FASI Update - Summer 2007

Update - Summer 2007
FASI E-Newsletter

Summer 2007

August 28, 2007

Inside This Issue:
• FASI's 38th Annual Convention & Trade Show Sponsors
• FASI's Annual Golf Outing 2007

• President's Message

• Editor's Corner

• Division of Workers' Compensation Proposed Rules for Self-Insurers
• Membership Report

• There's the Money

• FASI's 38th Annual Conference & Trade Show Exhibitor Showcase Reception

• 2007 Session Incentives

Contact Us:
FASI Website
E-Mail FASI Headquarters

FASI's 38th Annual Convention & Trade Show
--by Bethan Hyde, Director of Marketing, Southeast Region, York Claim Services, Inc.

The FASI 38th Annual Educational Conference & Tradeshow was held Sunday, July 22, 2007, to Wednesday, July 25, 2007, at the Ritz Carlton, Naples, Florida. FASI’s annual golf outing was Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club (see golf article below for details).

The Welcome Reception was in the Club Room. New members were extended an invitation to arrive early to personally meet and get to know the FASI Officers and Board of Directors. The attendees and guests were also greeted by the FASI Officers and Board of Directors as they entered the Club Room. Attendees enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with colleagues and socialize, all the while anticipating an excellent educational program focusing on all lines of the self insured industry.

Monday began with FASI’s Annual Business Meeting. The 2006-2007 Board of Directors were recognized for their contributions this past year. The new slate for the 2007-2008 Board of Directors was read and approved. Sean Tobin has passed the Presidential Gavel on to Gail Shuffler, Risk Manager, City of Tallahassee. Thank you to those who have served and to those who are about to serve!

The Convention Committee deserves a big applause as the sessions at this Educational Conference were timely and informative. Speakers at the Conference included Andy Small, Albors/Alnet and Directional Achievement, Winter Park, FL, and Dan Sulzner, Midwest Employers Casualty Co., Chesterfield, MO., who spoke to us about “Aging Workforce and Succession Planning – The Impact of the Loss of Intellectual Equity and Institutional Knowledge." Joey Asher, Speechworks, Atlanta, GA, “Cashing in on Communication" and Dennis Ross (R), Florida House of Representatives, Ross, Vecchio & Stanton, P.A., Lakeland, FL, and Greg Jenkins, on behalf of the Division of Workers’ Compensation, Tallahassee, FL, who discussed the recent legislative sessions.

Tuesday began with James Moody, Heritage Consultants, Auburndale, FL; Gail Shuffler, City of Tallahassee, Tallahassee, FL; and Jim Milner, Johns Eastern, Sarasota, FL, who discussed the "Hidden Treasures in Pursuit of Subrogation (PIP, Workers’ Compensation & Health)." We learned how to find money for our organization or client. This presentation was a practical and simple how-to approach that increased subrogation and recovery efforts. It also included some information on hidden damage elements and how to perfect the recovery.
Lou Beniamino, York Special Investigations, Inc.; Robert Jones, Mulholland Investigation and Security Consultants; and Mark Bennett, Bank of America, were our guest speakers for "FASI CSI Naples" on Computer Forensics, Check Fraud, Red Flag Indicators of Fraud and Compromised Privacy. The experts in the fields of investigation, forensics and banking explained how to protect yourself and your company from hackers, check fraud, identity theft, and more.

Michael Spellman, Coppins, Monroe, Adkins, Dincman & Spellman, PA, Tallahassee, FL; and Scott Miller, Hurley Rogner Miller Cox Waranch & Westcott, PA, Winter Park, FL, navigated attendees through the litigation minefields with case law updates in Liability and Workers' Compensation.

Thank you to each of these speakers for their contribution to a successful Educational Conference.

The Convention ended with FASI's 38th Dinner & Casino Party with delicious cuisine and desserts. There were more than 20 door prizes provided by FASI which all guests had an opportunity to win (everyone received a drawing ticket at the door). Thank you to Free State Staffing and Woodall & Broome Investigative Services for donating prizes along with FASI for the bidding with casino winnings on more than 10 prizes auctioned off at the end of the evening. Lots of bidding wars ensued, with bids as high as $2 million dollars. Wow!

