The Comp Laude® Awards are again approaching, and once again this year I have had the opportunity to volunteer in the process leading up to the event. This year I was on the Vetting Committee. The vetting group is the last stop before the finalists move on to the Judging Panel, and actual winners are selected.

The Comp Laude® Awards recognize exceptional individuals within the workers' compensation industry who are working to make a difference. People can be nominated for one of several categories. They include injured worker, applicant/claimant attorney, defense attorney, medical professional, doctor/physician, industry leader, employer, service provider/vendor, claims professional, and work comp philanthropy. The Comp Laude® award ceremony is part of a motivational conference highlighting what is best in our industry. It will be virtual this year, being held on a series of days in late October and early November. The conference dates are Oct. 22th, Oct. 29th, Nov. 5th, and the awards ceremony will be on Nov. 12th.

Registration is free, and this year would be a good opportunity for those who have been unable to travel to the event to see what it is all about.

I've done the vetting job before and have been impressed by the people I have had the opportunity to meet. This year I was assigned an exceptional group of people to interview. I already knew about 2/3rd's of them, and several were names you would likely recognize. One of them, in my mind, was so obvious a choice for Industry Leader that interviewing her as part of the vetting process felt a bit silly. I wrote in my system notes that it felt a bit like interviewing the Pope to see if he was Catholic enough for the job.

Talking to these people was a refreshing opportunity to hear positive and uplifting stories, in a year fraught with issues and an absence of optimism. The passion that these nominees held for their jobs and the industry was impressive. All of them had one thing in common; they had their eye on the bigger picture and were finely tuned as to how their specific area or service could improve it.

As I wrote last year after similar interviews, it reminded me that there is much to be proud of in the world of workers' compensation. There are very creative and well-intentioned people working to do the right thing, in a system that can make that a difficult objective.

This year, however, perhaps the message was even more potent. If the job is done correctly, we are an industry that can help people restore function and value to their lives. In 2020, that mission is more critical than it has ever likely been. The people I had the opportunity to speak with last week exemplify the mission and goals that our industry should embrace.

That is what Comp Laude® is all about. I hope you can join us this year and hear the stories that are making a difference for our industry and those it serves.

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