Presuming you do cover these topics somewhere, will our intrepid investor find what you are providing? How hard will this task be for him? Is your website effective in informing, or does it make it a challenge? If it is a challenge, well… why are you allowing it to be a challenge?

It seems IRO’s usually strive for communication effectiveness in ways suitable to the form they are delivering meesages in:

-    for required filings and releases effectiveness is in accurate reporting, a transparent writing style, and balanced treatment of opportunities and challenges;

-    in presentations they shoot for nicely designed PowerPoint slides, hopefully with legibly-sized type and some consistency in visual style;

-    in speech delivery or one-on-ones they practice-up the executives for an engaging and credible delivery.

Yet investor sections of corporate websites are not getting the idea of “effectiveness”. They may be getting the idea of ‘completeness’, but they are just not getting the ‘Internet’ part.

Not many of your favorite websites would consider their efforts to engage their audience complete with the addition of a PDF. Frankly, I can’t think of any good (non-investor related) website that would trust key messages to only PDFs. Well, maybe government websites, but they’re not really in any sort of competition based on effectiveness. Oh, and they’re not trying to achieve a fully and fairly valued stockprice based on informed investors. Oh, and they’re not worried about their cost of capital.

So, back to the idea of considering whether you are communicating foundation material on your website effectively. Ask: “Why should someone who doesn’t know my company invest in it?” “Can my website answer basic questions that will engage them in our story?” “How difficult does my website make it to find these answers?”

Get your visitors, especially potential investors, off to a strong start when they visit your website. (Please Note: I didn’t say “When they visit your Filing Cabinet”).

Don’t make the task of evaluating your company more work then it has to be. Don’t make them convince themselves of your worthiness. Don’t make them play BattleDecks with your sans-remarks Investor Slideshow.

Get your content strategy together. If you’re interested in doing better talk to us at zu.

This screen capture from the I-Metrix brochure displays the concurrent presentation of financials for Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, and Dell generated from the XBRL feeds from Edgar Online. This type of tool will greatly accelerate the data gathering process for potential investors from hours to minutes.

Soon the ‘go-to’ description of your enterprise will become the equivalent of a food label nutrition chart in a ‘just the facts’ approach to providing information.

Here we can compare two brands of chocolate chip cookies.

But is this how we buy food? By only looking at these measurables? We all know that, despite the similar make-up of these products, they don’t taste the same and one will be more successful than the other.

The reasons for success may be better explained in the story that goes with the product then in the nutritional performance data.

When XBRL allows your company to be compared side-by-side with its peers in a generic GAAP-compliant view, such as those provided conveniently by I-Metrix, then what is the next step in the analysis? What’s missing?

What will increasingly matter on the Internet and on your website will be the ‘other stuff’, not the financial reporting. It will be the story the CEO tells investors in person. When he’s running the conversation he isn’t reading XBRL to the audience, he’s adding the context, the long-term strategy, and the positioning explaining markets, outlook, competitive advantage and so forth.

When the quantitative XBRL filtering and screening is over with, and the analyst or retail investor visits your website, are they going to get what’s missing? Or is it just out-of-date, coffee table book statements about the company with links to PDF financial reports that are rather superfluous to the slicing and dicing already done by XBRL readers?

Will they find current high-value materials provided in an engaging way? Will they see the clarity in the plan that fosters a corporate culture that will win in their chosen field and create shareholder value? Will it bring to life the recipe that makes a company a success?

When widely disemminated XBRL viewers focus attention on your last quarter’s earnings blips, are you ready to show an engaging version of why your company is a worthy investment?

Even as we integrate new communication forms and technologies, let’s keep our eye on the website.