Thank you to all of our sponsors, exhibitors and attendees for making this convention a success. We look forward to seeing you again next year. Mark your calendars for July 20-23, 2008.

FASI Annual Golf Outing 2007
--by Bethan Hyde, Director of Marketing, Southeast Region, York Claim Services, Inc.

FASI’s Annual Golf Outing was held on July 22, 2007, at Tiburon Golf Club, a Greg Norman Course and home of the Franklin Templeton Golf Shootout in Naples, Florida. The format was a scramble with a requirement of using a minimum of two drives per player, no matter how bad, and began with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.

Special thanks to Albors/Alnet Language & Transportation Services and York Special Investigations, Inc., for sponsoring the much-needed beverages. Awards and prizes were given out at the luncheon, co-sponsored by Heritage Consultants, Inc./Professional Administrators; Ross, Vecchio, P.A. and Sports & Orthopedic Rehab Team in the Sydney room at the end of play. Golf tee sponsorship signs were displayed at tee boxes, recognition and acknowledgment flyers placed on each golf cart; and a sponsorship sign was displayed daily throughout the conference. Each registered sponsor was given a ribbon recognizing their continued support and dedication to the Florida Association of Self Insurance.

Prizes were awarded for 1st Place and 2nd Place; Women’s and Men’s Longest Drive; Women’s and Men’s Closest to the Pin; and the Putting Contest. Prizes were awarded for the 1st Best Golf Poker Hand and Worst Golf Poker Hand.

Throughout the 18 holes of play, golfers hoped their drive was in the fairway, their short game was good and they were on the green. Some shot par, others bogeyed, even birdied or made an eagle, while some just came to have fun and help. Thank you to all of the volunteers who were there early and throughout the day to assist with registration, cart goodies and the golf poker hand. Thank you to everyone who participated for his or her commitment and loyalty to FASI. Without your dedication and continued support this event would not be possible.

President's Message
--by Gail Shuffler, FASI President

The last FASI conference was one of the best yet and plans for next year's conference are already underway. Some of the feedback from attendees indicated an interest in more topics related to fraud and we will try to focus more on that topic.

Another focal item will be to increase our membership with particular emphasis on recruiting self insureds. There are over 350 self insureds in Florida and many have been FASI members in the past. In the coming weeks, we will be distributing that list and ask that you contact anyone on the list who you know. 2009 will mark the 40th anniversary of this organization and I'd like to have 40 new members by that time.

I would also like to especially thank Sean Tobin for agreeing to serve as President this past year and to also express my appreciation for all his hard work. To all of you who worked on the conference, thanks to you as well and a big note of gratitude to all of our sponsors and exhibitors. This conference would not be possible without all of you. I will not be bashful about asking you to serve in the future. I think we are turning a corner in the rebuilding of this organization and the contributions of many have been responsible for the change. Your continued support and work will be needed and I look forward to the upcoming year. See you in Lake Mary in January.

Editor's Corner
--by John Darin

Governor Charlie Crist recently signed an Executive Order creating a Governor's Commission on Disabilities. The Commission is directed to "advance public policy for Floridians with disabilities and to provide a forum for advocates representing Floridians with disabilities to develop and voice unified concerns and recommendations." More specifically, the Commission's responsibilities include:

a. Identifying and recommending methods to remove barriers to the delivery of, and access to, services for people with disabilities;

b. Identifying and recommending methods to maximize the freedom and independence of Floridians with disabilities, with a focus on employment, transportation, education, and independent living;

c. Provide a forum for communication between individuals with disabilities throughout the State of Florida and the various arms of state government, particularly the Governor and the Legislature; and

d. Partnering with other agencies and organizations serving the disabilities community to facilitate collaborative efforts consistent with purposes of the Commission.

The Commission's focus "on employment" may be of interest to Florida's self-insured employers in the future, so FASI will update its membership regarding any pertinent developments.

Division of Workers' Compensation Proposed Rules for Self-Insurers
--by Bob Widmer

The Division of Workers’ Compensation unveiled its proposed Rules for Self-Insurer at our annual conference in Naples this year. Some of the highlights are:

· Net worth requirement increased from $1.0 million to $10.0 million. Current self-insurers who do not meet this qualification will be considered in non compliance with the Rules and be required to obtain an actuarial study and post 1.5 times the actuarially determined ultimate losses. There are approximately 7 current self-insurers that this will affect.

