Okay... I don't know if it's the cold medication I've been taking of late or simply a case of whiplash from the ever-shifting political change in the States but I'm to the point where I'm not sure know how to talk to myself about web disclosure anymore.
Help me out - last week, there was a big to-do about Disney's earnings release showing up on it's website roughly 30 minutes before it was supposed to. I guess a similar snafu happened to Dell recently.
Two big companies, right? Two sophisticated and seasoned IR functions, right? Honest mistakes, right?
So... if such a "fluke" can happen to Disney or Dell - a couple of companies that know a thing or two about technology and investor relations - then it can happen to anyone, right?
Okay... so far, so good... but here's the tricky part...
How are these incidents not an indication that web disclosure may not be for everyone (or, at the very least, that it's certainly not risk free)? And, along those same lines, isn't it okay if it isn't for everyone?
Before I dust off my monologue that there is no such thing as best practices in IR (i.e., if it doesn't work for your company's unique investor base, then why should you care who else is doing it) or begin to wax poetic about the subliminal investor relations lessons that I recently discovered in the lyrics of the late Ronnie James Dio, I just want to check myself - are we talking about the same thing?
I live in fear of being “that guy.”
You know who I’m talking about - “that guy” who HAS to play on his iPhone while at the playground with his kids instead of playing with his kids while at the playground; “that guy” who HAS to bring his own Starbuck’s coffee to any and every meeting; “that guy” who HAS to wear blue dress shirts with white collars because that’s what’s being worn on Mad Men (in fact, I bet it wouldn’t be hard to find pictures of that guy from a few years ago wearing a green tie with a green shirt a la Regis); “that guy” who HAS to “go hard or go home” in the summer softball league even though he couldn’t make the varsity baseball team in High School… you know “that guy,” right?
Well, I’m not going to be “that guy” who has got his head so far up his own… errr… blog… that he can’t simply acknowledge when someone else makes a lot of sense.
So… let me say this loud and clear: Anil Dilawri, I salute you. Your recent blog post regarding IR sites being treated like a member of the team is so right it’s wrong. I could not agree more and I’m not just saying that because I’m H&K alum. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 100 times: companies need to view their IR website as a 24-hour call center for investors rather than an online repository for old news releases. Love the way you framed the concept.
There - that wasn’t so hard. Honestly, I am amazed at the number of bloggers who can’t even acknowledge people who leave comments on a particular post, let alone blog positively about another blogger. Talk about “that guy”!!??!
I have a confession to make - I talk to myself. Not always… but regularly. It mostly happens when I go for my morning or weekend walk. Most of the time, the conversation doesn’t last very long and rarely does it consume an entire walk. This morning’s conversation was quite different - it actually started while I was still in the house and didn’t end until I forced myself to change the subject!
It went a little something like this…
Me: “Hey, have you notice all the talk about web disclosure?”
Myself: “Yeah, I have. I honestly don’t understand what the fuss is all about. You’d think someone had come up with something controversial or something!”
I: “Well, that’s because you’re simple minded.”
Me: “Now, now. No reason for name calling. This isn’t a certain hash-tag ‘discussion’ on Twitter.”
Myself: “You’re right. Sorry about that.”
I: “What’s funny is that I thought that all disclosures were done on the Web these days.”
Me: “They are. It’s a bad name for it. They should call it ‘single-source disclosures’ or ‘self-published disclosures’ to make it clear that it’s about disseminating corporate news directly from the corporate website rather than running the news through a third-party wire service.”
Myself: “Sure sounds like a good idea.”
I: “Yeah, that’s a no-brainer. We keep saying that IR needs to embrace technology more - here’s a risk-free way to do so. Plus, we’ve put a lot of resources into the IR website. It would be nice to get more out of it. I say we do it!”
Me: “Huh?!!? You think being solely responsible for the dissemination of all your corporate news is risk free!!?”
Myself: “Or needing another reason to call IT is risk free?!!”
I: “He’s got a point. It’s been two weeks since your PDA worked right.”
Me: “That’s what she said.”
Myself: “Hey - don’t blame me! I didn’t touch the thing before it got all screwed up!”
I: “That’s what she…”
Me: “Enough… Focus! Does it really make sense to be your own author, editor and publisher? Sounds like a recipe for errors, if you ask me.”
Myself: “Hmmm…that is a really good point. The wire services always catch errors. Doesn’t matter how many folks at corporate proof the release. There always seems to be something.”
Me: “Didn’t I just read that a wire service issued a release on a company that wasn’t actually from the company?”
Myself: “Yeah - but the release didn’t have any typos!”
Me/Myself/I: LOL
Me: “To be fair, there isn’t a security protocol in place that cannot be broken. Remember the couple that crashed the Presidential party? If the Secret Service can’t stop everything, no one can.”
Myself: “I suppose that’s right. I guess it would have been worse if the service had issued the wrong version of a release for the company.”
I: “How’d we get on this topic?”
Me: “I have no idea.”
Myself: “We were talking about the checks and balances of a third-party service provider.”
I: “Riiigghhhttt.”
Me: “We could also build our own checks and balances into a self-publishing system… we could have someone from legal or finance involved.”
Myself: “I like that idea though those folks are just as busy as we are on the day of the announcement.”
I: “True. The entire corporate team is so jammed up with the script and Q&A the morning of the announcement. Shoot, some companies send their releases to an IR firm deal with the wire service!”
Me: “But it’s a good idea, right?”
Myself: “Yeah, it is. Makes a lot of sense.”
I: “So are we saying that companies should do it?”
Me: “We are… sorta… it depends on the size of the internal team, the strength of the IR site, the…”
Myself: “You know, you raise a good point. There are still way too many IR websites that just aren’t up to code. It would be like trying to send a text from a typewriter.”
I: “That’s hysterical. You need to remember to tell Mrs. B that one.”
Me: “Hang on… don’t interrupt me… we’re talking about making better use of the site… we’re talking about driving more traffic to the site… what if the site isn’t ready for more use or more traffic?”
Myself: “It’s a fair question though I don’t know if the point’s completely on target or not.”
I: “Yeah, I think we’re getting into the weeds on this.”
Me: “I told you. For a simply idea, it’s got a lot of wrinkles to it. No wonder there’s so much chatter about it.”
Myself: “For me, it’s another example of why the phrase ‘best practices’ should be abolished from IR - what’s right for one company doesn’t mean it’s right for all companies.”
I: “Hmmmm… the death of best practices… that’s an interesting idea…”
Now - I am not asking you to confess whether or not you talk to yourself. But I would be interested in hearing where you come out on Web disclosure (or what I’d like to call “self-published disclosure”) at this point in time. Anyone… anyone?
