The year 2000 heralded a new era for Investor Relations magazine with the launch of our successful international conferences. After modest beginnings with just two conferences in San Francisco and Frankfurt, the series grew in 2001 to eight conferences worldwide, and nine the year after. 2003 will be bigger than ever with nine conferences already planned, and discussions for others underway.
This year, as well as conferences in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South Africa and the UK, Investor Relations magazine conferences are moving into new territory with an event planned in Ireland, and with the Central and Eastern Europe conference to be held in Warsaw for the first time.
The success of the conferences may be a result of their innovative style. Compared to the dull PowerPoint-style presentations that many conferences rely on, IR magazine conferences have the reputation for being entertaining as well as informative. In fact, ordinary PowerPoint presentations are practically banned and, instead, we organize audience participation, debates and networking lunches. At some conferences we present virtual panel discussions with IROs from around the world joining the discussion without leaving their desks.
Highlights from some of last year’s conferences included game- show formats for the UK conference in London, and a live video link-up to IROs in Europe at the Australian conference in Sydney. Plans for this year include equipping all audience members at the UK conference with microphones, and having follow-up webcasts with winners of some of the Investor Relations Magazine Awards discussing with the sponsors of their awards exactly why they succeeded. These webcasts will then be posted onto IR magazine’s web site, IRontheNet.com, and onto the sponsors’ web sites, so other companies can learn from their achievements.
The launch of Investor Relations conferences worldwide has provided the IR audience with a chance to educate themselves about new industry services and to get practical advice and information from a wide range of experts. They’re also a great networking opportunity. The discussion sessions are an occasion for IROs to learn how investor relations practices work within their peer companies in their own country and overseas. The feedback we get tells us that our conferences are better attended, better organized, and contain content superior to anything else comparable.
The international nature of the conferences is a crucial part of their success, providing a forum for companies to communicate their issues to a global audience. According to Nick Williams, managing director of College Hill South Africa, the main sponsor of the Investor Relations South Africa conference, ‘The communication of this country’s prospects as well as the corporate prospects is extremely important; the conference gives us a chance to do just that.’
Katrina Tai, a director at Standard & Poor’s, who will be speaking at this year’s China conference, agrees, adding, ‘The conference is a fantastic chance to discuss developments in the global IR environment at the same time as addressing issues related to Chinese companies.’
But IR magazine is not resting on its laurels, 2003 will see the conferences building on their reputation as unmissable events for those involved in the IR world. With five continents already covered by Investor Relations conferences, it only leaves an Antarctica conference to be arranged before the whole world has a chance to be involved (penguin suits mandatory).
Click here for more information on upcoming Investor Relations magazine events in 2003