· Specific excess workers’ compensation and employers liability insurance policies must have a minimum limit of Statutory in lieu of the current $1.0 million. The maximum self-insured retention allowed will be increased from $350,000 to $500,000.

· The State of Florida will no longer calculate the experience modifications used in determining the Assessments. Each self-insurer will be required to pay the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) a fee for them to calculate the experience modifications.

· Penalties for failure to file reports are increased dramatically. Currently, the penalties are $100 for failure to file any required report. The proposed Rule calls for penalties to range from $500.00 if the report is 14 days overdue and go to $5,000 if over 14 days late.

· Division of Workers’ Compensation will contract with third parties to perform premium audits. The cost of the audit could be charged back to the self-insured if an assessment difference of over $1000 occurs.

· For those self-insurers who are deemed to not have the financial condition to achieve an investment grade credit rating, the security deposit will be at least 100% of the actuarially determined outstanding liabilities.

It is expected that the Rules will be filed very soon and we will have 15 days from the date of the filing to request a hearing on the changes. We will provide you with a more detailed summary when the Rules are filed and will keep you posted on the progress of these Rules.

Membership Report
--by Mark Resler

Before we get into membership issues, I personally want to express my extreme pleasure with the FASI annual conference held at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. It was quite educational, as well as entertaining. FASI had a great panel of speakers, and the location and setting made it so easy to actually participate in all the seminars. If you attended the conference, I’m sure you will agree with me. For those who missed it, I recommend attending next year.

The most recent membership committee meeting from January discussed the streamlining of the FASI database. That project is still underway. In addition to the streamline project, our immediate focus for the remainder of 2007 will be on contacting former members who did not renew in 2007 to ascertain why they chose to not renew their membership. Our 2008 membership drive will begin in October.

The committee, as well as the board, has also agreed to focus our membership efforts on self-insured entities, both public and private, since all share similar interests in the self-insured arena. We feel that as self-insured membership grows, associate and carrier membership will grow as well.

The 2007 renewal process is complete. Although our total membership numbers are down from 2006, the number of self-insured members has remained constant over the last four years. And we truly anticipate positive results in our 2008 membership drive.

Finally, I want to again recognize the 2007 NEW MEMBERS one more time:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida / Integrated Administrators; Ms. Cynthia Howard
City of Deerfield Beach, FL; Ms. Linda Hayden
City of Jacksonville Beach, FL; Ms. Sue Taylor
Combined Investigators, Inc.; Ms. Dee Tabor
CorVel Corp.; Ms. Linda Bass
CSC; Ms. Jessica Simpson
Intracorp; Ms. Kim Crain
Mulholland Investigation; Mr. Sean Mulholland
NCM of Collier County, Inc.; Mr. Shawn Fuentes
Pantropics Power, Inc.; Mr. Luis Botas
Patrician Consultants; Ms. Patricia Capuccio
Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners; Ms. Beth Wininger
R&D Thiel, Inc.; Mr. Jim Leonard
Safety National Casualty Corp.; Ms. Pamela Peck
Scott-McRae Group, Inc.; Ms. Joanne Ackman

I want thank each and every member for a successful 2007, and I am looking forward to an even greater 2008. Please contact FASI directly at 1-800-226-FASI (3274) if you know of anyone interested in discussing FASI memberships, or pass this number on to the interested party, or refer them to the website www.fasi-fl.org.

There's the Money
--by Johnny D

A good time was had by all at the annual FASI Conference in Naples! Who would have thought an elevator at the Ritz-Carlton would hold a live elephant? And the speakers!!! Kudos to Bethan and Gail in getting together the most informative and interesting speakers heard at any conference in recent memory: Joey Asher, Lou Beniamino, Mark Bennett, Jeffrey Fieldson, Gregory Jenkins, Robert Jones, Scott Miller, Jim Milner, James Moody, Dennis Ross, Gail Shuffler, Andy Small, Michael Spellman and Dan Sulzner. Any Conference is lucky to score one outstanding speaker per day, but every one of these speakers was terrific!

And how about the Exhibitors' Showcase? What a class event. No high pressure or gimmicks, but instead a great opportunity to find out about new services and products in a relaxed atmosphere. What a great way to meet some nice folks with new ideas to benefit industry. See you at the Winter Conference in January in Lake Mary!

