WCI 2020 conference postponed but industry, nonprofit support continues

The nonprofit Give Kids The World Village needs the workers' comp industry now more than ever to help support its mission.

More than 1,200 volunteers turned out to support Give Kids the World Village during WCI 2019. (Photo: J. Fetherman/WCI)

Recently, the Workers’ Compensation Institute (WCI) announced the postponement of what would have been the 75th annual Workers’ Compensation Educational (WCEC) and 32nd Annual Safety and Health Conference. “It is with profound disappointment that we have decided to postpone this year’s conference in response to COVID-19,” said Steve Rissman, founder and program chair. “After thirty-three years of planning this conference, with a spectacular program essentially written and ready to print, it is personally and professionally disheartening to postpone. But we understand the dangers of proceeding at this time due to the circumstances surrounding this virus, and the safety of our attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors will always come first.” The new conference dates are Aug. 22-25, 2021.

Guided by the leadership of two of the original founders, Chairman Jim McConnaughhay (General Chair) and Chairman Steve Rissman (Program Chair), WCI has evolved over the years from a state conference into a national event.

NU Property & Casualty and PropertyCasualty360 have been participants in the conference for the last six years. The Excellence in Worker’s Compensation Risk Management Award, sponsored by Safety National and Sedgwick, has traditionally been bestowed at the conference, along with a panel presentation featuring the winners talking about their best practices. Even though the conference has been postponed, the awards will still be presented, and NUPC and PropertyCasualty360 will host a webinar to showcase the winners on Aug. 13.

Giving back to Give Kids the World Village

WCI’s commitment to the industry includes cultivating a community of service. The institute supports many other industry nonprofits, such as Kids Chance and the Alliance of Women in Workers’ Compensation, but the leadership team is perhaps most passionate about raising awareness for Give Kids The World Village (GKTW) by hosting an annual service day and gala. GKTW is an 84-acre nonprofit “storybook” resort in Central Florida that hosts and treats children with critical illnesses and their families to weeklong, cost-free vacations.

WCI’s volunteer service day, traditionally held the Saturday before the conference begins, offers a unique opportunity to network with fellow workers’ comp and insurance professionals while making a difference. The service day is capped off by an evening gala, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the organization year over year. In 2019, more than 1,200 volunteers completed in 3.5 hours the same amount of work that would have taken GKTW employees more than 2.5 years to complete on their own!

Due to COVID-19, the village currently remains closed, but it hopes to announce a re-emergence plan by July. Amazingly, all current wishes for children and families in 2020 have been postponed, not canceled.

WCI is more committed than ever to working closely with the village staff and leadership to continue to assist during these uncertain times when the children are most vulnerable and need help more than ever. Doug Clark, director of client services for Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc., has been actively involved as the WCI/GKTW Volunteer Event Coordinator for the past five years. “Now more than ever, GKTW Village needs us to advocate for them on social media to help support their mission,” he stated. “We encourage our industry peers to share the GKTW website on their social media channels to increase awareness and participation. Then, we hope everyone will plan to attend one of the upcoming virtual volunteer or fund-raising events!”

Workers’ comp education must go on

Though this year’s annual WCI conference has been postponed to 2021, the organizers resolved to carry their mission to provide education throughout the year. The newly added cybersecurity track will still be held in person at the Marriott in Orlando on Aug.19-20, 2020.

“A primary focus of the cybersecurity program will be understanding the new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certifications (CMMC) standards for protecting non-classified data for companies within the Department of Defense supply chain and appreciating that these new standards will apply to companies concerned with workers’ compensation issues,” stated McConnaughhay. “Effective in 2020, compliance with these standards will have a major effect on the protection of data required by states to be retained for workers’ compensation purposes but will have an unrecognized effect on cybersecurity requirements with unappreciated liabilities and costs.”

The two-day forum will feature a keynote by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Katie Arrington, the chief information officer to the Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, has been invited to address the audience, as well.

WCI also plans to release a series of virtual sessions over the coming months, showcasing some of this year’s planned program content and recognizing the valued sponsors who support the conference. “As an Elite sponsor, we were saddened to hear of the conference’s postponement,” shared Vonesa Wenzel, chief marketing officer and partner at HomeCareConnect. “WCI provides one of the best networking opportunities we have all year to connect with valued clients and foster potential new business partnerships. We will continue to support WCI and are excited to participate in the upcoming virtual sessions.”

To learn more about WCI or register for upcoming events, please go to www.wci360.com.

Julie Fetherman currently serves as the associate executive director for WCI. She can be reached at julie.fetherman@wci360.com.

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