Worker’s Comp Happens!
2025 has arrived and IWCI has some awesome events planned, as well as some changes on the horizon. You may see the title of this Newsletter reappear many times during the year. We have decided to create a keynote for this year and to try to program around that theme. Many of us have sort of stumbled into worker’s compensation as a career. I know I did not become a lawyer intending to practice worker’s compensation. However, as I suspect happened with many of us, I found my way to comp, and it has turned out to be one of the most rewarding and professionally developmental areas of my practice. I have gained many close friends in this business and I thank worker’s compensation for letting that happen. It seems many of us get into this field and find it so comfortable and inviting. Worker’s Comp Happens, and we are all here for it!
IWCI started the year with an amazing Kick-off party on January 30. We unveiled our theme at that event and laid out our plans for the year. We also had an incredible time honoring all of the past IWCI Presidents. For those who could not attend, below is a list of all our prior IWCI Presidents, minus a few years we could not locate records for from 1998-2002. None of the current Board members were on the Board in those days and we would love to fill in this chart. If you have information on those years, please share.
Many of these past Presidents were in attendance to say a few words about their experiences in worker’s compensation and the important role IWCI has played in enhancing our field. It was inspirational to hear the tales of how we all care so much about our community and how all the past Presidents worked so hard to ensure worker’s compensation would continue to happen for others down the line. I know I was truly touched by these amazing origin stories and how IWCI has evolved and persevered over the years.
I would very much like to thank and recognize the following Presidents who provided their memories of IWCI: Louise Sparks, Ken Steppe, Kristin Gibbons, Jennifer Bauer, Lisa Napier Mohler, Darlene Commons, Greg Hale, Bob Gregori and myself. I would also like to provide a special mention and thank you to John Shanks for honoring us with an amazing remembrance of the initial days of IWCI and his work with Betty Croshaw in founding our wonderful organization. It was truly a special evening and we hope to continue to honor those who have made the IWCI what it is today.
You may also notice that our website has begun to change. The IWCI Board has been working on an update to the site for well over a year. We have a new partner who has redesigned and updated the site and made it more user friendly for us on the back end. We hope to have a Member Directory and exclusive Member content up and running soon. We also are featuring much more visible sponsorship opportunities that our previous website. We are all very excited about it and hope you will like the new look and feel. Bear with us as we implement these changes, but we hope you will find the website to be much more functional. Our goal is to make the IWCI website the hub of worker’s compensation news and allow our community to easily interact.
You may have noticed that we are scheduling more webinars this year. On March 13, Dr. Greg Hale presented a webinar on “What Does Psychology Have to do with Worker’s Compensation.” That webinar was extremely well attended and we hope it was informative and enjoyable. On May 8 Gwen Eshleman presented another informative webinar on Work Conditioning. We also hope to present another webinar in October, details to come.
Our Annual Golf Outing took place on Friday June 20 at Ironwood Golf Club. Our theme for this year’s outing was Race to Recovery! It was a terrific event with over 20 golf teams representing the insurance industry as well as attorneys and healthcare providers.
We have some exciting new events coming up that we hope you will be able to attend and join your fellow worker’s compensation members. Our Annual Conference is scheduled for August 7-8, 2025 at the Marriott North. We will have expanded vendor areas as well as some amazing seminars, all revolving around our theme of Work Comp Happens/The Wild West: Blazing Trails Together. See the Events page for registration information and sponsorship opportunities.
Finally, in IWCI Board news, I am sad to announce that Greg Beasley retired from the Board following the Golf Outing. Greg is one of the longest tenured members of the current Board, having served for well over 10 years! Greg has been an incredible ambassador for IWCI and has always been a great resource and sounding board for all of us. Greg is also a shining example of Work Comp Happens. I can’t thank Greg enough for all his service and dedication to IWCI. Please join me as we wish Greg nothing but the best in retirement. May you enjoy your time on the links Greg!
I know Greg would tell you that worker’s compensation was not necessarily on his radar when he entered the industry. However, I would not have Greg as a friend if he didn’t. I think I can speak for most of us when I say that this industry has led to some amazing personal and professional relationships that we would not necessarily have had if we hadn’t dropped into this community. I know I am grateful and proud to be part of it. Work Comp truly does happen!
Steve Koers, IWCI President