Positive recognition was received from Dominic Jones (IR Web Report), regarding the Whistler or Bust: The zu.com CIRI Blog that zu.com communications provided. In his blog post Canadian IR conference blogged Dominic stated “…I went on to Google Blog Search about an hour ago and typed in “CIRI.” I wanted see if anyone was writing about the Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI) conference that is on right now in beautiful Whistler, British Columbia. And there it was, fourth item from the top of the search results page…an embedded YouTube video offering a quick (really quick) tour of the conference exhibit hall by Albert Jame, one of the enterprising folks at Zu.com, a Canadian new media agency that has done some terrific pioneering work for their investor relations clients…The Zu CIRI blog is a big, pleasant surprise. It contains a mix of fun and serious stuff.” We enjoyed blogging about the many happenings at the conference and hope viewers found the blog to be useful, educational, and entertaining. Feel free to comment on the blog postings and the photos posted on flickr. See you next year!

The CIRI Conference came to an end today and the zu.com team took a break to go on the ziplines here in Whistler.

We have some notes, and video to add to this blog soon. Thursday is a travel day for us; we will upload more stories when we have a chance, but that may not be until Friday.

Tony talks about some of the ideas that resonated with him from the session “NI54-101 Communication with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting Issuer was adopted in 2002 (General)” at the 2007 CIRI Conference.

Jerry Grandey, Cameco CEO, delivered an engaging presentation on Tuesday morning regarding their approach to managing the communications associated with the Cigar Lake crisis. For those that are unaware, The mining operations at Cigar Lake encountered a major set-back when the principal shafts were flooded with water. This halted operations and work is currently under way to bring the mine back on line. Despite a major crisis that could have had devastating effects on Cameco, a communications plan was followed that minimized damage by taking an open and honest approach based on integrity and core values.

Safety, environment, people, integrity & excellence are core values that determine the decisions made at Cameco. These were the basis of how they approached the Cigar Lake crisis. In regards to communications, they handled some things right, some things not, and learned new lessons along the way. Below are some tips for value based crisis communications:
Tips for Value Based Crisis Communications-Follow the golden rule. Treat your investors as you like to be treated.-Don’t wait for perfect information. Take the approach of communicating “Here is what we know right now”.

-Build trust by planning regular updates.

-Share expected timelines for major announcements. Manage expectations and reduce anxiety by having planned events for disclosing information.

-Communicate directly with all stakeholder groups by using all available channels. Don’t let the media tell the story for you.

-Be open and given stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions

-When mistakes are made follow the “Triple A Approach“: Admit mistakes, Address the situation, & Advance solutions

-Apply common sense

-Listen to your gut

-Maintain integrity

By far the greatest social event at the conference, the Roaring Twenties Dinner and Dance was held last night in the Macdonald Ballroom ABC at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. The night began with the Roaring Twenties Reception with Exhibitors. Attendees were happily mingling, sipping cocktails, and sampling hors d’oeuvres when the five of us entered to discover we were inappropriately dressed for the event. We did not receive the memo stating that the theme was the 1920s therefore we assumed the “Roaring Twenties” referred to the 2020s. Lets just say that the attendees who were not yet familiar with us quickly became aware of us:) Our costumes generated a lot of laughter creating fun times for all. The dinner and dance to follow was enjoyable with an abundance of exquisite food and daring dance moves. Thumbs up to the peeps who organized the event, they did a phenomenal job! We hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we did. Click here to view photos of the event.

The fortune tellers are a hot topic at this year’s CIRI Conference based on the theme: 20/20 vision. Attendees line up to have their fortune told with tarot cards in a fortune teller’s tent. Glass balls expose the truths to be told… bright colors, silky drapes, and costumes add to the effect. It is a fun experience that gets people talking. Ryan is in charge of guarding the glass balls when the fortune tellers are on break. Thus far, he has done a great job! What does zu.com’s future hold? Your guess is as good as ours, the fortune tellers packed up before we got there:)

zu.com’s ace reporter, Albert Jame, takes time out of his SMS schedule to tour you around the CIRI 2007 Exhibitor Hall.

NASDAQ
NASDAQ is a network of competitive market makers competing for order flow. Decimalization caused a major transformational switch (e.g. changing the economics for market makers and specialists, from 16 or 8¢ a trade to 1¢ a trade) leading to consolidation without an increase in competitiveness. Allows exchanges to choose best price, or fast or slow market through which they trade (Fast: electronic; slow: auction/floor traders).

NASDAQ and OMX should be a “great fit”. OMX comes with derivatives and multi-classes of trading such as bonds. They have taken their technology into 60 exchanges around the world; this will potentially allow further integration of different exchanges.

NYSE Euronet
Archipelago was bought, gave NYSE exposure to derivatives (fastest growing sector); and then merged with Euronet (stocks and derivatives).

