RIMS Canada Conference: 10 Years Post 9/11

September 11, 2001 is this generation’s Kennedy assassination. It’s the day when everyone knows exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first found out about it. For risk managers in Canada, that day was spent in Ottawa at the RIMS Canada Conference.

I was walking through the exhibit hall when a friend with BI&I (the Hartford Steam Boiler -Munich Re) asked if I had heard what happened. I spent the rest of the day mesmerized and horrified in front of my hotel room TV. The rest of the conference was sombre and serious as we thought about our industry friends and colleagues that were among the victims that day.

In a few days, risk managers from across Canada and many from the US will once again gather in Ottawa, the nation’s capital. The annual RIMS Canada conference runs from September 18th through 21st. I suspect there will be a lot of reflection about what has changed in the world of risk and risk management since that dreadful day. The short answer: everything.

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The 6 Biggest Risks Concerning Small Businesses

I recently participated in an interview on the risks faced by SMBs with Pam Clark of Business Insurance.   Matthew Brodsky of Risk & Insurance Magazine, Jon L. Gelman an expert on worker’s compensation and I set out to give small business owners some useful advice on their most pressing risk management issues. Go here to view the full interview.

Matthew and Jon provided some excellent answers, so the entire article is well worth reading! For the benefit of our readers, I want to reiterate 6 important points we covered.

Early Risks to Address

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Launch @ GROW Competition: A Call for Votes

ClearRisk was recently nominated for the Launch @ GROW Canada competition for our cloud-based risk management solution, ClearRisk Manager. The Launch @ GROW competition recognizes new Canadian cloud-based products. Only a few companies will make it to the final round to present their product in front of a panel of global technology leaders at the GROW 2011 conference.

This is a great opportunity for everyone at ClearRisk but we need your help to make it to the semi-finals!  The semi-finalists are picked based on the highest number of votes.  We also just released our new ClearRisk Manager video. You can view it on our contest page. Vote for ClearRisk Manager.

ClearRisk Manager Video Entry

I have to applaud Launch @ GROW for making the voting process simple and quick. Registration is not necessary! Visit the ClearRisk Manager Entry page (found here) and click ‘VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY’. Once you press this button, the website will prompt you to sign in with your Facebook account. That is all!

Vote for ClearRisk Manager and help achieve our goal of entering the final round of the Canadian GROW 2011 competition!

Risk Management: The Disney Approach

On a recent family vacation to Disney World, my mind couldn’t help but wander back to the office as I walked around the various theme parks.

I have met Disney’s risk manager, Stephen Wilder, in the past and have seen him speak on risk management at Disney.  I have also noticed various aspects of it here on previous trips, but this time, something occurred to me that hadn’t before.

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How to Reduce Social Media Risk in Your Company: A LinkedIn Discussion

The risk involved with social media is not a new topic. In fact, we talked about it last year in our blog post Social Media Policy: Avoiding a Death-Blow! This is still a relevant topic; with the popularity of social media ever increasing, businesses must prepare for the risks that come along with the opportunities that social media provides.

I asked the LinkedIn community “How do you handle the risk of social media in your company?” With such a great response, I had to share the discussion. Here’s what several LinkedIn professionals had to say.

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Partners in Crime (Mitigation)!

Our long-time partners Canpro Global just announced their merger with KingReed.

Both companies do some very cool things in Canada and around the world in investigations, security, protection and related services. They do some things that I hadn’t heard of before in my 22 years in risk and insurance, things that I really believe are incredibly innovative and valuable to companies.

CanPro Global and King-Reed Merger

The reason ClearRisk partnered with Canpro in the first place was that I was very impressed with their people, innovative services and their perspective on risk management. They are very much aligned with my view that risk management comes in many shapes and forms and that it shouldn’t be inaccessible or complicated.

In the past couple of years I have also gotten to know some of the people at King-Reed and I can honestly say that the companies and cultures seem very well aligned, so I am sure it will be a great partnership!

The gang at ClearRisk wishes our partners at Canpro Global and King-Reed every success! I encourage you to check them out. You won’t be sorry!

ClearRisk Social Media Giveaway: Winner Announcement!

A month ago, ClearRisk launched a contest to give back to our devoted followers on social media. We received over 4,000 entries to win an iPad 2 through our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). In particular, our Social Media Giveaway blog post received some great comments in response to the question, “What does Risk Management mean to you?”

And the winner is ……..?

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ClearRisk Social Media Giveaway: Win an iPad 2!

ClearRisk has received great support from the social media world. From Twitter and Facebook to the risk management blog and LinkedIn, ClearRisk has gathered thousands of active and devoted followers.

In recognition of their overwhelming support, the ClearRisk team is giving back to their social media followers with the first ClearRisk Giveaway; one lucky follower, chosen from our various social media channels, will be the winner of a new iPad 2!

To submit an entry via our blog, please answer the following question in the comments section below:

What does risk management mean to you?

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ClearRisk Named in Top 10 Industry Blogs by Risk Management Monitor

How to Make Your Clients Understand the Value of Risk Management

Recently, I wrote a guest post for our partners Sitkins International. ClearRisk is a strategic partner of Sitkins International and provides Sitkins members with a way to deliver the risk reduction approach online ™.

This post summarizes the first of three steps in helping your clients understand the value of risk management.

The insurance market is fiercely competitive.  Insurance agents and brokers (hereinafter agents) need ways to create a competitive advantage to attract and retain business.  There is a great opportunity for agents to really differentiate themselves by helping clients to manage risk more broadly than just providing insurance coverage.  The greatest challenge is that most of your clients don’t know anything about risk management; so how do you make them see the value?

Here are 3 how-to steps:

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