What do You Think?

Have you ever seen a performance of a piece of “music,” I think it’s by the modern composer Philip Glass, in which a chamber group comes on stage, sits down, and begins to mime the work–going through the motions of playing the violins, the cellos, the violas–but the musicians make no actual sound? The music turns out to be the noise the audience members make as they shift uncomfortably in their seats, cough, blow their noses, thumb through their programs, check for messages on their cellphones, etc.

I thought about trying to do something like that with this editor’s note–leave the page blank and let the reader imagine what it is I was trying to say. This is because I couldn’t think of anything to say. But then I had a revelation. It’s not what I think that matters it’s what you think–the agent, the broker, the claims adjuster, the readers who are in fact insurance professionals. After all, I’m not out there working in the insurance world, day in and day out. I’m simply an observer.

So I invite you to share your thoughts. We have two columns in this magazine that are what one might call opinion-oriented–this one, the editor’s note, and our Parting Shots column, on the last editorial page of the magazine. Guest contributors are regularly featured on the Parting Shots page but aside from other Insurance Journal editors and our publisher, Mark Wells, to my knowledge the editor’s note column has never been up for grabs.

It would be a nice monetary boost (for me) if I could auction off these pages to the highest bidder, but Mr. Wells might not like that. However, if you have a burning insurance issue you want to discuss in print and would like to be editor-for-the-day, e-mail me at sjones@insurancejournal.com. It won’t cost you any money. Even if you don’t want to actually write a column, let me know what you’re thinking anyway.

Meanwhile, happy reading!