FASI's 38th Annual Exhibitor's Showcase Reception
--by Bethan Hyde, Director of Marketing, Southeast Region, York Claim Services, Inc.

The Exhibitor's Showcase Reception and Prize Drawings were held Monday Evening in the Plaza Ballroom. The festive atmosphere offered an excellent opportunity for camaraderie amongst the self-insureds, exhibitors, attendees and guests who filled the room. It was a huge success!

Some of the Exhibitors chose a prize to give to blind draw winners at the end of the evening! Names of registered attendees were placed in a bucket and the exhibiting company representative drew the names and presented the winner with that company's door prize.

There were a total of 18 exhibitors and I'm sure they too would say the Florida Association of Self Insurance Exhibitor Showcase was a great success!

We're looking forward to 2008! Mark your calendar for January 2008 Planning meeting (click here for program and registration form) and July 20-23, 2008, FASI’s 39th Annual Educational Conference & Tradeshow!

2007 Session Incentives...
--by Bethan Hyde, Director of Marketing, Southeast Region, York Claim Services, Inc.

For every session attended, each person received a drawing ticket. Sometime during each session, a drawing was held for a $50 American Express Gift Cheque (hence the drawing ticket).

Thank you to Nita Chisari, President & CEO of Quality Resource Management, Inc. “QRM” for sponsoring all the drawings for each of the sessions. QRM had another great experience at this year’s FASI 38th Annual Education Conference & Tradeshow. We feel that this not only encouraged attendance at each session but also provided an exciting end to each training session.

If you have questions or comments about the FASI E-Newsletter, please contact: Bill Kautter at bkautter@kmgnet.com (800-226-3274) or Newsletter Chair John Darin at jdarin@wickersmith.com.

Please note that letters and comments sent to the publisher are automatically considered for use in upcoming issues unless you expressly request that they not be used. You may request that you remain anonymous in the case that your letter or comments are used. We reserve the right to edit for brevity and/or clarity.

This eNewsletter is automatically sent to all FASI members as an added, free benefit of membership.

FASI, 222 S Westmonte Dr #101, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, 800-226-3274.


