Blogging for directors

If you are not convinced that, as a board, your communication with shareholders is up to scratch perhaps the answer lies in starting your own internet blog – an idea starting to gain some traction in the US.

Board/shareholder communication is often a hit and miss affair and the idea behind a director blog is to create the means for better interaction and communication.

The AGM, the annual report and even a website are limited in their ability to communicate with shareholders on a regular basis.

A directors’ blog would be an inexpensive, technically simple, but highly honest way for people to interact and dialogue on the web under a set of accepted rules. Blogging sites include features that can give corporate boards a direct link to the desktops of people who care about the company, regardless of how many shares they own.

Blogging is a more honest and inclusive way of communicating on the web because it is difficult for any one party to dominate the discourse. Shareholders would be able to comment on web postings by directors and other commentators. They would also be able to post comments on their own blogs and have these linked from the board’s blog. Anyone with a right to have their say as a shareholder would have an opportunity to do so.

A board blog is like an electronic Town Hall, something recommended by former SEC chair Richard Breeden in his report on WorldCom and now being implemented by the renamed MCI. Except that with a blog, the board has a perpetual online meeting. It can call together shareholders at any time to seek input or inform them of important developments at the board level.

It’s a highly effective way for boards to keep shareholders informed of what they are doing at a negligible annual cost. The full director blog story is at:

http://www.irwebreport.com/perspectives/2005/boardblogs1.htm