"Everything activism” is on this webcast for IR.

• Working with "long-term” activist investors
• Working with activist hedge funds
• Understanding / executing IR communications both in a proxy fight and year round
• What trends and results have your peers had with activists
• How to spot activists as they build a position in your firm

Check out this AMAZING panel of experts!

Stephen L. Brown, Esq., Director, Corporate Governance: TIAA-CREF

• Stephen L. Brown serves as Director of Corporate Governance and Associate General Counsel for Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America–College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), a $400 billion full-service financial services group of companies.

• In 2009, Mr. Brown was named as one of 10 global Rising Stars of Corporate Governance by the Yale School of Management’s Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance.Mr. Brown teaches corporate governance as an adjunct professor at Yale College. 

• On behalf of the boards of the TIAA-CREF group of companies, Mr. Brown and his colleagues in the Corporate Governance Group work to enhance the governance/social responsibility practices of companies held within TIAA-CREF’s investment portfolios with the objective of increasing shareholder value and improving long term performance of targeted companies.  Additionally, Mr. Brown advises management and the boards of the TIAA-CREF group of companies on internal corporate governance operations.

Jared L. Landaw, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel: Barington Capital Group, L.P.

• Jared L. Landaw is the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Barington Capital Group, L.P., an activist hedge fund located in New York City that has been successful in influencing public companies to make significant operational, strategic and corporate governance improvements to enhance shareholder value.  Prior to working at Barington, Mr. Landaw was the Vice President of Law at International Specialty Products, Inc., where he worked with Samuel J. Heyman, the Chairman of ISP, on ISP's attempted acquisition of Dexter Corporation and its successful proxy contest for four seats on the Board of Directors of Hercules Corporation.  Prior to that, he was an attorney in the Mergers & Acquisition Group at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP in New York City. 

• Mr. Landaw chairs an annual symposium on activist investing at the New York City Bar Association. He has also spoken about shareholder activism, corporate governance and hedge funds at a wide variety of conferences, including the Deal Magazine’s 2009 M&A Outlook, the Hedge Fund General Counsel Summit and the American Bar Association’s 2008 Annual Meeting, and as a guest lecturer at Boston University Law School, Fordham University School of Law and Tulane Law School. 

Thomas Quinn:  Vice President: FactSet Research Systems

• Mr. Quinn was the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of TrueCourse Inc., the publisher of the online takeover defense product SharkRepellent.net. Prior to founding TrueCourse, Tom was responsible for directing all aspects of product management for Thomson Financial’s U.S. Capital Markets Group where he initiated and led new product launches of online and print publications. During his tenure at Thomson Financial, Tom held various positions in merger and acquisition research, capital markets research, client consulting and business development. Tom holds a B.B.A from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Ronald M. Schneider, Director, Business Development - Proxy Solicitation and Meeting Services: BNY Mellon

• Mr. Schneider has provided his extensive experience to public companies of all sizes that were faced with difficult and sensitive proxy solicitations involving compensation, corporate governance, shareowner activism and control issues. He has managed more than 1,500 proxy solicitations and 200 tender or exchange offers. His clients have been successful in over 70% of the 30 proxy fight assignments he has advised on, which is among the highest winning percentages in the industry on behalf of clients facing such issues.

• Mr. Schneider’s prior experience includes four years at The Financial Relations Board, a leading investor relations agency. There he managed its proxy solicitation, corporate governance and stock surveillance practice. Before that, he was a consultant to important proxy intermediary ADP Investor Communication Services (now known as Broadridge), where he served as its first “Issuer Liaison” with responsibility for its relationships with issuer companies.  Additionally, he has held increasingly senior positions at major proxy solicitation firms Morrow & Company, D.F. King and Georgeson & Company, where he served on its first Board of Directors.

John Vogt, Vice President, Investor Analytics: NASDAQ OMX

• Mr. Vogt has over twenty years of experience in investor relations consulting and services. Prior to joining NASDAQ in January of 2007, he served as the Executive Vice President of Capital Markets Intelligence for Thomson Financial. He had previously served as the Vice President of Stock Surveillance for Grabill-Bloom, Inc., a highly-regarded boutique market intelligence provider. Mr. Vogt began his career at Technimetrics, a pioneer in the investor relations data and services field, where he oversaw database research and operations.

Neil Stewart, Executive Editor: IR magazine

• As the New York-based editorial director for Cross Border, a publishing and events company with headquarters in London, Neil also oversees the research behind the IR Magazine Awards in the US and Canada. Mr. Stewart has chaired IR magazine conferences and other events around the world during his 12 years of association with Cross Border. Originally ffrom Montreal, he has been featured on CNBC Europe, CNBC Asia, CNBC Australia, ROB-TV and TheStreet.com TV. He did an excellent job here for us.

