Haiti help Although our industry sometimes seems to focus only on insured losses, the devastation in earthquake-stricken Haiti makes it impossible to ignore the human aspect of the disaster. In his blog, National Underwriter editor Sam Friedman asks what the insurance industry can do to help the people of Haiti. Read more here. How well do you know earthquakes? In light of the events in Haiti, we wondered about other quake events over the past 50 years. Test your knowledge and take a quick survey on our Web page about quakes in other parts of the world here. WEB EXCLUSIVES Web presence: Are you just "showing up"? Woody Allen once said, "Eighty percent of success is showing up." But when it comes to establishing a Web presence, showing up is only the first step. In her blog, AA&B editor Laura Toops takes a look at one man's informal survey on independent agent versus direct writer Web sites—and the results are intriguing. Read the blog and voice your opinion here. Are you a roustabout? According to a recent employment outlook study by Careercast.com, "roustabouts"—someone who does gruntwork on oil riggings—is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to overall career satisfaction. Don't laugh: According to the survey, insurance agents are pretty far down the food chain, too. Read Laura's tongue-in-cheek take on some surprising results in her blog here. Greg Maciag on "Destination ahead" As the head of ACORD, Greg has seen many changes in the way we think about industry standards and automation. But according to Greg, who's also a member of the AA&B editorial advisory board, when it comes to real time transactions, the best is yet to come. Read his "Sounding Board" editorial column here. Gilman: The grass isn't always greener If you think the insurance industry is an automation laggard, take a look at your doctor: he's probably still using paper files. AA&B technology and automation columnist Rick Gilman takes a look at how we can deliver on the technology promise here.

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