The blogs below were all nominated by citizens of the workers' compensation community. They were judged on several criteria. In addition to objective categories such as age of blog, frequency of posting and website traffic**, they were also assessed by independent judging panel for content quality, value and timeliness. Designated blog category was determined by people nominating the blog. In the event of multiple nominations, the category selected by the majority of nominators was used.
For our Best Blogs contest we reached out to several industry leaders, each with a different position and perspective on the workers' compensation industry. They collectively combed through more than 40 nominated blogs to select the best our industry has to offer. We appreciate their input, and thank them for their efforts. You may see who they are and read their bios here.
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Pamela F. Ferrandino
Vice President of Business Development
Gallagher Bassett
Pam Ferrandino joined Gallagher Bassett Services Inc.’s North American risk management sales team in April of this year.
She serves as vice president of business development for the Rolling Meadows, Illinois-based third-party claims administrator.
Ms. Ferrandino, who is based in Essex, Connecticut, joins Gallagher Bassett after departing Willis Towers Watson P.L.C., where she was executive vice president and senior principal of its national casualty broking team.
Jonathan Mast
Director of Social Media
Sedgwick
Jonathan Mast is the Director of Social Media for Sedgwick a leading global provider of technology-enabled risk and benefits solutions. At Sedgwick, caring counts; the company takes care of people and organizations by delivering cost-effective claims, productivity, managed care, risk consulting and other services through the dedication and expertise of more than 13,000 colleagues in some 275 offices located in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Sedgwick facilitates financial and personal health and helps customers and consumers navigate complexity by designing and implementing customized programs based on proven practices and advanced technology that exceed expectations.
He is responsible for overseeing the company’s social media, digital content strategy and promotion and engagement of messaging. Prior to joining Sedgwick, he was the senior manager of emerging media for Black & Veatch a global engineering firm operating in over 100 countries. Jonathan is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a M.A. in organizational communications. In his spare time he is a stage dad for his teen age daughter and participates in ultra-marathons.
Mark Walls
Vice President Communications & Strategic Analysis
Safety National
Mark Walls is currently the Vice President Communications & Strategic Analysis with Safety National where his focus is on industry education and monitoring workers’ compensation issues nationwide. The majority of Mark’s 25 year career was on the claim side, giving him perspective into the day-to-day challenges faced by employers, carriers, and TPAs. Mark is also the founder of the Work Comp Analysis Group on LinkedIn, which with over 25,000 members is the largest online discussion community dedicated exclusively to workers’ compensation issues. In addition, Mark is co-host of the Out Front Ideas educational series, a frequent speaker at industry conferences, writes columns for a variety of sources, and is quoted regularly in multiple media outlets.
Thomas A. Robinson
Co-author - Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law
Tom received his B.A., cum laude, for both Economics and History, in 1973, from Wake Forest University, his J.D. in 1976, from Wake Forest University School of Law, where he served as Managing Editor, Wake Forest Law Review, and his M.Div. in 1989, from Duke University Divinity School. From 1976 to 1986, Mr. Robinson was in private practice, where he focused on workers’ compensation defense work. From 1987 to 1993, he was Senior Research Assistant to Professor Arthur Larson at Duke University Law School. Robinson has been writing actively about workers’ compensation law for 29 years and serves as national columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter. Robinson is also a contributing writer or editor for eight other workers’ compensation publications. A frequent conference speaker and lecturer, he has an active and award-winning blog— www.workcompwriter.com. Robinson is the author of hundreds of other short pieces on workers’ compensation and employment law.
Mark Pew
Senior Vice President
PRIUM
Mark Pew created PRIUM’s Medical Intervention Program in 2003 and has been providing educational content since then on the intersection of chronic pain and appropriate treatment. From March 2012 thru March 2016, he presented 323 times to 20,219 people in 39 states, including 12 national webinars. He is a frequent media source and publishes thought-provoking articles in magazines, on LinkedIn and @RxProfessor. He is also a technical advisor to multiple jurisdictions on subjects such as drug formularies, treatment guidelines and medicinal use of marijuana. He serves on medical-oriented committees for the IAIABC, SIIA, SAWCA and CompSense for California and New York.
Sandy Blunt
Vice President of Insurance Services
Medata
Sandy Blunt is an executive with a consistent track record of sustaining growth and leading organizations and currently serves as the Vice President of Insurance Services for Medata. With over two decades in the workers’ compensation industry, Sandy has served in a diverse range of executive leadership roles including CEO and COO and brings “the carrier’s perspective” to Medata’s strong line of products and services. Sandy’s leadership background has been built around operations management, ROI analysis, policy development, strategic planning, and Total Quality Management. Sandy is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Ohio University. Outside of his professional life, he is a husband and a father of two teenagers and as an Eagle Scout serves as an Assistant Scoutmaster with his son’s Troop.
*Only blogs designated as best blogs are authorized to display this content.
**Nominated blogs were asked to provide age and traffic information. Those that failed to respond to that request were negatively impacted slightly in the overall scoring process. Judges who had a blog nominated did not have the opportunity to vote on their own work.
