1.	Several years back, you took IBM to task for its annual report on CD-ROM. You also widely publicized your disappointment with its Aptiva computer. Now, though, they’re on your good side. True or false? And, if so, how come? Answer: False, to my way of thinking, since they never were on my "bad side," criticism aside. Reputable, responsible journalists don’t play favorites; we call ’em as we see ’em. When the very first IBM annual on CD-ROM was flawed, I said so. When I found its Aptiva computer wanting, I said so. And when its annual report on the company’s website warranted praise, IBM got it—on Pg. 1 of my newsletter. Just now, I hailed (again, on Pg. 1) its 1998 report on the IBM website (though its deficiencies are duly noted as well), not least, for its translation of the letter to shareholders into seven foreign languages.
	2.	On the subject of "annual report websites," you’ve changed your position. True or false? Answer: Not in the least. So that’s false. I still maintain there is no such entity as an annual report website. Of course, there are annuals one—with luck, and the skill of an intrepid explorer—can locate on a corporation’s site. But there’s no company’s annual report website as such. Only annual report website I know of is—mine! Sid Cato’s Official Annual Report Website®.
	3.	You talk about people returning to your annual conference, but the fact is it’s only women who don’t get it on their first visit because you’re purposely oblique, obtuse. True or false? Answer: False. In the March 2000 issue of my monthly newsletter, five returnees are listed—persons who’ve attended previous Cato conferences. All are men. Granted, DTE Energy’s Lonnie Ross, who is returning for my Conference in the Millennium this fall in San Francisco, first was at San Francisco 11 years earlier—at my second annual annual report conference. And Addison Corporate Annual Reports’ Nancy A. Fuller, who says she hopes to attend this fall, was at our very first conference—in New York City, back in 1988!
	4.	You’re rather harsh on some CEOs. But wouldn’t you be the first to admit you sometimes go overboard? True or false? Answer: False. I’m proudest that (knock on wood) I have yet to unfairly attack a truly good CEO. One who’s honest, who doesn’t play games with earnings, choosing to ignore the reality and in essence taking the position, "I and I alone determine what truth is." One such, the boss of Anacomp, is taken to task in my March 2000 issue. Invariably, when I find a loose-with-the-truth CEO, I know he or she either is going to get his or her comeuppance, or the company will go on the auction block, for instance. In Anacomp’s case, the company now is reported to be "exploring selling or merging." Gee, and I was almost convinced it really was doing as well as the boss said.
	5.	There aren’t really any truly creative types out there, people who can come up with a memorable theme rather than the usual drivel. True or false? Answer: False. Take Harcourt General, its design delightful (credit one Nuforia, New York-based; check out Nuforia’s website), its theme, "Caleb’s Conundrum," memorable. I found equally superb its year-earlier theme: "Where is the little red schoolhouse today?" (The answer: "It’s everywhere.") Nearly three in four companies so far this year (that is, among 1999 reports) are using a theme—some, granted, better than others. Still, there’s talent galore out there. What it takes is inspired men or women with a vision.