To: san antonio group who wrote (7921 ) 10/16/1998 12:09:00 PM From: Scott Wheeler Read Replies (1) | Respond to
SAG+al 1) IMHO it was probably a mistake to "announce an announcement" Global should provide news when ready, and never when almost-ready-to. I am afraid this reflects a kind of caving in to thread-whining. [Dennis, if you're listening - next time don't be swayed by the frustrations of the squeeky wheels out here. SOMEBODY's gonna complain no matter WHAT you do or say]. 2) The handling of this appeared even more unpolished by the promising that the announcement would be posted this week and then having to retract that on advice of counsel. 3) Further, as has already been suggested, that advice may NOT be the best solution to the problem of narrow distribution that it attempted/purported to address, but instead may actually exacerbate disparities of when news is received by stockholders, since most of us keep it in the street/broker name. 4) I think this problem represents the growing pains of a company whose president has historically prided himself on being accessible to stockholders by telephone. We are used to the folksy, direct and most important - immediacy of having our questions answered forthwith. Both stockholders and company are understandably reluctant to part with this relationship [I know I am!], and I think the faltering of recent communication shows this ambivalence of not wanting to disappoint. If the relationship had never been folksy in the first place, it would have been easy for Global to just sit back and let stockholders whine. The problem, of course, is that both company & veteran stockholders have really enjoyed this contact. But the back fence, gossipy koffeeklatch method will have to be left behind, and Dennis' presence as a spokesperson is the strongest evidence for this. But we WANT Global to grow big and impersonal [and $$$], don't we? SW