Value
Given reduced budgets and tighter cash flow at most companies this year it was understandable that attendance at both conferences was at its lowest in years. NIRI had around 700 attendees and CIRI had about 200. The proportion of vendors to IR professionals was fairly high since the drop in IR professionals was more pronounced than the drop in vendors. I believe the lower attendance has both pros and cons; on the pro side it makes for a more intimate experience and the people attending are serious about being there due to having to justify the expense; on the con side there is less opportunity for networking and the challenges for vendors like zu are obvious (we made the most of our investment by pre-booking as many meetings as possible anticipating exhibit hall traffic would be fair at best).

Both conferences shared some similar topics but due to NIRI’s larger size they had the edge over CIRI because of more sessions on more topics. After what has been a bitter winter and cold spring in most of Canada, I think most would agree going to south Florida outweighs the cool Canadian west coast. Given the larger breadth of learning opportunities and chance to soak up some sun I found it most surprising that attending NIRI was cheaper than CIRI. If I had the choice to only go to only one conference based on budget, the decision would be simple. In fact, there were a number of eastern Canadian IR professionals attending NIRI for this exact reason—value for the money. Early bird registration and exhibit fees were lower at NIRI compared to CIRI (excluding exchange rate).

Relevance
I was thankful for the handful of sessions that were provided at both NIRI and CIRI regarding web disclosure and technology; they also appeared well-attended. But as far as the importance of the conferences and the opportunity they provided attendees, I think both suffered from a lack of interesting program offerings. I’m biased, but I think the recent events surrounding web disclosure, XBRL, and the evolving role of media to engage investors more effectively by better utilizing technology could have been better addressed. I noticed a large shift moving to the IRO’s responsibility as the Internet’s role regarding real-time information distribution becomes more powerful. There is an increased sense of urgency for IR professionals to deal with issues along with more and more regulations that are counter productive to being more responsive. It’s a difficult position to be in and traditional methods of communications may no longer suffice. The need to be transparent, provide investor’s value by being a resource, and taking a proactive, progressive approach with communications are key to gaining the trust of investors and good fodder for session topics.

Aside from the conferences’ agenda, I think that on-demand access to information via webcasts, local chapter events, and accessibility of information on the Internet is making the attendance to physical conferences less important. In order for these conferences to attract attendees, I think not only will the economy need to improve but both NIRI and CIRI will need to reconsider the value they provide and the format it is delivered in.

Summary
Given the size and location, I would tip my hat to NIRI09 as the more valuable and relevant of the two conferences. That said, I have a soft spot for my domestic associations and I appreciated the intimacy of CIRI09 and the quality of the conversations we had. We have more awareness and established relationships in the Canadian market so I’m sure this helped immensely, whereas we were only on our second date with the US market [she’s a bit reluctant, having just come out of a bad relationship, figuratively speaking]. Overall, I am confident both associations will make adjustments to attract back attendees by offering more value and providing more thought provoking topics in new and interesting ways. Afterall, the times they are a changin’.

• The financial crisis is the biggest concern with uncertainty, and optimism, about how the fed is “mostly getting it right” on steering the economy though the recession, though the increased direct government involvement seems a little out of character for the country
• XBRL seems to be gaining speed with useful readers and other technologies beginning to appear, reminding us all that the other supplementary material on the website that provides story, strategy and leadership personality should be enhanced
• The sell-side seems to be shrinking in influence as online commentators and other media personalities take an every larger roll in communicating to retail investors, of whom more and more seek investment strategies, and of course invest, online
• Social media is emerging as a way to conduct “continuous investor sentiment analysis”, and can forewarn IROs of stock-moving rumours, that many (and us) suggest should be addressed in those same online media
• And, after completing many free website audits for IR effectiveness, we have to say: most investor websites do not do a good of job of communicating as websites should and can: unifying ideas such as the value proposition, outlook and strategy are done better in non-website materials, such as speeches, annual reports, and conference calls. Filing cabinet-style sites dominate.

