Workers’ Compensation Industry,” as well as the Comp Laude Industry Leader Award I received in 2019.
I have been honored and humbled by the recognition this blog has created. Yet, despite the accolades, it is the friendships generated around the country over the years that have meant the most to me. This blog has given me the opportunity to see and meet the absolute best this industry has to offer. And while we have also occasionally witnessed some of the worst in workers’ comp, I am proud that we might have had a very small role from time to time in helping make those bad situations better.
And I want to thank all of you who have been so supportive in this effort.
So, for today, I bid a fond farewell to one chapter in my life. I have had the privilege of working with an outstanding team of people; people who have developed innovative products that have brought true benefit to many in the industry. I am forever indebted to them for their faithful commitment and support. Their work continues, but for me, here at least, it is done.
As for the new chapter in my life, as President of WorkCompCollege.com, suffice it to say that my co-founders, Mark Pew and Donald Abrams, and I have been stunned by the outpouring of interest in our new project. We knew it was a good idea but are thrilled to hear from so many people who agree with and are excited by its premise. The time for formalizing “Whole Person Recovery Management” has arrived, and with the help of a mobilized and motivated industry, we are well on our way to seeing it to fruition.
Clearly, I am not done with workers’ comp. So, while this may be a fond farewell, it is certainly not goodbye. Besides, as I said, I still have things on my mind…