By Dominic Jones | Published: September 28, 2007 | 
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Are IROs really this dumb?
By Dominic Jones
“We are developing a new website and have decided not to use RSS,” she stated, arguing that a news feed could discourage investors from getting in direct contact, costing IROs the chance of building up two-way communication.
The above is taken from an item headlined UK IROs Cool on RSS that was posted on IR Magazine’s website on September 28, 2007. This was reportedly said by one investor relations officer at the magazine’s UK Think Tank (now there’s an oxymoron), where senior IROs are promised anonymity to talk freely about their profession.
So why doesn’t she stop using a regulatory news service? Why not stop talking to Bloomberg? Why have a website in the first place?
People like this, whose ignorance will lose their companies profile and increase their costs unnecessarily, give the IR profession a bad name.
The entire web industry is laughing right now. Personally, I’d like to know who the hell said such a stupid thing so I can send her a bill for cleaning the coffee off my monitor.
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September 28th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Unfortunately it could be any one of a couple of hundred IROs - ignorance is bliss amongst too many!
September 28th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Ignorance is bliss, but she’s on a different planet! Who is this?
October 9th, 2007 at 7:21 am
I find the tone and content of your article (and the comments above) offensive and unprofessional. So what if an IRO does not know what RSS is about - they have plenty of other things to worry about. And quite frankly, it is the communications advisors who should take a good long look at themselves - they clearly had an education role to play here and have failed miserably. In case you are wondering … here is how we tried to tackle it.
http://www.the-group.net/RSSVideo/rss.html
October 9th, 2007 at 8:46 am
Mark,
I was actually trying to be offensive and rude.
Frankly, I’ve given more to educating IROs than anyone else on the web. So when some idiot claims to have thought through the questions and decided that RSS is not a good idea, then I will call it what it is.
I refuse to make excuses for people like this. Anyone who excuses it is complicit. Including magazines that further such nonsense without thinking through the consequences.
How many IROs now think RSS is a bad idea after reading it in IR Magazine? And I can’t see how you can blame the consultants. They appear to have given her both sides of the story, but she chose to listen to only part of it. The part about giving up control and not knowing who is subscribed put her off.
That’s how I read it. And if just one IRO decides to Google RSS or view your video as a result of this post, I’ve done my job.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:10 am
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