A Challenging Year Behind Us

We realize that for many of you, 2014 was a challenging year, and it looks like 2015 will be as well. In such times you may be especially vigilant about closely monitoring your expenditures and allocating your resources wisely. I want to thank you for choosing to renew your CIRI membership and staying involved in our dynamic IR community.

The past year was challenging for CIRI as well. We continued to deliver the member benefits you have come to expect and we did so with lower membership dues and sponsorship contributions – a consequence of the tough economic climate.

In fact, we did even more than deliver the usual member benefits. We worked hard to introduce new initiatives – IR practice research, an IR eLibrary and free-to-member webinars – that, in our latest Member Needs Survey, you told us you wanted. By year-end we had: conducted our first survey, which was on guidance practices; launched the first phase of the IR eLibrary, with sample documents on marketing and disclosure contributed by your peers; and hosted two free-to-member webinars (still available via archived webcast). Now that’s member value!

What Can You Expect in 2015?

We still have the pedal to the medal. In 2015, we will continue to conduct meaningful surveys to identify IR practices and trends. You likely saw a request in late January for participation in our second survey, on Board-Shareholder engagement and governance practices. We will introduce subsequent phases of the IR eLibrary. The next phase will focus on documents on crisis communications and media relations. If you have documents to contribute, please send them to me. And we will host two free-to-member webinars during the summer.

To Make These Initiatives a Success, We Need Your Support

In order for these initiatives to be successful, we will need your help. When we issue the surveys, please take the few minutes required to complete them. When we ask for sample documents for the IR eLibrary, please contribute some of your own (and feel free to redact them). And when we host our free-to-member webinars, please participate. Together we can make CIRI membership even more relevant and valuable than it is today.