From all of us at Gibson, we wish you the safest of holidays and prosperity in the new year!

You’ve been asked to share your skills with a local nonprofit by serving on their board of directors. You’re excited to help the organization pursue their mission. But unfortunately without the proper precautions, as a board member, you and your personal assets can be at risk.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Jerry Scott. We hope you enjoy Jerry’s wisdom and perspective.

Like many leaders with decades of business and leadership experience, I humbly have no shortage of opinions regarding business issues on any given day. People generally don’t come to me for many technical issues, but for people or organizational issues I’m your man.

You’ve taken the time and effort to put together a comprehensive business continuity plan. But is it going to work? Unfortunately, most organizations have no idea if their plan will work until it is too late. According to the Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council, 23% of companies surveyed never test their plans.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Scott Downes, founder and principal of Thomas LLC, an independent consulting venture. We hope you enjoy Scott’s wisdom and perspective.

As the years have passed since 9/11, acts of terror have unfortunately become all too familiar in our world. Suicide bombings, mass shootings, attacks, bombings, and ambushes - the destruction has been devastating. And with the increased prevalence of these attacks, terrorism risks have become more of a threat to your organization – to your people, your property, and your bottom line.

This is a time of giving thanks. At Gibson, we are thankful to have tools and resources to help you identify exposures and manage your organization's risks. We are also grateful to have a claims team who is there to assist when losses do occur. I may be a little biased, but I think our claims team rocks! 

This Thanksgiving, our claims team is sharing some unfortunate claims scenarios. These will make you thankful for having people on your side, people to help you protect what matters most!

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Mickey Hay, founder and President of Thriving In The Third Act. We hope you enjoy Mickey’s wisdom and perspective.

“What are you doing?!”

“Oh, I’m working on a project.”

“But you’re just sitting there at your desk with your eyes closed! Doesn’t look like you’re working to me.”

“Yep. I am. I’m forming a vision of how I want this project to play out. I’m imagining all of the people who will be affected. I’m seeing a possible timeline and optimal weekly goals. I’m responding to an inner urge to just ‘be with’ the plan for a while until I feel certain of the next step.”

As of October 1, 2015, the liability for credit card fraud shifted to the merchants who have yet to update their card reader technology. It isn’t a mandated deadline; it is technically voluntary for you to replace old card scanners with new EMV technology. In fact, leading up to the October 1^st deadline, only about 5% of all merchants were compliant. But if you have yet to become EMV-compliant, you are exposing your organization to risks.

Winter has a way of bringing the unexpected. Yes, the first snowfall can be magical and winter sports can be quite enjoyable, but the cold and snowy season can also expose your organization to a variety of risks.