For those planning for a virtual-only annual shareholders meeting, here are a non-exhaustive list of issues to consider (these also apply to hybrid meetings, which also have other issues to ponder given the in-person component of them):
- Can we conduct a dress rehearsal using the technology that we will use at the meeting – and if so, who do we realistically expect to show up for that – and how do we get stand-ins for those that don’t attend the rehearsal?
- What do we want our management presentation to look like and how do we ensure it’s compliant with Reg FD?
- Will we allow “guests” to attend the meeting who make such a request in advance? If so, how does that work?
- How do we distribute the Rules of Conduct and ensure all attendees have access to the Rules when we refer to them?
- If a technological snafu occurs, how will we communicate that to attendees? How will we communicate next steps, if we can’t resolve the snafu quickly?
- If there is a hacking issue, how will we handle that? How about a disturbance that is not quite a hack?
- How will members of management and the board – and the technology team running the meeting – communicate with each other during the meeting, particularly outside of the public eye if necessary?
- Will we allow questions to be asked live at the meeting – and if so, who will monitor the messages posted in our Q&A Forum or chat? Who will decide which ones we will respond to? How will we decide who is the best person to respond?
- How can we ensure that we provide adequate time for shareholder voting at the meeting as well as adequate time for Q&A?
- Will we announce the preliminary results of the vote at the conclusion of the meeting? How specific will we be about those results (e.g. passed vs failed or an estimate of voting levels)?
- How do we handle a shareholder proposal proponent that accidentally drops out of the meeting when it comes time to present and is unable to rejoin in a timely fashion? Or a shareholder proposal proponent who is not tech savvy and some tech knowledge is needed to make their presentation?
- How will we manage outside speakers (e.g., shareholder proposal proponents) that breach the Rules of Conduct?
- If expected speakers will be traveling, how do we best plan so that they will be able to access the meeting speak from their location at meeting time?
- Have we reserved a backup space(s) in case there is a problem with the primary location where are our speakers are located?
- For those speaking from that primary location, what should we do if the fire alarm or sprinkler system goes off and that impacts our backup locations as well?
Authored by
Broc Romanek