Sincere thanks to our panelists. They have some great real-world stories and case studies to share.

Have a nice day.

Ethan Howe, Mail Fulfillment manager, has ideas for companies to be green and save green without sacrificing quality of communications.

It’s not easy being green, at least not for Investor Relations.

On November 9th, NIRI and the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals released the results of a co-member survey regarding the first three years of e-proxy and Notice and Access.

The results (link left or scroll far below) surprised me a bit – as I am such an “online guy.” However, the manager of our Mail Fulfillment center, Ethan Howe, was not surprised at all. He sends out thousands of pieces of printed investor materials each week. In fact, last Wednesday (Nov 11), his team printed and shipped 11,000 pages.

I spoke with Ethan in our warehouse.

BHS: You’re pleased to see the NIRI / SCSGP results.  

Ethan: Well, I’m not surprised. In October, we sent out a client 10-Q almost every two minutes. Certainly, overall print volume is less most everywhere, however our volume of work demonstrates that receiving hardcopy shareholder materials are still essential for many, many people.

BHS: Last week, you sent me a report that showed you throw out more client 10-Qs than you mail.

Ethan: Yes, this Friday alone I sent 2.4 tons to our recycling center.

BHS: Tons?

Ethan: Tons. No exaggeration. We send palettes full of outdated, unrequested materials to the recycling center each month. It’s extremely wasteful and costly. 

We are aggressively calculating this now for clients – for their green initiatives. We are suggesting they stop overprinting and shipping and just use our Print-on-Demand service.

BHS: Explain.

Ethan: It’s simple. We print here in-house and ship as the investors’ requests come in. No cases of stock sitting on shelves waiting to die.

BHS: So…. print IS dead.

Ethan: No, just how you manage it is. Or perhaps, how you buy it.

BHS: I have bought a lot of offset printing in my career. Buying more is always cheaper while it's on the press.   

Ethan: But…

BHS: …buuuuuut not if you throw two-thirds of it away.

Ethan: Bingo. Print-on-Demand is effective for materials that have life-spans. Just like your annual “Best Practices Guide.” You used to have those printed commercially in bulk. Now, we do it here for you. We print all of your colorful marketing materials.

BHS: On demand. I get it. The math and cash liquidity works for me. Clients REALLY need to talk to you and see the math.

Ethan: I want the business.[click here]. My goal is a 10-Q per minute.  

BHS: Realistically, I would assume that part of the Notice & Access survey stats are based not so much on the fact that “investors love hardcopy” but more to the fact that shareholders are still navigating Notice and Access and the e-proxy process.

Ethan: I would agree.

BHS: The point is communicate to shareholders in the media they need to best understand the message. It may be online. It may be print. Last thought?

Ethan: Stop overprinting 10-Qs. Print-on-Demand can help companies be green and save green. That’s how I can help.

Have a nice day. 

From NIRI:  

Respondents that have implemented Notice and Access or “e-proxy” using the full set delivery ( which means TRADITIONAL hardcopy mailing) model garnered the best vote turnout in 2009. Ninety-three percent had 76-100% total shares voted and better retail turnout over the other distribution models. Those who used full set delivery showed no appreciable change in retail vote turnout over last year. 

Survey respondents who report the most overall cost savings in 2009 over 2008 were those implementing Notice and Access for the first time, but even in this group, the savings were not dramatic. Thirty-three percent of respondents who used e-proxy this year for the first time indicated their total spending was 75-99% of last year’s, and an additional 16% did not save any money. A further 8% of this group actually saw their costs go up.  

• The majority of Notice and Access adopters decreased their print runs from last year’s levels.

• The median print run was 51-75% of last year’s level, but the range in responses was broad.

• Print run drops were steepest for those implementing Notice and Access for the first time, but earlier adopters also revisited their prior plans and made adjustments.

• Two thirds of those who first used Notice and Access in 2007 and nearly half (47%) of those who adopted in 2008 printed between 76-100% of their last print runs, in contrast with the majority of new adopters (57%) who printed 50% or less of last year’s run.

• Respondents who didn’t reduce print runs were either using full set delivery (37%) or were satisfied with their print levels from previous proxy seasons (32%).

There’s no question that 2010 is going to be a year of heightened activism.

Investor Relations departments who have never had to deal with activists before will be affected. Whether you begrudge them or befriend them, one point is certain. Activism is an opportunity for IR to do what you do best…. build a relationship. And, further to that, the activist WANT you to work with them.