	*Update - Summer 2007* FASI E-Newsletter
Summer 2007	August 28, 2007
Inside This Issue: • FASI's 38th Annual Convention & Trade Show Sponsors • FASI's Annual Golf Outing 2007 • President's Message • Editor's Corner • Division of Workers' Compensation Proposed Rules for Self-Insurers • Membership Report • There's the Money • FASI's 38th Annual Conference & Trade Show Exhibitor Showcase Reception • 2007 Session Incentives Contact Us: FASI Website E-Mail FASI Headquarters	FASI's 38th Annual Convention & Trade Show *--by Bethan Hyde, Director of Marketing, Southeast Region, York Claim Services, Inc.* The FASI 38th Annual Educational Conference & Tradeshow was held Sunday, July 22, 2007, to Wednesday, July 25, 2007, at the Ritz Carlton, Naples, Florida. FASI’s annual golf outing was Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club (see golf article below for details). The Welcome Reception was in the Club Room. New members were extended an invitation to arrive early to personally meet and get to know the FASI Officers and Board of Directors. The attendees and guests were also greeted by the FASI Officers and Board of Directors as they entered the Club Room. Attendees enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with colleagues and socialize, all the while anticipating an excellent educational program focusing on all lines of the self insured industry. Monday began with FASI’s Annual Business Meeting. The 2006-2007 Board of Directors were recognized for their contributions this past year. The new slate for the 2007-2008 Board of Directors was read and approved. Sean Tobin has passed the Presidential Gavel on to Gail Shuffler, Risk Manager, City of Tallahassee. Thank you to those who have served and to those who are about to serve! The Convention Committee deserves a big applause as the sessions at this Educational Conference were timely and informative. Speakers at the Conference included Andy Small, Albors/Alnet and Directional Achievement, Winter Park, FL, and Dan Sulzner, Midwest Employers Casualty Co., Chesterfield, MO., who spoke to us about “Aging Workforce and Succession Planning – The Impact of the Loss of Intellectual Equity and Institutional Knowledge." Joey Asher, Speechworks, Atlanta, GA, “Cashing in on Communication" and Dennis Ross (R), Florida House of Representatives, Ross, Vecchio & Stanton, P.A., Lakeland, FL, and Greg Jenkins, on behalf of the Division of Workers’ Compensation, Tallahassee, FL, who discussed the recent legislative sessions. Tuesday began with James Moody, Heritage Consultants, Auburndale, FL; Gail Shuffler, City of Tallahassee, Tallahassee, FL; and Jim Milner, Johns Eastern, Sarasota, FL, who discussed the "Hidden Treasures in Pursuit of Subrogation (PIP, Workers’ Compensation & Health)." We learned how to find money for our organization or client. This presentation was a practical and simple how-to approach that increased subrogation and recovery efforts. It also included some information on hidden damage elements and how to perfect the recovery. Lou Beniamino, York Special Investigations, Inc.; Robert Jones, Mulholland Investigation and Security Consultants; and Mark Bennett, Bank of America, were our guest speakers for "FASI CSI Naples" on Computer Forensics, Check Fraud, Red Flag Indicators of Fraud and Compromised Privacy. The experts in the fields of investigation, forensics and banking explained how to protect yourself and your company from hackers, check fraud, identity theft, and more. Michael Spellman, Coppins, Monroe, Adkins, Dincman & Spellman, PA, Tallahassee, FL; and Scott Miller, Hurley Rogner Miller Cox Waranch & Westcott, PA, Winter Park, FL, navigated attendees through the litigation minefields with case law updates in Liability and Workers' Compensation. Thank you to each of these speakers for their contribution to a successful Educational Conference. The Convention ended with FASI's 38th Dinner & Casino Party with delicious cuisine and desserts. There were more than 20 door prizes provided by FASI which all guests had an opportunity to win (everyone received a drawing ticket at the door). Thank you to Free State Staffing and Woodall & Broome Investigative Services for donating prizes along with FASI for the bidding with casino winnings on more than 10 prizes auctioned off at the end of the evening. Lots of bidding wars ensued, with bids as high as $2 million dollars. Wow! Thank you to all of our sponsors, exhibitors and attendees for making this convention a success. We look forward to seeing you again next year. Mark your calendars for July 20-23, 2008. FASI Annual Golf Outing 2007 *--by Bethan Hyde, Director of Marketing, Southeast Region, York Claim Services, Inc.* FASI’s Annual Golf Outing was held on July 22, 2007, at Tiburon Golf Club, a Greg Norman Course and home of the Franklin Templeton Golf Shootout in Naples, Florida. The format was a scramble with a requirement of using a minimum of two drives per player, no matter how bad, and began with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Special thanks to Albors/Alnet Language & Transportation Services and York Special Investigations, Inc., for sponsoring the much-needed beverages. Awards and prizes were given out at the luncheon, co-sponsored by Heritage Consultants, Inc./Professional Administrators; Ross, Vecchio, P.A. and Sports & Orthopedic Rehab Team in the Sydney room at the end of play. Golf tee sponsorship signs were displayed at tee boxes, recognition and acknowledgment flyers placed on each golf cart; and a sponsorship sign was displayed daily throughout the conference. Each registered sponsor was given a ribbon recognizing their continued support and dedication to the Florida Association of Self