Thousands soon will be converging on Orlando for the 66th Annual Workers' Compensation Educational Conference (WCEC) and 23rd Annual Safety and Health Conference. The convention takes place at the Orlando World Marriott Center from Sunday, Aug. 21 through Wednesday, Aug. 24. The “comp convention,” as it is known, is the largest gathering of workers' compensation professionals in the U.S.

From a humble beginning of 300–400 people (mostly lawyers and adjusters) to a convention attended by 8,000 or 9,000 from all walks of workers' compensation life, the WCEC is the premier workers' compensation event of the year.

There are many highlights of this comprehensive program.

On Monday morning the convention's General Chairman James N. McConnaughhay of the law firm McConnaughhay, Duffy, Coonrod, Pope & Weaver, P.A formally welcomes the attendees. The opening session also includes the announcement of the winner of the “National Underwriter Award for Excellence in Workers' Compensation Risk Management.” This has become a prestige national award, essentially proclaiming the “Workers' Compensation Risk Manager of the Year.”

More honors are presented with the awarding of scholarships from the Florida Workers' Compensation Institute and the Friends of 440 Scholarship Fund. This year, the Friends of 440 Scholarship Fund is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The morning session rounds out with an industry keynote address from Tim Carter, Chief Underwriting Officer of Zurich North America, and a more lighthearted keynote address by football legend Larry Csonka.

The afternoon kicks off with the E. Earle Zehmer Moot Court finals. Seven law schools from around the country compete for the moot court title by appearing in front of the panel of Florida's First District Court of Appeal. This excellent competition has drawn well-deserved national attention.

One of the most important and best attended programs of the conference is the case law update. The panelists educate the audience on what has been decided by the courts in the last year and give practical advice on what the decisions mean for day-to-day case handling.

More Than Workers' Comp

But the WCEC is not just a workers' compensation convention. As proof of this, there is a Breakout for Risk Managers and a Breakout on Employment Law. Employment professionals and risk managers from all over the country attend these two breakouts.

One highlight of the 2011 Breakout for Risk Managers is a presentation entitled, “The Politically Active Risk Manager.” Moderated by Marc Salm, vice president for risk management at Publix, this program presents important real world advice on what risk managers should do and must do to keep the political climate favorable to business.

The Breakout on Employment Law concentrates on practical advice to risk managers and employers on how to deal with challenging employment law problems, including technological challenges in the work place brought about by Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets.

Monday also contains a Breakout for Healthcare Providers. This well-attended session is for doctors, physical therapists, practice administrators, and nurses. It concentrates on such areas as pharmaceutical dilemmas and answers practical questions about treating patients in a difficult workers' compensation arena.

National Programs

There are other sessions completely national in scope. The first is a two-day National Trends program presented by National Underwriter. The Monday program on National Trends contains two very important breakouts: One on how social media is impacting surveillance, and a second on predictive modeling, an incredibly hot topic. If you are an employer or a risk manager, these are sessions you need to attend.

The second national workers' compensation program is called, “The National Workers' Compensation Review.” The two-day session deals with what can only be called national workers' compensation issues such as Medicare Set-Asides and which tactics in litigation impress a judge and which do not.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and the University of South Florida put on a cutting-edge occupational health program pertaining to long-term worries of the patient and the employer in hard-to-diagnose occupational disease cases. There is a three-hour orthopaedic breakout session on Monday afternoon as well. Presented by the Florida Orthopaedic Society for adjusters, nurse case managers and attorneys, this fast-moving session educates the audience about knee, wrist and back injuries, including a discussion of new techniques in lumbar spinal surgery.

Over the years the convention had become incredibly comprehensive, but until recently it was missing a judiciary college component. In fact, there was no judiciary college in the country that was restricted to the workers' compensation judiciary. As a result, the National Association of Workers' Compensation Judiciary was founded in 2009, and its Judicial College takes place in conjunction with the WCEC. The Monday portion of this multi-day program is medically based, but the program for the Judicial College is as comprehensive as it can be. Workers' compensation judges from all over the country attend this program and go home satisfied that they are receiving a wonderful well-rounded education.

The highlight of the Judicial College is a presentation on Tuesday by the evidence guru and Florida State University College of Law Professor Charles Ehrhardt. You know the phrase, “He wrote the book”? Well, Professor Ehrhardt did.

The convention is a terrific place to network as well. With thousands of your closest friends, the networking opportunities are limitless. You can learn, receive credits and network. What could be more beneficial?

Special Reports /

Workers&rsquo; Comp Conference Draws Thousands to Orlando

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Workers’ Comp Conference Draws Thousands to Orlando