On the Home Front; Home Offices On the Rise; PR Sure to Be Part of Trend
PR executives venturing out on their own likely will establish offices at home, according to a new survey. Watch out, however, that you approach this move with business, not just creative, savvy. The latter often creates financial woes down the line.
CDB Research & Consulting Inc., a subsidiary of PR agency Creamer Dickson Basford, New York, reports that one in five American households has a home office, a trend expected to continue. The study indicates people in home offices are most likely to be well-educated and male. But those findings are beginning to shift.
Results also show:
- 15 percent of people over 55 have home offices;
- 28 percent with home offices are baby boomers;
- Nearly 25 percent of Gen Xers (those 21 to 34) have a home office;
- 29 percent of middle-income Americans have home offices; and
- 33 percent of the affluent (those with incomes over $75,000) have home offices.
CDB polled 400 adults over 18 by phone in February. (CDB, 212/367-6815)
On the IR Front; SEC's Approval of Internet Road Show Positive for IR
The investor relations profession recently received a promising sign when the Securities and Exchange Commission approved Internet-based road shows to expedite how institutions court investors.
Although the SEC decision isn't a widespread ruling, according to SEC documents obtained by PR NEWS it does signal one way technology is facilitating the IR process.
The SEC has permitted Net Roadshow, Inc. to provide online videos and tapings of demonstrations by companies and underwriters for securities under SEC Rule 144. That stipulation allows issuers to sell securities to pensions and mutual funds without first registering with the SEC, a typical requirement.
The SEC's decision to allow Net Roadshow, Inc. content to be relayed by the Internet is based on provisions of SEC Rule 144A, which governs Qualified Institutional Buyers, referred to as QIBs, and representing organizations such as pensions and mutual funds.
Terms of the regulation:
- The company obtain from each seller confirmation that the seller is a QIB;
- The offering to which the Rule 144A road shows applies isn't subject to registration under the Securities Act;
- Only QIBs will have access to password-restricted areas; and
- The company will maintain a Web site and passwords will expire no later than the termination of the offering. (SEC, 202/942-0020)
Foreign Buzz: News About Korea More Slanted Than Coverage About Japan
For those specializing in communications in the Asian markets, it's crucial for you to know how media coverage as well as public opinion differs from country to country and to benchmark those perceptions. If you're trying to move the needle on customer preference for products/companies, this isn't a maybe. It's a must.
TV networks vary widely about how Korea and Japan are portrayed in the news, according to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication's July synopses of research papers which will be presented Aug. 7 in Baltimore. Stories about Japan showed diversity in themes and were more balanced, while stories focusing on Korea showed a lack of diversity and had a strong emphasis on crisis versus positive happenings.
(AEJMC, 803/777-2005)