What happens when over a thousand IR professionals from around the world convene at an exotic locale to eat, drink, learn and network? Lots. Connections are made, questions are answered, friendships are forged and tactics are shared. It’s time for the Niri annual conference, the largest gathering of investor relations professionals in the world. This year the event is at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida.
As usual, the conference is jam-packed with informative sessions designed to suit the needs and interests of all IROs. Whether you’re a first-time attendee or a Niri conference veteran, you’re probably balking at the abundance and variety of sessions this year. It’s tough to choose with so many important subjects – from disclosure trends to optimizing your shareholder base – addressed in a myriad of breakout sessions. To help you choose, and to point out some of the other highlights of this year’s top IR think tank, we did some pre-conference digging to find out how to get the most out of the three-day event on June 8-11.
The conference is divided into general sessions attended by everyone and breakout sessions that run concurrently. Niri has conveniently grouped breakout sessions into five broad categories that are color-coded in a matrix in your conference program. It’s possible, if you want, to follow the same track of breakout sessions for the entire conference or you can mix things up and sample sessions from each category. You don’t have to sign up for breakout sessions in advance. It’s first come, first served, and most presentation rooms hold around 270 bodies comfortably, but for popular ones it’s recommended you show up early to get a seat.
Breakout sessions
– IR best practice
– Small cap challenges
– Interpreting today’s corporate challenges
– Delivering value
– IR leadership
If you are torn between different breakout sessions, don’t worry. Niri has devised a couple of ways to make all of the sessions available. All attendees get a CD-Rom containing all speaker handouts and your conference binder will also include handouts from concurrent sessions. And if you want to listen to any of the expert talks during your daily commute back home, you can buy audiotapes of each session. Niri is also exploring the possibility of archived audio webcasting of sessions and may even post a few breakout sessions on the web.
Niri has included a broad variety of sessions this year to help attendees soak up information about the current and future state of IR. ‘Our folks have been through a very difficult year and half,’ says Linda Kelleher, senior vice president of professional development and executive director of Niri’s Senior IR Roundtable.
‘What we have tried to communicate with this conference is that there is an even broader role for IR in the future in areas of governance, financial reporting, etc,’ Kelleher describes. ‘It’s a very tough and demanding job but there are also new things happening that will help shape how you do IR in the future.’
‘This is a very challenging time for IR professionals because we are all implementing Sarbanes-Oxley, the economy is very sluggish, IR budgets are in some cases cut or severely challenged, we have continued executive scandals and now we have Regulation G [the reconciliation of Gaap to non-Gaap financial measures],’ says Jim Ryan, vice president of investor relations at Lockheed Martin and co-chair of this year’s Niri conference.
‘One thing people can get out of the conference is the tools they need to address these issues. This is a time when the IR profession is growing in importance and senior executive management is looking to IROs to be more value-added management partners,’ Ryan comments.
With that in mind, check out this handy guide to this year’s conference. Have fun, enjoy and don’t forget to book your massage at the spa.
Best sessions for foreign IROs
With the number of attendees from outside the US growing each year, Niri has included several sessions that cater to non-US issuers. A must-attend for foreign IROs is a portfolio roundtable looking at how non-US companies can attract US investors (Tuesday, June 10 at 4 pm).
Best small-cap sessions
There is a whole category of breakout sessions dedicated to the needs of investor relations professionals from small or micro-cap companies. If that’s you, it might not be a bad idea to follow the whole track of breakouts because they cover everything from budgeting on a shoestring to building bridges to the buy side
Best all-star panel
Though you might be tempted to hit the pool, don’t miss the closing panel on Wednesday morning. Lou Thompson will moderate a discussion with two media stars and two financial heavyweights on the future of investor relations ranging from communication to behavior in the securities markets. Paul Kangas, anchor of PBS’s Nightly Business Report, and Consuelo Mack, co-anchor of CNBC’s Market Watch, will join John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group and Lisa Shalett, CEO of Sanford C. Bernstein. So don’t skip out early.
Best way to catch up on accounting news
On Monday at 2.15 pm there’s a breakout session on interpreting the latest accounting trends and regulations. This is the best way to get up-to-date on what the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has been working on over the last year and also hear from Ernst & Young, one of the big four accounting firms.
Best way to bond with fellow IROs
You’ll meet lots of people and exchange ideas during the day but only when the sun goes down will you really connect with your IR peers. There are a number of great extracurricular events this year. Among them, LaBranche & Co is hosting a Cirque du Soleil-themed cocktail reception and Nasdaq is taking everyone off-site to SeaWorld for a private show. Be sure to attend the welcoming reception on Sunday where Thomson Financial is going to make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for every person in attendance. Thomson is also hosting a Make-A-Wish reception and is organizing a silent auction at Sunset Sam’s at the Gaylord Palms where you can bid on all kinds of cool things.
Best way to see what’s out there
The exhibition hall has over 120 IR service providers showing their wares. It’s a good place to learn about what’s out there in terms of products and services for the IR market. This is the most concentrated gathering of service providers you’ll ever find so take the opportunity to contrast and compare different firms.
Best session for newbies
If you’re new to investor relations, keep Sunday afternoon clear for the IR Essentials workshop, including everything from learning how to write a compelling presentation to identifying key performance measures. The program begins with a checklist IR professionals can use to set up a new program and a job description for IROs. This is definitely a good idea for new IROs but even veteran IR professionals starting a new position might want to attend to find out what they should be including in their new IR program.
Best way to move ahead
Since a lot of attendees have been in the IR business for more than a decade (or three), Niri has formatted a number of sessions to suit the needs of experienced IROs. Under the category of IR leadership, these sessions veer away from the traditional presentation followed by Q&A-type format and offer a series of guided discussions on higher-level issues like adding new responsibilities to the IR role and keeping a seat at management’s table. Also included in this category is a senior IR roundtable featuring IR professionals with ten-plus years of experience.
Best way to impress your CEO
You shouldn’t miss Tuesday’s session on financial metrics that investors use to value your company, part of the Delivering Value category of breakout sessions. Representatives from Bear Stearns and Standard & Poor’s are among those presenting. This session provides a great opportunity to arm yourself with useful facts to feed back to your CEO on Thursday morning when you arrive back from the conference – a little more tanned and possibly a lot more knowledgeable than when you left.
Best place to escape to
The Gaylord Palm Resort has a Canyon Ranch spa with fitness classes, spiritual workshops, massages, facials and more. When you arrive you’ll get a list of classes – from kickboxing to pilates (some have a fee). Or for a complete getaway, book a massage. The Gaylord also has a childcare center so you can leave the kids behind and hit the whirlpool.
