CIRI: Where are all the IROs?

The CIRI Conference is in its last day, and we are relegated to the foyer to blog, due to too many people in a small exhibit hall. That’s OK though, as it is easier to think out here.

My impression of this year’s conference is that it is smaller than last year. There are about 270 attendees compared with about 300 last year, which is only a slight decline. About 150 of the delegates are from vendors and IR service providers. About 120 attendees work as IROs.

The smaller number of delegates at CIRI makes it is easier to get to know folks as you run into them more. This makes for a friendlier atmosphere where you can become “pals much quicker”. Being friends means that you can learn more from your peers at the networking events, which is a huge plus. You can also call them up after the conference to discuss the issues or get advice.

However, the low number of IROs concerns me. While I like the smaller conferences, I wonder where the people are? There are about 4,000 public companies in Canada, and about 100 of them are represented here at CIRI. Why so few? Are a huge majority of public firms small-cap with no IRO or no IRO travel budget? Are IROs too busy for conferences? Father’s Day? Is the conference targeting the right topics? Have all of the staff changes at CIRI affected their ability to deliver a good conference? Has anything changed in Canadian IR in the past year?

My feeling is that attendance is tied to many of the above issues and probably more. What do you think? Post your comments below or join the discussion on the CIRI Conference FriendFeed room.