To help you identify and understand activists, we invite you to watch and ask questions to our expert (scroll down) panel on a live video webcast. We assembled a superior cast of characters who look at activism from both side of the Street. Pun intended.

Work in NYC? Come to the event in-person, We'll feed you lunch too. I need your RSVP for security. Come to NASDAQ MarketSite, Times Square, 44 & Bway about 11:10.

FREE VIDEO WEBCAST:

Preparing for Activism - Activists offer their advice to IR… “What you need to do to when I call.”  

DATE AND TIME:  November 23, 2009, 11:30 AM ET 

LINKS:

• CLICK HERE to schedule video webcast into Outlook: click open when prompted or...

• CLICK HERE to pre-register and manually bookmark this event:
   

PHYSICAL LOCATION: Do you work in the NYC area?

• Please join us in-person at the NASDAQ Market Site, Times Square, 44 and Bway. Lunch will be served immediately after the panel at 12:30. RSVP HERE to get on the NASDAQ Market Site security list.

Our expert panel will discuss in detail:

• True-life cases studies and insight from the working activists on our panel
• The role of IR in the proxy and governance process
• Quantitative trends and identification of activists
• Your questions, in-person or via the web

Stephen L. Brown

Director & Associate General Counsel
Corporate Governance

TIAA-CREF

Jared Landaw

Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel

Barington Capital Group. L.P.

Ron Schneider
VP, Business Development and Senior Manager,
Proxy Solicitation Group
BNY Mellon

Tom Quinn
Vice President
FactSet TrueCourse, Inc.

Shark Watch & Shark Repellent
 

John Vogt

Vice President, Investor Analytics

NASDAQ OMX

Moderator 

Neil Stewart

Executive Editor

IR Magazine

This blog is the easiest to write yet. Great job team!

" I just got off of a call with [client]. She wanted to tell me directly that Laura (Willis), Doug (Sharp) and Sean (Veligor) did a wonderful job managing their event. The term she used was “flawless”. 

" I would like to say that our Earnings Release call went very well and I am pleased how easy the Host Controls site was for me to use. I would also like to mention that I appreciated Edna Leach’s professional manner; she was helpful, patient and totally supportive throughout the time prior to and the day of the actual call. 

" I just wanted to take a minute to tell you how much I appreciated all of your (Matt Callander’s), help during our two days of somewhat controlled chaos [at client event]. You did a great job with everything, especially making yourself available so late in the evening. Again thank you, it went extremely well.

" Our [earnings] call went very well and I wanted to make sure that all (Client Support Team) involved were told how pleased we are. My boss [CFO] was very pleased as well.

" I was hoping there was going to be some economies by using Shareholder.com and (Steve Munger) didn’t let me down.  Add to that the fact that [co-worker} and I enjoy working with you guys and we have a win/win situation. Please let your bosses know that the great service we get from you and Lisa (Raffery-Cavichio) is always a big factor in our decision making. We are going to move forward with transferring our research function to the IR site immediately.

" I will like to thank you ( Lito Sandoval)  for all the support you gave us regarding our website. My learnings from today are really positive, confirming your great availability and excellent customer support. I appreciate your help.

" I just wanted to reach out to you and let you know what a great job Laura (Willis) and her team did with our recent website redesign. She was incredibly diligent, accessible and keenly focused on providing us with a level of customer service that we, quite honestly, had not seen in sometime, if ever, from Shareholder.com. You can now be assured that based on Laura's efforts, we will remain with Shareholder for the next year.

" ….More than smoothly. Your team, as always, was very professional and helpful - even caught and corrected (with my hearty approval!) a mistake in our press release. Thanks for circling back - we are HIGHLY satisfied with GlobeNewswire…

" The crew at Shareholder.com did an amazing job, particularly Rod Thompson and Matthew Callander.  Rod had started the whole process with me and made me feel confident and comfortable that this was going to happen timely, accurately and with highest degree of confidentiality.  Matt jumped in last night to take over some of the last minute changes and additions and was willing to stay up all night -- quite happily so, too – as I waited for the final documents that had to be posted to the site before 6 am EDT. Thanks should go to your helpdesk too

" Laura (Willis) and Stephen (Finneral) did an excellent job not only with the implementation but hand holding the client as well as hand holding the account team!  This was a big [IPO] deal [to all] and it went off without a hitch.

" I love you guys! “Wow, that’s service,  thanks a lot!  
[This quote from Fortune 50 seven-year client is my favorite]

Have a nice day.