Shareholder activism, Sarbanes-Oxley, governance and transparency have made investor relations a more complex world. This and the internet have dramatically changed IR giving much more power to investors. Blogs, podcasts and RSS news feeds are just some of the tools being used by companies to give their side of the story.

What are blogs?
“Blog” is an abbreviated version of “weblog,” which is a term used to describe web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. Blogs provide boards with a low-cost, effective means to create communications and obtain feedback from a wide range of shareholders. Consider a board blog like an electronic Town Hall. Are blogs really needed?
The Conference Board issued a report stating that “formal annual meetings do not lend themselves to serious, information discussion.” The report went on further to recommend using the internet more in shareholder communications and annual meetings and creating “a series of alternate forums where investors and corporate management can examine critical, long-term issues.”

Who are using internet technologies for shareholder communication?

» General Motors, Vice-chairman, Bob Lutz has a blog

» Chicago Transit Authority, Chair, Carole Brown has a blog

» IBM is offering investor relations information over RSS news feeds and pod casts

» Dell launched DellShares.com on November 1, 2007, a blog forum website dedicated to IR. The site features blogs, chat rooms, videos, podcasts, and much more.

» Many technology company CEOs currently operate blogs

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 8:59 am and is filed under Online Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.