SHM. You'll all get to see and hear it later, so I'm not going to address stuff that you'll see, but pay particular attention to the discussion of Russian deal and a down payment. Fascinating, as the fiasco could have been avoided if for not the AMEX insisting the PR be released as soon as the contract was signed. Also don't miss the fact that by the end of this month we will have two profitable divisions, Centerline and StratVoip.
I am more interested in one on one impressions of people and will try to convey what I felt about each of the employees, managers and directors I had a chance to converse with, to hopefully give you some color insight into their personalities.
Great meeting Logan, btw.
Tim Huff- Rigidly focused on the task at hand, and how he sees the vision gelling. Very, very fixed in his plan and planning. He does not believe in patents, which none of technology has, and I find that a bit discomforting and disagree wholeheartedly with his position on this, as I hold two US and foreign patents and it has protected an income stream for me for years as a result. He is totally inflexible on this issue. His philosophy is to take the high ground quickly with all the divisions and their tech, so the competition can't get a foothold. We'll see.
He is also inflexible on the Publicity front, which I raised with him after the meeting as a way to build shareholder value via awareness in trade and business publications. He says as a public company they are hand tied as to how much drum beating they can do. I can't argue against that kind of logic, so I dropped it. He claims we have been in a dozen trade journals.
Very eloquent engaging speaker, sense of humor, handled the hardball questions admirably, and I would send him everytime to speak to institutional investors. Admits his mistakes, the most shining quality, and is determined to learn from them, improve and not make them twice.
Calls himself a "shareholder, underneath all the hats" and is very aware of the share price.
Rob Bleckman- Sincere, very likeable fellow. Truly has our best interests at heart and pushes every chance he gets to further our cause and make a case for the common shareholder. Very funny guy in person. ASIDE...Sybille is no longer w/ the company. Did not ask why.
Bob Jones- A hoot. Now here is a man who really has a nose on the grindstone. Thank goodness, because I came away with a much clearer picture of how extraordinarily complicated getting the "Blimp" aloft is taking, and did not mind being told "mid-July" as a result. Terrifically candid speaker. Guy you'd want to have a drink with.
Jon Leinwand- Very approachable for an attorney (just kiddin). Really has a thumb on the things management can and can't say, but very open to expanding when he can. I did get a clarification from him on the Executive Stock Option Plan. The 2004 plan he admits is poorly written and very confusing. The 50% below market price on closing to exercise their options ONLY applied to the 2004 Dec option grants, which were all exercised in Jan 2005 at .675 as the price of the stock was above 1.35 a share. Dec 2005 grants, and Dec 2006 grants will all be exercisable at .675 a share.
Mr Dumas- My favorite person. This man is phenomenal. Unbelievably solidly grounded and very down to earth. I am extremely happy he is chairmen of our board. I spoke with him before the meeting and after the meeting one on one. Before the meeting I opined that the company had come 360 since the Russian "fiasco" were his words, and we were right back to the very reason I invested in Aug 2004..the Strat, as being the lynchpin that gels the whole company together and makes it go. He said," No, I believe that the whole future of this comapny in terms of real profitablity hinges on the Wireless division. And we are this close (as he held his two fingers an inch apart) and you won't have to wait long to realize this."
On shareholder relations. "I see my job as primarily helping management to better communicate the progress of this comapny to its common shareholders in a more timely manner. Recently, and since the Russian fiasco, manangement has taken a pendulum swing too far to the extreme in isolating the investment community. My intent, and it started with last Friday's PR, is to right this situation into a more reasonable middle ground. The ground between too many promises and PR's and None."
At the end of the meeting we walked out together and I told him how happy and relieved that he had become the Chairman. He said, " I will be shocked if this company does not become a multi-billion dollar enterprise in the near term." To which I said, Sir that would make a lot of people very happy. His final remark was,
"Especially me!"
A man I'd dine with anytime.
m
PS. The disappointment for me was I was lead to believe from Rob that most of our questions we spent so much time over would be answered in Huff's presentation. Unless asked in the Q and A they were not.
Before dawn there is darkness.
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