Hey Jerry,
If there's a dip in the stock price and you decide to bail out,
I believe you will be in agony in the not too distant future.
Scan Graphics is just getting started.
I met the company's top people at their shareholders meeting last June.
They impressed me, especially CEO Andrew Trolio and Mike Mulshine. At
that meeting I acquired valuable insights into where this company is
heading. Since that day, a lot of very positive things have happened.
* They've acquired VERY impressive new executive talent.
* SCNG became S&P Reports stock of the week - as detailed in post #7 of this board.
* They've formed a business alliance with Oracle.
* They've formed a business alliance with ESRI.
* They got their first mapping contract with the US Forest Service.
* The first of a number of software products became available in December.
* And now their new COO Larry Osterwise is about to meet with numerous analysts?
In my opinion, it's way too early to sell. This is really a dynamic
new company which is at the beginning.
The GIS industry is changing. I attended the OpenGIS Symposium in
Washington DC last October to try to further grasp what the company is
involved in. My impression is that explosive growth in this industry
is nearing. A Netscape speaker compared GIS to the early days of the
internet. He said people would look at the internet and say "Oh, look
at that - researchers and scientist use it." And nobody could foresee
that in only a few short years, a ba-zillion different uses for the
net would be invented. He said that's how it's going to be with GIS -
a ba-zillion different uses we can't even imagine right now. What's
important for this industry to realize that potential is for the
OpenGIS Standard to be finalized. Microsoft just recently joined the
OpenGIS Consortium as a principal member. I think this recent development
improves the chances that the new industry standard can be created.
From what I have read, a vote on the final version of this standard
is scheduled for May. If that happens, then the real fun should begin.
Among the company's wildcards is the middleware they have been developing
for the standard. Only the tiniest traces of information about this has
been put in news items. It could be huge. I don't know? But, there are
also a number of other very positive things the company has going on.
Among them, the new Technology Resource Center subsidiary should be
starting up soon. Like Sedona, it is expected to become a major business.
At the shareholders meeting, they said the years of dramatic growth
would be 97 through 99, and I believe them. I am expecting surprises.
There have been times when I have guessed correctly that the share price
would go down. I considered selling everything, then scooping up my shares
at the lower price with a few extra. But I decided the stakes are just
too big for me to play that kind of game. There's no way I'm selling
anytime soon.
Tomorrow I'm attending a video conference for the Pennsylvania Mapping
& Geographic Information Consortium - a new organization that Sedona has
some involvement in. If I turn up anything interesting, I'll be glad to
report it.
Ed Ryder |
