1.	All this talk about "Casual Fridays" aside, CEOs actually are getting stiffer, more formal—at least in the annual report to shareholders. True or false? Answer: False. I call the trend "Casual Everydays." CEOs, one of nine to be pictured in this year’s annuals, increasingly are "dressing down." They’re pictured jacketless or, in some instances, tieless, or in casual attire. Why? To convince us common folk that, chauffeured limousines and private enclaves aside, they’re no different than we are. Don’t you believe it.
	2.	People who attend your annual report conference tend to do a lot better than those of us who submit our reports "over the transom," as they say. True or false? Answer: False, the record shows. One attendee, with Cummins Engine, continues to do poorly—that is, her company’s annual hasn’t improved a whit, if at all. Two attendees, representing Manitowoc and Reuters, have attended several times. Yet their reports are excluded from consideration for Top 10 status because their companies omit women and minorities from the board of directors. It’s difficult, if not impossible, for even the most-talented annual report producer to overcome that hurdle.
	3.	Your scope—that is, the scope of your monitoring of reports—is pretty much limited to how well, or poorly, they score against your 15 copyrighted criteria. True? Answer: Well, yes and no. In the April issue of my newsletter, for instance, I hailed a report that did poorly, but whose graphic design impressed mightily: Low score aside, I praised the H.B. Fuller report for excelling in its photographs of officers and directors, and their reproduction and layout.
	4.	The newsmagazine approach in annuals—it came and went. No? Answer: No. It continues to be adapted by savvy companies that appreciate that an annual report should make an effort to be read as much, say, as a weekly or monthly magazine, or a daily newspaper. A year ago, among 1997 annuals, more than two in five appealed to an external audience. As a year ago at this time, three of 10 are taking that progressive stance.
	5.	All your talk about importance of themes in annual reports hasn’t really moved the industry all that much. True or false? Answer: False. I started advocating, with the 1987 crop, that annuals truly need a theme—to keep the production team on target throughout the six-month process, for one thing. For another: To provide a handle for the reader. Something to latch onto, from the outset—the report cover. That year, 27% of annuals worldwide had a theme—ideally, I say, declared on the cover. That rose rapidly within a year—to 41%, or two in five. Last year, among 1997s, the percentage was up to 71—more than seven in 10 annuals. Among early 1998s (by companies on a fiscal-year basis), it stands at two in three to feature a theme. So we’re making progress.