I found that one of the hot topics at NIRI09 was the role of social media in IR. We would like to continue the social media conversation with you and invite you to join us in a live webcast on July 16th, featuring our own social media evangelist, CEO Ryan Lejbak, who will take you on a tour across various social media platforms and demonstrate techniques IR professionals can use. This webcast will reveal the steps you should take on your own to begin to monitor, participate and engage investors. Look for your email invitation in the coming weeks.

I hope you enjoyed NIRI09 as much as we did. Check out our blog for regular IR industry updates.

Over the past few years, we have watched (and assisted) PotashCorp switch from a “Print First” to “Web First” strategy for their often award-winning materials. And the 2008 report titled, “More per acre… the sustainable solution“, was conceived and designed first as an online document. A PDF summary is also offered for those with money to burn on inkjet cartridges, or Kindles.

The sustainability report, including historical data was built around Global Reporting Initiative recommendations. It uses the same programming standards found in their online annual report and so opens in its own microsite—just how website users like it and how this premium web content oughta be.

Of course, not many companies tell the company story, or describe their plans for the future, or describe their sustainability efforts, better. And that makes the web presentation so much stronger.

Congrats to all involved on this one!

During the #NIRI09 Conference, I attended a panel discussion that focused on XBRL strategies and the changing role of IROs. The panel included XBRL experts Michael Becker and Mike Willis.

Why is XBRL Relevant?

I learned from our panelists that XBRL is a business language that facilitates communication standardization. The current conditions often involve third party intermediaries that take your information, modify it, parse it, and/or reorganize it that is then distributed in a different form from the original. It can end up being inaccurate or presented in a way that can be misinterpreted.

XBRL prevents the modification of information by standardizing the way it is labelled regardless of naming conventions or nomenclature a company may use to describe things on the front-end in their financial reports. In addition, it mitigates effort to compile and review information since it’s already in a standardized format from the get-go.

What is Required? The SEC XBRL Mandate requires submission of XBRL formatted statements via an “XBRL exhibit” for annual, quarterly, and registration statements and is required to remain on the website for at least 12 months.

RSS feeds can be used to lower distribution costs and burden (SEC site and IR site). Allows users to pull the data and use it for their own analysis.

What is it? “Bar Code” for business information. Computer code that can be rendered and displayed to include a label, presentation, definitions, calculations, contexts, formulas, references, and taxonomy.

What is in it for an IRO? A Streamlined Review Process. The laborious assembly and review process is mitigated. Ultimately, this reduces costs and time to produce financial reports. If the XBRL is implemented as close to the origin of information then more savings can be realized.

XBRL will allow IRO’s to communicate more relevant information to their constituents in a timely fashion. Summarized reviews can be accomplished using rendering tools and used by investors to configure and automate information to display the most important data to them.

Standardized formulas and rules in business rules will allow collaboration among investors/analysts so that models can be created to work across multiple periods across different companies. Such tools already exist like I-Metrix; this allows for comparisons and correlations in a simple way.

SUMMARY
> More effective communications
> Streamlined compliance processes
> Lower cost & more efficient documentation preparation
> Better insights via social analytics
> Explicit relationships between materials across sources

Granted, the larger and more multi-purposed the website, the greater the need for IT to control the rate of change of the site. And the greater the controls and project management needed to ensure website changes don’t endanger the integrity of the greater site. We understand their need to move cautiously, resist change and experimentation, and slow the path of new technologies. (Such as corporate adoption of browsers newer then IE6, access to social media sites, etc.)

We’ve found IROs who actually need our help in dealing with/working with their own IT department to make substantive changes to their sites, such as improving information architecture and the addition of usability enhancements. We are happy to do this – to be guides and project managers for the IROs with their own information services group. And after gaining the trust of the technology folks, we are actually appreciated in helping them deliver a project on time. It is reasonable to expect that a temporary boost in web programming capability is what a project needs to actually be accomplished, as corporate IT departments are typically overbooked with projects at any point in time.

