RIMScast: “Near-Misses Still Count”: Risk Management Magazine’s Morgan O'Rourke and Hilary Tuttle

“Near-Misses Still Count”: Risk Management Magazine’s Morgan O'Rourke and Hilary Tuttle

Jun 27, 2023

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

Leaders of RIMS’s flagship publication, Risk Management Magazine, rejoin RIMScast. Morgan O’Rourke is Publications Director at RIMS and the magazine’s editor in chief and Hilary Tuttle is the managing editor.

This interview continues the discussion of the prior episode. This time, the show delves into how RIMS had to activate its active shooter response plan on May 3, the final day of RISKWORLD, due to a nearby shooting in Atlanta, and how Hilary covered RIMS protocols for Risk Management. Also from the pages of Risk Management, Morgan, Hilary, and Justin extend the dialogue about “business interruption values,” and what the editorial staff is seeking in the way of written contributions from risk managers for the magazine.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMScast.

[:27] About today’s episode concluding the mid-year risk status update with Morgan O’Rourke and Hilary Tuttle of RIMS Risk Management Magazine.

[:36] All about exciting, upcoming RIMS events! Registration is open for the RIMS Canada Conference 2023, which will be held September 11th‒14th in Ottowa! Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information.

[:58] On September 14th, the Spencer Educational Foundation returns to New York City for its Annual Funding Their Future Gala. The event will be held at the Cipriani on 42nd Street. A link is on this episode’s notes. You can also visit SpencerEd.org.

[1:15] Head to the RIMS.org/Advocacy page to find information about The RIMS Legislative Summit, which is returning to Washington, D.C. on October 25th and 26th.

[1:29] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held October 4th‒6th in Vail, Colorado. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com for more information and to register.

[1:41] We are very excited about the RIMS ERM Conference 2023, which will be held November 2nd and 3rd in Denver, Colorado! The theme is Elevate and Evolve. We are accepting submissions for educational sessions through June 30th. There is a link in this episode’s notes. We want to hear from you!

[2:02] RIMS is partnering with Conrad Clark Nigeria for a RIMS CRMP Exam Prep virtual workshop Saturdays in July: July 1st, 8th, and 15th. Start your RIMS CRMP journey today! The link is in the show notes.

[2:24] Justin is rejoined today by Morgan O’Rourke and Hilary Tuttle, who are the journalistic forces behind the award-winning RIMS publication Risk Management Magazine. Morgan is the RIMS publication director and editor-in-chief of the magazine. Hilary is the managing editor of the magazine and ace reporter.

[2:43] We continue the dialog from the previous episode to discuss not only the topics of the day but one of the key articles in the current issue of Risk Management Magazine. Hilary wrote an article titled “Strengthening Your Active Shooter Response Plan.” It covered how RIMS handled active shooter preparedness during RISKWORLD 2023.

[3:06] They were in Atalanta and just two miles away, there was a tragic mass shooting that was also a major disruption for RISKWORLD. We will explore that article a bit and dive into the perspectives from RIMS leadership that Hilary documented so well.

[3:22] Justin welcomes Morgan and Hilary back to RIMScast.

[3:29] Justin asks about the Business Interruption Values article in the current issue of Risk Management Magazine. Hilary explains the meaning. How much are you making per time? What does a business interruption cost you? The values determine what insurance coverage you want to secure, such as for replacement cost.

[4:40] Mogan recommends reviewing and updating your policies for inflation. Talk to your agent to make sure you have appropriate coverage. Reconfigure your policy as needed. You want the right insurance to cover the value of whatever is interrupted.

[4:57] Hilary notes that the claims environment has gotten more difficult. Dealing with hurricanes, for example, do you understand how much each location of your business could be losing? Are you covered for business losses as well as property damage? A lot has changed in your business over the past few years. Do you have new locations?

[5:41] Business patterns have shifted. What does business as usual look like for you? It’s not what it used to be and you might not be insured for what that means today. Justin reads an excerpt from an article by Jason Cables about operational factors and interdependencies within the company. Justin recommends the article.

[6:49] The goal of Risk Management Magazine for the ideal article is not only something that talks about risk but gets to the management of that risk. What you do about the risk is where the risk manager comes in and it is the key differentiator of the magazine.

[7:51] Hilary’s article in the current issue of Risk Management Magazine covers risk management in an active shooter event. RISKWORLD 2023 in Atlanta was getting ready for the closing keynote by NASCAR driver Danica Patrick when there was a shooting a couple of miles away at a medical facility. RISKWORLD 2023 went on lockdown.

[9:56] Hilary comes from a hard news background, so covering this event reminded her of her former work. As she reported it, the event became more vivid. She interviewed RIMS CEO Gary LaBranche and Chief Events and Sales Officer Stuart Ruff-Lyon, and the article grew to cover broader lessons than just how to manage active shooter response.

