Cavalcade of Risk: The 4th Anniversary Edition

June 2nd, 2010 by Julie Ferguson

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Welcome to the June 2, 2010 edition of Cavalcade of Risk. With this issue, we mark the fourth anniversary of our biweekly risk roundup. Kudos to Hank Stern, Cavalcade’s founder, keeper of the flame, and all round good blog citizen. He’s the perfect person to lead the charge – as an insurance expert, he knows quite a bit about managing risk. Kudos to him and to all my fellow risk wranglers who’ve continued to dole out sage advice over all 106 issues of the Cavalcade – yay for us!
Risk is so random. You are enjoying the Stanley Cup playoff game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Pittsburgh Penguins when a massive sinkhole swallows you and your family whole sending you to an untimely death. No, this isn’t the plot of a bad ’60s sci fi flick, it was a real event that occurred in Canada just a few weeks ago. And as living proof of the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, right after hearing about this horrific event, we learn of the total disappearance of a six-story building in a Guatemala sinkhole.
Whether in business or in our personal lives, risk is unavoidable. Both consciously and unconsciously, we are all in a continual process of sizing up situations and activities, weighing the relative risk versus reward, and determining the maximum acceptable level of risk in going forward. The business or discipline of such assessment is called risk management; in our day-to-day lives, it’s called living.
In the biweekly issues of Cavalcade of Risk, we turn to various experts who weigh in with risk management advice for assorted business and life activities. Because risk can be messy, our topics span the gamut. While there may be some ongoing themes that recur in our lineups, by the very nature of the beast, it’s not always easy to sort submissions into neat little categories. Today’s issue follows suit.

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