“Crossing trades/sessions” for after hour or “upstairs” trading causes “dark liquidity pools” of trading where “price discovery” is hidden (what the floor traders do) and are a threat to exchanges. It is important not to become an electronic only transaction place, as there is value on the floor. 51% of cross-traded companies are traded there. “Hybrid” system means electronic and floor traders. Electronic markets are more volatile, less liquid.

Exchanges compete to provide the lowest cost environment to trade (very competitive). “Matched market share” means orders originate and are filled on one exchange. The value propositions for listed companies are: listing venue choice, enhanced liquidity, broad investor pool, unique global visibility, and advocacy on behalf of issuers.

TSX
TSX is a pioneer in electronic trading. There is talk that their systems are antiquated. The new competitors are Pure Trading, Alpha, and NSQ.

TSX’s “Quantum trading technology”, however, is in the process of being launched. High velocity trading is the most rapidly growing market segment; chopping large orders into thousands of small orders (now 1,000 messages/second, with quantum 100,000 messages/second). This enables the exchange to be taken to a whole new level. It will allow them to compete with pure trading, ALPHA (large CDN banks plus Cannacord to make own trading system).

How is TSX doing in the global market? They cover regional exchange sectors, mining energy, and small medium cap stocks. Plans to buy or partner in equities, derivatives and fixed income (TSX, DEX, NGX, Shorcan, CANDEAL, Nordic Exchange/Dutch Bourse). Equicom acquisition will help fledgling companies understand IR, and so have an in-house IR consultancy. External IR firms do not like this. TSX Venture in fact regulates IR consultancies/reference checks, etc.

How do you release material news when trading is not occurring? (As it is likely to be occurring somewhere). Exchanges do not like to halt trading on the stock plus one exchange may stop trading but alternate venues may not. They prefer that news go out before the shares are trading, but interlisting and trading are extending trading days. NASDAQ now does their releases and conference calls in the middle of the day.

It was an interesting discussion at 2PM in the MacDonald Room that involved a panel of speakers all sharing their perspectives from an IRO, Director, and Governance points-of-view regarding best practices for communications. Below is a summary of the key points made by each speaker.

IRO role is to think like the shareholder, but also be an effective facilitator of communication between investors and the company.

Know your target investors - Relationships, relationships, relationships.

Insights need to be share with the board. Continual cycle of communication b/w shareholders, management, and board.

Info to relay to the board: List analyst recommendations, share price vs peers, report on recent marketing, report on shareholder base, & Industry issues.

Terry Lyons - Director Viewpoint

Shareholders are owners. It’s not for the company to judge how they became owners.

Shareholders expect management to do a good job, create value, integrity, and communicate with them.

Role of the board is to represent the owners (shareholders)

Directors ensure proper governance but should also focus on strategy and direction.

CEO’s need to be more involved in the business and understand things from the bottom-up. This will help with understanding key communication issues.

Directors need to work with CEO to develop strategy and then utilize IRO to communicate it.

Must avoid entrenchment since it will prevent maximizing value for the shareholder.

IRO needs to be involved at the highest level. Meet with executives frequently and attend board meetings.

Shareholders, when treated like owners, will be more engaged and interested.

Transparency and integrity in all Stakeholder dealings. Social responsibility and tone set from the top is critical.

Governance provides the process to carry forward the vision with dialogue amongst stakeholders to develop solutions.

Tools:
-Proxy Circular turned into a communications vehicle with transparent disclosure, window into the boardroom, all in plain language.

-Governance Road Show - Dialogue rather than Q&A. Speaks to governance issues only. Hot topics

-Corp Payoffs include feedback for continuos improvement, relationship building, and a holistic view to develop best practices.

-Participant payoffs include their commitment to governance, creates information conduits, explore solutions through dialogue.

Speaking to the board:
-Disclosed policies

-integrity hotline carried out by third party for confidentiality.

-board and governance mailboxes

-direct communication (occasionally)

The session presented by Darcy Rezac was useful for succeeding not only in IR, but life in general. Good business and happiness is achieved through strong relationships and many of them. Darcy relayed strategies, tips, and anecdotal examples regarding the power of networking and how thier practice will lead to becoming a better “connector”. Below are highlights of the presentation:

1. Becoming a Connected Leader: Building Trust and Relationships

Positive Networking: Adding value to a relationship by determining what you can do to help the other person. Not transactional.

Myth: Networking = Sales

Positive Networking = About Others / Relationships / Conversation / Reputation

2. Connectorship: Relationship Skills

Connectorship: Capacity to connect.

a. Find out what you can for somebody else
b. Find a lot of contacts
c. Offer Permission (Get a card / introduce yourself)

3. Network Capacity: How to build and maintain a network

Myth: Only key contacts count.

It’s not so much who you know; it’s who you vaguely know. Distant contacts can be valuable given the appropriate circumstances (I.e. Job search) or somebody else you can help by passing on a contact.

How to introduce yourself to 4 or 400 people - Sitting in the front, asking questions in front of groups. Being engaged.

Free Networking Tips: www.workthepond.com