[11:37] Hilary says there are people in the risk management industry who refuse to talk about the parts of the plan that aren’t perfect. Focusing on how to do better gives people more confidence in you as a brand and it helps others figure out where things might not go right in their plans, and be prepared for that and build better plans.

[12:04] The goal in doing the article was not to glorify RIMS or create a puff piece on how RIMS was amazing but to show what went right and what was challenging and ways to strengthen your plan for the future.

[12:52] Five years ago, Justin was at a Yext two-day technology event when there was a bomb scare nest door that closed the conference. Justin reached out to Yext about covering the event in an article but the company was unwilling to talk about it. He has not heard from them since.

[13:35] Justin believes it’s a missed opportunity for a company not to acknowledge that something went wrong that was beyond their control and where’s what they did to address it and to keep everybody safe. Morgan adds that a threat event can be a case study of how you can do your risk management job better.

[14:20] Shootings are not going away. It behooves us to examine all of the angles that we can. Morgan thinks Hilary did a great job in bringing out some of the more unique elements that you might not get from other resources.

[14:47] RIMS plug time! Sponsor a weekly or dedicated episode of RIMScast! Contact us at pd@rims.org. For upcoming virtual workshops visit RIMS.org/virtualworkshops to see the full calendar. On June 29th, “Optimizing Risk Management with Artificial Intelligence” will be led by Pat Saporito. A link to the workshop calendar is in the notes.

[15:44] Join us on July 14th at 5:00 p.m. India Standard Time for a jointly presented webinar with Prudent Insurance, Brokers Private Limited titled Trade Credit Insurance Managing Risk and Promoting Growth. A link is in the show notes. That’s early morning in the U.S. I, Justin, will be hosting it. Register and attend!

[16:26] Hilary says it is easier to reflect on a disaster when it is a near miss. RISKWORLD 2023 had enough of a crisis to clarify what did work or didn’t work in their plan. If there had been an incident on-site, it would have been a very different prospect to cover it. Hilary says the attack surface has gotten a lot bigger with more complicated events.

[17:12] Shootings happen everywhere so you have to be prepared in ways that may not have existed previously. Near misses still count. Sadly, shooting is probably the top physical threat that businesses in the United States face today.

[18:10] To make a pitch for Risk Management Magazine, your article must get to what risk management and risk managers can do about the risk, and not advertise your product, obviously, so the entire audience can look broadly at the risk they face. Risk changes at the level of individual companies. Start with the broadest perspective.

[19:39] Hilary recommends that you not submit first-person “we” articles. Look at your experience as a jumping-off point and think about what are the connection points that are relevant to other people and other businesses. There’s not a one-size-fits-all problem. The way an issue impacts your business gets specific.

[20:16] Cut some of the details. Tell us some of the interesting complications that either made it notable and relevant to other organizations or just the parts that are relevant to organizations like yours. Talk like you’re talking to a colleague in a different industry. What are the challenges we have in common and how are we dealing with them?

[20:43] Instead of using the first person, talk about how this is one approach… How would you frame your experience as guidance or a lesson for someone in a different sector or organization? Think about three or five specific takeaways from your experience that would be relevant to somebody else and start there.

[22:26] Morgan says thank you to the readers of Risk Management Magazine, for reading and sharing. He’s always happy to hear your comments and feedback. He’s grateful that someone would open the pages and read an article. Hilary would love to hear what they could do better or have you contribute a piece. They are here for you, so reach out!

[23:30] Justin thanks Morgan O’Rourke and Hilary Tuttle for joining him on RIMScast. They thank Justin for having them.

[23:45] “Special thanks again to Morgan O’Rourke and Hilary Tuttle of Risk Management Magazine for joining me here today.

[23:51] Read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com and check out the blog at RiskManagementMonitor.com. Justin offers a link for editorial submission guidelines at RMMagazine.com/contribute. Check it out and contribute to the magazine.

[24:04] Remember that you can sponsor a RIMScast episode to reach a global audience! Justin shares other RIMS offerings, including a transitional membership, RIMS.org, Risk Management Magazine, and the Risk Management Monitor blog! Justin thanks you for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! Listen every week!

Mentioned in this Episode:

RIMS ERM Conference 2023 — Submit an educational session by June 30.

RIMS Canada 2023 — Sept. 11–14 in Ottawa!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Funding Their Future Gala — Sept. 14, 2023

Contribute to Risk Management Magazine

RMM: “Strengthening Your Active Shooter Response Plan,” June 2023

RMM: “Why Accurately Reported Business Interruption Values Matter,” June 2023

RIMS Diversity Equity & Inclusion page

RIMS Western Regional — Oct 4–6, 2023 Vail Colorado

RIMS-CRMP Prep with Conrad Clark Nigeria — July 1, 8, 15, 2023
Upcoming Virtual Workshops:

“Optimizing Risk Management with Artificial Intelligence” | June 29, 2023

“Risk Appetite Management” | July 12–13, 2023