CEO Blogging

Blogging is becoming more and more mainstream among C-level executives. It is slowly being adopted in Investor Relations (see the Dell IR blog called DellShares: http://dellshares.dell.com). But many forward thinking CEOs of both public and private companies blog extensively, and have been doing so for quite some time. For example, see how Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems, blogs to shareholders at http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan. See also how Penny Herscher, CEO of privately-held firstRain (San Mateo, CA), blogs at http://pennyherscher.blogspot.com. At iMiners we've been blogging since the beginning of the year to provide updates on our progress, insight into market developments, and to provide additional information to our clients, partners, and investors. Based on conversations we are having with IROs at leading public companies we expect the trend of IR blogs to continue to accelerate into 2009 as companies realize the communications advantages that blogging brings......

iMiners and PrecisionIR Extend Reseller Agreement to eShareholderForum

We're pleased to announce that we have extended our Reseller Agreement with PrecisionIR to include eShareholderForum (http://www.eshareholderforum.com), the industry's first turnkey solution to help any company establish a company-sponsored electronic shareholder forum on their IR website. Effective immediately, PrecisionIR will be offering eShareholderForum to its current and future clients. By providing eShareholderForum with its standard IR website solution, PrecisionIR will be the first service provider to offer a "Web 2.0" IR website package. We'll be introducing eShareholderForum to PrecisionIR clients via a webinar with PrecisionIR in early-to-mid November. Stay tuned for more details! The world of IR websites is changing, and for the better. Companies truly interested in leveraging their IR websites to communicate and engage in a dialogue with shareholders and prospective shareholders can do it now.

Communicating With Shareholders During These Challenging Times

Stocks dropped today for the 8th straight trading day, and the Dow is down 25% over that period. The up and down swings in the market are enough to make any investor queasy, and no one knows where the bottom is. Now, more than ever, IROs need to be communicating with shareholders to let them know what is going on. The institutions have an IRO's ear already, so how does an IRO communicate effectively and efficiently to a large retail shareholder base?

There is no better time for companies with large and/or active retail shareholder bases to consider implementing Web 2.0 technology to engage in a dialogue. Electronic shareholder forums, in particular, are taylor made to help a company quickly communicate to large groups of shareholders. "Democratization" of shareholder information is available today through this technology. eShareholderForum (http://www.eshareholderforum.com) is a turnkey Shareholder Communications Platform that companies should strongly consider utilizing. Message boards, blogs, polling and Q&A all give retail shareholders an opportunity to find out from the company what is going on. No wonder there is so much interest!

iMiners to Present at NIRI SF Luncheon

On October 14 I'll be on a panel at the San Francisco NIRI luncheon, with the topic being "Electronic Shareholder Forums and Blogs". Joining me will be Abe Wischnia, IR Consultant for our first eShareholderForum client, Oxygen Biotherapeutics. This is a great opportunity for us to discuss the topic of e-forums to a wide audience of IROs in the Bay Area! For more details see: http://acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=168239

ev3, Inc. Goes Live with Press Releases By Type

ev3, Inc. is based in Plymouth, MN and uses Thomson Reuters for hosting their IR site. See iMiners' "Press Releases By Type" page seamlessly integrated into their site:
http://ir.ev3.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=189608&p=prtype

According to their IR home page: http://ir.ev3.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=189608&p=irol-irhome "Press Releases" are one of the most frequently visited sections of the site. So no surprise that ev3 immediately saw the value in having their news releases organized into categories.....

Compliance Week Writes About eShareholderForum

On September 23 there was a feature article in Compliance Week about electronic shareholder forums, and iMiners was featured prominently with several quotes. The story talked about how companies have been slow to adopt e-forums, but our position is that it just hasn't happened, yet! eShareholderForum was just announced 90 days ago, so many companies don't even know about us. But we know they are out there, companies who are looking for new ways to communicate with shareholders, but wondering HOW they'll do it? They are thinking of how they can possibly get internal tech resources to build something for them. But once they find out about eShareholderForum they will realize that their problem has been solved. eShareholderForum can immediately provide them with a turnkey solution: message boards, blogs, Q&A, and polling. And controls from an Admin interface to control who can post, ask questions, comment etc. There's no need for any company to try to build a solution. We've got you covered. Go to http://www.eshareholderforum.com for more information and to request a demonstration.

What Do the Lawyers Think of Electronic Shareholder Forums?

I enjoyed reading a recent article written by Brendan J. Radigan, a Partner at the law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge. It's titled "Is Social Networking With Shareholders Safe", and addresses head-on concerns that companies might have regarding setting up electronic shareholder forums. We've seen the SEC encouraging companies to implement e-forums, so now it is refreshing to see a legal opinion also promoting the benefits for companies and shareholders (while at the same time, advising companies of where they need to be cautious).

I especially like Brendan's conclusion: "If thoughtfully structured and operated, a public company's electronic shareholder forum could provide an exciting addition to its investor relations program. Promotion of social networking by, with and among shareholders could well provide a public company, particularly one operating in a fast-moving technology field, with an innovative and cutting-edge way of distinguishing itself from its peers and competitors."