We announced the winners of our 2017 Best Blogs contest yesterday afternoon. It is the second time we have run the contest, and as last year it produced some interesting results. This blog made the list once again, and while it might be suspicious that a guy who runs the company that holds the contest actually ends up being one of the winners, I can assure you it was legit. We exercised no undue influence on our panel of independent judges.
Thank you, independent judges. I appreciate your support. Also, as promised, your children are being released unharmed as you read this.
I also wish to thank the people who nominated this blog, and who continue to provide far more support and encouragement than I deserve. You know it is just all going to go to my head. Perhaps that is not a bad thing. A big giant head will make my big giant ass look smaller.
In all seriousness, I do appreciate the continued support and recognition for my musings from The Cluttered Desk. I also want to congratulate the other winners for 2017. It is a great accomplishment to be recognized by your industry.
This year we did a couple things a bit differently. First, we were proud to dedicate this year’s program to the late David DePaolo. David was, as many of you know, a prolific blogger who wrote 5 days a week. His blog was nominated this year, and scored well. However, since it is no longer an active service, we could not list him as a 2017 Best Blogger. I think our choice to provide an “In Memoriam” dedication to his life and industry commitment was the right one. You may view that on the Best Blogs listing page.
The second thing we did was a last-minute decision, and was the result of an unusual circumstance related to our program rules. These blogs were nominated under one of nine categories, and judged using two separate areas; an objective score and a subjective score. The objective score was tabulated using statistics such as age of the blog, frequency of posts, number of nominations, etc. The subjective portion, which this year equaled 50% of the total score, was determined by our panel of independent judges. One of the rules we had in place was that no category would receive more than 3 named winners.
That, frankly, was a problem this year. There were a couple categories that dominated the representation of top scoring blogs. That meant that some blogs got bumped even though their score might have otherwise indicated inclusion in the list. For example, while only one blog in the Carrier category made the qualifying top half of the finalist roster, six blogs in the National Issues category made it. That means only 3 of those National Issue blogs could be listed as a “Best Blog”, even though the scores for the others might have been slightly higher than some of those who were listed.
Clearly that is not a situation that made us happy, so for this year we listed blogs in such positions as “Honorable Mention” blogs, fully worthy of broader recognition for their quality. For next year we may change that rule; or make a stronger push for more quality blogs in some of the lesser represented categories.
The Honorable Mention blogs are:
DaisyBill – Authors, Varied; Regional/State Specific
Illinois Workers Comp Law – Author, Michael Helfand; Regional/State Specific
The Workcomp Writer – Author, Tom Robinson; National Issues
Workers Comp Insider – Authors, Julie Ferguson & Tom Lynch; National Issues
The Way by Gallagher Bassett – Greg McKenna & Cari Miller; National Issues
ISO Claims Partners Blog – Author, Mark Popolizio; MSA/Settlements
The 2017 Best Blogs for workers’ comp are:
From Bob’s Cluttered Desk – Author, Robert Wilson; National Issues
Managed Care Matters – Author, Joe Paduda; Medical Management
The RxProfessor – Author, Mark Pew; Medical Management
Louisiana Comp Blog – Author, Various; Regional/State Specific
Cut Comp Costs – Author, James Moore; TPA
Florida Workers’ Comp Adjudication – Author, Judge David Langham; Legal
Workers Comp Round Up – Author, Michael Stack; National Issues
Conference Chronicles – Author, Mark Walls, Various; National Issues
Evidence-Based (PRIUM) – Author, Michael Gavin; Medical Management
Injured Workers Pharmacy Blog – Author, Various; Injured Worker
New Jersey Workers Compensation Blog – Author, John Geaney; Regional/State Specific
Alabama Workers’ Comp Blawg – Authors, Mike Fish & Josh Holden; Regional/State Specific
Franco Signor MSP Blog – Author, Heather Sanderson; MSA/Settlements
Sedgwick Connection – Author, Various; TPA
WCInsights – Authors, Kelia Scott & Dave Battinieri; Entertainment
Flagship Services Blog -Author, Rafael Gonzalez; MSA/Settlements
The Official Medicare Set Aside Blog – Author, Jennifer Jordan; MSA/Settlements
Workers’ Compensation Blogspot – Author, Jon Gelman; Legal
MEMIC Safety Blog – Author, Various; Safety/Prevention
Work Safe, Texas – Author, Jeremiah Bentley; Carrier
GEKLAW – Author, Various; Legal
Congratulations to all of them, and thank you to the broader community for making this program a success for yet another year.