We announced the winners of our third annual Workers’ Comp Best Blogs Contest yesterday. I was very pleased and humbled to again have this blog included on the list. I want to thank the judges as well as all the people who nominated my “Cluttered Desk” for their support.
Judging criteria for this program includes two parts; an “objective” portion based on number of nominations, age of blog, frequency of posting and daily traffic as reported by the blog authors, and a “subjective” score that is generated by 7 independent judges who are not affiliated with our company. The objective scores are tabulated and verified by two WorkersCompensation.com employees, and the subjective scores are submitted to us through an anonymous survey system. The two scores are then combined to produce a total final score, which can be up to 100 points.
In past years we announced up to 3 winners for each of 9 categories. Last year that meant that several higher scoring blogs were omitted because they had been outscored in their particular division. The result was that some lower scoring blogs made the list simply because the competition in their particular category was not as intense. I was uncomfortable with that result and made the decision this year to finalize the list based simply on overall score, without regard to limits in individual areas. A meeting of key personnel at our company simply determined at what point on the scoring spectrum would determine inclusion on the list.
We had some newcomers to the 2018 list. ISO Claims Partners Blog, The Workcomp Writer, The Way , Daisy News, Official Court Blog, Work Comp Zone, Advanced Medical Reviews Blog, and Work Comp Insider were all new additions, although some had been given an honorable mention last year due to the previously mentioned scoring anomaly. We also had some venerable blogs drop from the list, and personally I was surprised at some of the final omissions.
Overall this was a tougher year from a scoring perspective. Our judges had their hands full, and we truly appreciate the time and commitment they provided to make this contest a reality once again. You can see who the judges were here. I should also note that if a judge happened to be an author of a nominated blog, they were not given the opportunity to vote on their particular work.
So, the 2018 Best Blogs Recognition Program is in the can, and we start prepping for next year’s event. Thanks to everyone who took the time to nominate blogs and support the effort. When it comes to finding the best content out there for the industry, it is truly a team effort.