Gary Sheffield beat me to the punch this month, hitting number 500 on April 17. But while not all of my 500 blog entries have been home runs, at least I didn't need steroids to produce them! In any case, I wanted to take this opportunity to look back on what I've accomplished with this blog, as well as thank all of you for coming along for the ride.

I launched my blog on Sept. 5, 2006. My goal, as I stated in my first of 500 postings, was to build on the following I had generated with my weekly column in National Underwriter magazine. The most obvious advantage was being able to opine not just once a week, within an assigned word count, but whenever news broke and the mood struck me, free from space and time limitations.

Most importantly, however, I saw a blog as an opportunity to develop a genuine conversation withreaders, which has not only come to fruition, butturned out to be one of the most satisfying developments in my 27-plus-year career here at NU. I've received2,200 comments about my musings–split about evenly, I believe, between those who agree with my views, and those who think I ought to have my head examined.

Whatever folks want to say about my comments or the subject raised that day, whether they want to praise or bury me, their views are always welcome. I wantedmy blog to be a commercial insurance community forum, where agents, brokers, underwriters, claims adjusters, marketers, risk managers and consumer advocates could hash out the controversies of the day. And in that, I feel I've succeeded.

I hope you all agree. If not, feel free to tell me right here how I could do a better job keeping you informed and facilitating a dialogue on the considerable challenges this industry faces.

While I started out by posting my weekly print column, in short order I ended up generating more print columns from my blogs–many of which incorporate reader feedback that helped shape my ultimate opinion. I couldn'thave asked formore enthusiastic and thoughtful responses from you. Without such collaboration,I would just be pontificating and talking to myself, which wouldreally be a waste of everyone's time. It'sthe lively exchanges yougenerate that makes this blog worth reading, IMHO.

I've also tried to have some fun from time to time with the blog, convinced that while insurance is a serious business, everyone needs a good laugh now and then. Thus, I posted tongue-in-cheek suggestions, such as facing a Simon Cowell-like judge on “Insurance Idol,” as well as the 2008 April Fool's item reporting that Hillary Clinton, looking to top Barack Obama, had promised to provide universal pet health insurance if elected president. The responses were a hoot!

In my first posting, I noted that I had hesitated starting a blog after seeing a cartoon in The New Yorker featuring a pair of dogs, with one telling the other: “I had my own blog for awhile, but I decided to go back to just pointless, incessant barking.”

But then I was encouraged by a Chinese takeout lunch in which my fortune cookie read: “Many people will be drawn to you for your wisdom and insights.” While this was the same restaurant whose cookie had once predicted, “You will excel in the field of medical research,” I chose to take it as a good omen to charge ahead, and I am glad I did.

I hope you share my enthusiasm, and will continue to call me to account when you think I've gone overboard, as well as chime in with support when you believe I've hit the nail on the head.

As always, I am eager to hear your take and benefit from your experiences and insights, and to share your thoughts and my own with the commercial insurance crowd at large. Thanks so much for helping me live the dream!

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Sam Looks Back On 500 Postings!

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