What a Novel Idea! (Actually, Not)
For the first time, Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting (held in Omaha this Saturday, April 30) will also be online.
Who could have predicted that?
Actually . . . yours truly.
More than 21 years ago.
Here’s an excerpt from my article in The New York Times:
“Electronic meetings have several advantages over the in-person version. Companies can dispense with the time and cost to rent a hotel ballroom, and to make and pay for executives’ travel, lodging, and all related arrangements. Meanwhile, all shareholders — not just meeting attendees — can participate, and will have more opportunity to communicate with each other as well.”
–Ross Kaplan, “Annual Meetings: Put Them On-Line”; The New York Times (10/16/1994).
Supplement . . . or Replacement?
Will online meetings ever replace the physical kind?
Here’s what I speculated back in 1994: “Of course, companies such as Wal-Mart and Berkshire Hathaway, where annual meetings are part of the corporate culture, may never want to phase them out.”
P.S. All that was (well) before my run as a Realtor 13 years ago. In the 1990’s, I was advising large, publicly-traded companies on how to use the Internet to communicate with shareholders, and editing a related publication called “Off-Line.”