Insurance. Prizes were awarded for 1st Place and 2nd Place; Women’s and Men’s Longest Drive; Women’s and Men’s Closest to the Pin; and the Putting Contest. Prizes were awarded for the 1st Best Golf Poker Hand and Worst Golf Poker Hand. Throughout the 18 holes of play, golfers hoped their drive was in the fairway, their short game was good and they were on the green. Some shot par, others bogeyed, even birdied or made an eagle, while some just came to have fun and help. Thank you to all of the volunteers who were there early and throughout the day to assist with registration, cart goodies and the golf poker hand. Thank you to everyone who participated for his or her commitment and loyalty to FASI. Without your dedication and continued support this event would not be possible. President's Message *--by Gail Shuffler, FASI President* The last FASI conference was one of the best yet and plans for next year's conference are already underway. Some of the feedback from attendees indicated an interest in more topics related to fraud and we will try to focus more on that topic. Another focal item will be to increase our membership with particular emphasis on recruiting self insureds. There are over 350 self insureds in Florida and many have been FASI members in the past. In the coming weeks, we will be distributing that list and ask that you contact anyone on the list who you know. 2009 will mark the 40th anniversary of this organization and I'd like to have 40 new members by that time. I would also like to especially thank Sean Tobin for agreeing to serve as President this past year and to also express my appreciation for all his hard work. To all of you who worked on the conference, thanks to you as well and a big note of gratitude to all of our sponsors and exhibitors. This conference would not be possible without all of you. I will not be bashful about asking you to serve in the future. I think we are turning a corner in the rebuilding of this organization and the contributions of many have been responsible for the change. Your continued support and work will be needed and I look forward to the upcoming year. See you in Lake Mary in January. Editor's Corner *--by John Darin* Governor Charlie Crist recently signed an Executive Order creating a Governor's Commission on Disabilities. The Commission is directed to "advance public policy for Floridians with disabilities and to provide a forum for advocates representing Floridians with disabilities to develop and voice unified concerns and recommendations." More specifically, the Commission's responsibilities include: a. Identifying and recommending methods to remove barriers to the delivery of, and access to, services for people with disabilities; b. Identifying and recommending methods to maximize the freedom and independence of Floridians with disabilities, with a focus on employment, transportation, education, and independent living; c. Provide a forum for communication between individuals with disabilities throughout the State of Florida and the various arms of state government, particularly the Governor and the Legislature; and d. Partnering with other agencies and organizations serving the disabilities community to facilitate collaborative efforts consistent with purposes of the Commission. The Commission's focus "on employment" may be of interest to Florida's self-insured employers in the future, so FASI will update its membership regarding any pertinent developments. Division of Workers' Compensation Proposed Rules for Self-Insurers *--by Bob Widmer* The Division of Workers’ Compensation unveiled its proposed Rules for Self-Insurer at our annual conference in Naples this year. Some of the highlights are: · Net worth requirement increased from $1.0 million to $10.0 million. Current self-insurers who do not meet this qualification will be considered in non compliance with the Rules and be required to obtain an actuarial study and post 1.5 times the actuarially determined ultimate losses. There are approximately 7 current self-insurers that this will affect. · Specific excess workers’ compensation and employers liability insurance policies must have a minimum limit of Statutory in lieu of the current $1.0 million. The maximum self-insured retention allowed will be increased from $350,000 to $500,000. · The State of Florida will no longer calculate the experience modifications used in determining the Assessments. Each self-insurer will be required to pay the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) a fee for them to calculate the experience modifications. · Penalties for failure to file reports are increased dramatically. Currently, the penalties are $100 for failure to file any required report. The proposed Rule calls for penalties to range from $500.00 if the report is 14 days overdue and go to $5,000 if over 14 days late. · Division of Workers’ Compensation will contract with third parties to perform premium audits. The cost of the audit could be charged back to the self-insured if an assessment difference of over $1000 occurs. · For those self-insurers who are deemed to not have the financial condition to achieve an investment grade credit rating, the security deposit will be at least 100% of the actuarially determined outstanding liabilities. It is expected that the Rules will be filed very soon and we will have 15 days from the date of the filing to request a hearing on the changes. We will provide you with a more detailed summary when the Rules are filed and will keep you posted on the progress of these Rules. Membership Report *--by Mark Resler* Before we get into membership issues, I personally want to express my extreme pleasure with the FASI annual conference held