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Attendees Give LifeCare’s 2002 Client Conference High Marks

The "Rumble in Rye:" Deborah Norville and LifeCare's CEO, Peter Burki, square off after Norville's keynote address on managing work and life

Human Resource professionals from leading companies throughout the U.S. attended LifeCare’s fourth annual Client Conference, held May 8 through 10 at the Doral Arrowood in Rye, New York. The Conference explored the latest issues impacting employee loyalty, including workplace health and wellness programs, breastfeeding legislation, and adult care and retirement issues. Other topics included increasing utilization of LifeCare’s services, best practices for promoting services, and maximizing the return on clients’ benefits investment.

Conference session speakers included: Marc Drizin, employee loyalty specialist and vice president, business alliances, Walker Information; Minna Elias, New York Chief of Staff and Counsel to Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney; Sharman Stein, articles editor, WorkingMother; Jim Firman, president and CEO, National Council on the Aging; and Dee D’Agostino, director, work/life strategies, Aetna.

The Conference also featured two panel discussions. The first consisted of media panelists who spoke about the trends and issues that capture the attention of the media and their readers. This panel included: Maggie Jackson, author and workplace writer for The New York Times and The Boston Globe; Sharon O’Malley, editor, Work/Life Today; Reni Witt, president, MerComm, Inc., and publisher of Contacts Newsletter; and Michael Prince, associate editor, Business Insurance Magazine. The second panel discussed the strategies of WorkingMother magazine’s “100 Best” companies to work for list. The panelists were: Sharman Stein, articles editor, WorkingMother magazine (who moderated the panel); Christine Pfeiffer, manager, work/life, Pearson Education; JoJo Conlan, manager, work/life services, Vivendi Universal; Garry W. Giannone, director, employee health services, Prudential Financial; Maureen Corcoran, vice president of diversity, Prudential Financial; and Julie Haskell, assistant vice president, global human resources, State Street Corporation.

LifeCare's COO, Jeff Burki (left); Keynote Speaker Deborah Norville; and LifeCare CEO, Peter Burki

The Conference keynote speaker was Deborah Norville, the award-winning broadcaster, journalist, author and host of Inside Edition. As the mother of three children, Norville spoke about the importance of creating balance between work and life responsibilities. She offered personal anecdotes and confided that agreeing to host a television show from her hospital bed just nine hours after giving birth was probably not the best way to manage work and life priorities. She also shared insights into how she manages everyday issues, including meal planning and cooking, shopping, and making time for her husband and three active children, who also lead busy lives. Attendees agreed that Norville was not only enlightening and entertaining but a pleasure to meet personally as she mingled with participants throughout a cocktail reception and dinner.

LifeCare wishes to give special thanks to all of the speakers and panelists who helped to make the 2002 Conference such a tremendous success. Here are some of the comments from Conference attendees:

2003 Conference Survey Results
LifeCare recently conducted a client survey to solicit opinions and preferences that the company will use to plan its 2003 Conference.

Forty-three percent of the respondents chose the Doral Arrowwood in Rye Brook, New York as their preferred location for the Conference; 38 percent chose “a New York City hotel;” the remaining respondents chose a variety of east- and west-coast locations.

When asked what topics would be of most interest to them (respondents were able to select more than one topic), 74 percent of respondents chose “ROI for work/life benefits” as their primary topic; 57 percent chose “benefits utilization strategies;” 55 percent chose “trends in employee benefits;” and 49 percent chose “health and wellness initiatives.”

When asked to select a keynote speaker from a particular discipline, 40 percent opted for a “work/life” expert; 40 percent chose a “business futurist;” and the rest were divided between an authority on “human resources” and “leadership.”

LifeCare will keep all clients and friends updated on our plans for the 2003 conference.