Of course, the best strategy is that the IR website be removed from the enterprise solution (while maintaining the online brand) so that Investor Relations can have much closer and immediate control of their website. Just because the website is “programming-oriented” does not mean it should be controlled by IT. The IR website is a communication project, like the annual report. Imagine if IT controlled the means of producing that.

In most cases, and especially where the website has many purposes beyond the Investor Relations function, IR websites would be far better if IT was out of the loop.

Most feel having information available on the site in a PDF form is good enough. IROs point to the screen and say, “See it’s right there”. If you were to think of your website as a lobby, and these files are in the filing cabinets behind the desk, there is a very high chance nobody is going to find them, nor do they want to waste their time looking.

Companies can create a great experience online, they just need to have a better understanding of what investors are looking for. Implementing best practices into a web-friendly experience can go a long way.

Here’s a few simple yet highly overlooked practices that you can implement at a low cost and will create a clear vision for your website users.

• Look at all your company materials, select important content, then develop it into web content. The best information is often buried and it’s your job to ensure it filters onto your website. Visitors are impatient so give them a hand.
• Ensure all your PDFs have the appropriate file names, so when downloaded they are easy to identify. Start with the company name then the file name, which should be descriptive. I have seen file names like this: 34293-3892774oiAR09.pdf. A good file name example is ABCComapany_AnnualReport09.pdf.
• The website should provide data and positioning material to address both prospective and current shareholders. Cameco is a good example of this.
• All links that prompt you to download an item should be clearly marked. Nothing is more frustrating then when you click on a link and bam… a PDF starts downloading.

It is rather tiresome to hear that there is “too much risk” in actually providing the text of what was said to investors. Text that is quite frankly necessary to make sense of the slides. How about the risk of annoying all of your investors who could not attend the event? Or, if the speech is only provided in audio, what about those with hearing disabilities?

If companies are afraid to provide the words that a key executive spoke in public, it makes me think that perhaps the person was drunk. Why else would the remarks be so unreliable that Legal believes they’re going to get in trouble for letting us read what was said? This is poor disclosure. Or laziness.

The owners deserve to hear what their executives said in public to other owners.

He says the key mistake to avoid now is failing to keep interest rates and taxes low to maintain a good money supply. He says falling commodity prices are good and will be part of the return to good times, as they give everyone more purchasing power. This will reverse consumer sentiments about holding onto money rather than spending it, and so bring about normalcy and growth. “Everything is a good deal right now”, he stated. Other positive indicators: lack of labour power means wages can come down more easily, housing is likely at the bottom, and “inflation adjusted buying power” is up.

His main idea for where the government is failing is in lack of spending on education. The US does well in sports at the Olympics but in the math Olympics, he likens the US to the Jamaican bobsled team.

As a species, we will need to think our way out of all the crisis’s facing us.

But as Dilbert was highlighting lately, wasn’t it all the big MBA brains that got us into this?

The Economic Crisis certainly seems to be on folks’ minds with tales of downsizing, especially in the financial sector, and most focused in North America–New York namely. Talking to bankers from Denmark and vendors from the UK, the pain is felt all over.

Being from Saskatchewan in Canada, which hit the crisis period at a high point in economic activity, at zu it feels more like a hair cut then an amputation—albeit we are feeling some effects as we do sell into markets around North America. Perhaps I will have greater understanding of what’s coming after the Todd Buchholz Monday Keynote. He’s a “leading expert” on financial markets, as his bio says.

Check out some of the pics from the Opening Reception. Follow us @zutweets on Twitter for live updates at NIRI09.

But on the writing of our webcast presentation: “Design for the Bottom Line: 5 Ways to Reuse Existing Materials for your IR Website”, I experienced that worthwhile feeling of having great clarity of thought after being compelled to make a clear case for the suggestions we supplied. When completing a formal audit of a client site we compare their website to their other IR materials, I also come to these a-ha moments where good ideas seem so clear. I guess that’s why folks like to blog, to fully understand their own thoughts and experiences.