at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. It was quite educational, as well as entertaining. FASI had a great panel of speakers, and the location and setting made it so easy to actually participate in all the seminars. If you attended the conference, I’m sure you will agree with me. For those who missed it, I recommend attending next year. The most recent membership committee meeting from January discussed the streamlining of the FASI database. That project is still underway. In addition to the streamline project, our immediate focus for the remainder of 2007 will be on contacting former members who did not renew in 2007 to ascertain why they chose to not renew their membership. Our 2008 membership drive will begin in October. The committee, as well as the board, has also agreed to focus our membership efforts on self-insured entities, both public and private, since all share similar interests in the self-insured arena. We feel that as self-insured membership grows, associate and carrier membership will grow as well. The 2007 renewal process is complete. Although our total membership numbers are down from 2006, the number of self-insured members has remained constant over the last four years. And we truly anticipate positive results in our 2008 membership drive. Finally, I want to again recognize the 2007 NEW MEMBERS one more time: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida / Integrated Administrators; Ms. Cynthia Howard City of Deerfield Beach, FL; Ms. Linda Hayden City of Jacksonville Beach, FL; Ms. Sue Taylor Combined Investigators, Inc.; Ms. Dee Tabor CorVel Corp.; Ms. Linda Bass CSC; Ms. Jessica Simpson Intracorp; Ms. Kim Crain Mulholland Investigation; Mr. Sean Mulholland NCM of Collier County, Inc.; Mr. Shawn Fuentes Pantropics Power, Inc.; Mr. Luis Botas Patrician Consultants; Ms. Patricia Capuccio Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners; Ms. Beth Wininger R&D Thiel, Inc.; Mr. Jim Leonard Safety National Casualty Corp.; Ms. Pamela Peck Scott-McRae Group, Inc.; Ms. Joanne Ackman I want thank each and every member for a successful 2007, and I am looking forward to an even greater 2008. Please contact FASI directly at 1-800-226-FASI (3274) if you know of anyone interested in discussing FASI memberships, or pass this number on to the interested party, or refer them to the website www.fasi-fl.org. There's the Money *--by Johnny D* A good time was had by all at the annual FASI Conference in Naples! Who would have thought an elevator at the Ritz-Carlton would hold a live elephant? And the speakers!!! Kudos to Bethan and Gail in getting together the most informative and interesting speakers heard at any conference in recent memory: Joey Asher, Lou Beniamino, Mark Bennett, Jeffrey Fieldson, Gregory Jenkins, Robert Jones, Scott Miller, Jim Milner, James Moody, Dennis Ross, Gail Shuffler, Andy Small, Michael Spellman and Dan Sulzner. Any Conference is lucky to score one outstanding speaker per day, but every one of these speakers was terrific! And how about the Exhibitors' Showcase? What a class event. No high pressure or gimmicks, but instead a great opportunity to find out about new services and products in a relaxed atmosphere. What a great way to meet some nice folks with new ideas to benefit industry. See you at the Winter Conference in January in Lake Mary! FASI's 38th Annual Exhibitor's Showcase Reception *--by Bethan Hyde, Director of Marketing, Southeast Region, York Claim Services, Inc.* The Exhibitor's Showcase Reception and Prize Drawings were held Monday Evening in the Plaza Ballroom. The festive atmosphere offered an excellent opportunity for camaraderie amongst the self-insureds, exhibitors, attendees and guests who filled the room. It was a huge success! Some of the Exhibitors chose a prize to give to blind draw winners at the end of the evening! Names of registered attendees were placed in a bucket and the exhibiting company representative drew the names and presented the winner with that company's door prize. There were a total of 18 exhibitors and I'm sure they too would say the Florida Association of Self Insurance Exhibitor Showcase was a great success! We're looking forward to 2008! Mark your calendar for January 2008 Planning meeting (click here for program and registration form) and July 20-23, 2008, FASI’s 39th Annual Educational Conference & Tradeshow! 2007 Session Incentives... *--by Bethan Hyde, Director of Marketing, Southeast Region, York Claim Services, Inc.* For every session attended, each person received a drawing ticket. Sometime during each session, a drawing was held for a $50 American Express Gift Cheque (hence the drawing ticket). Thank you to Nita Chisari, President & CEO of Quality Resource Management, Inc. “QRM” for sponsoring all the drawings for each of the sessions. QRM had another great experience at this year’s FASI 38th Annual Education Conference & Tradeshow. We feel that this not only encouraged attendance at each session but also provided an exciting end to each training session. If you have questions or comments about the FASI E-Newsletter, please contact: Bill Kautter at bkautter@kmgnet.com (800-226-3274) or Newsletter Chair John Darin at jdarin@wickersmith.com. Please note that letters and comments sent to the publisher are automatically considered for use in upcoming issues unless you expressly request that they not be used. You may request that you remain anonymous in the case that your letter or comments are used. We reserve the right to edit for brevity and/or clarity. This eNewsletter is automatically sent to all FASI members as an added, free benefit of membership. FASI, 222 S Westmonte Dr #101, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, 800-226-3274.