1.	The print version of the annual report to shareholders is passé, a relic headed for the bone pile. True or false? Answer: False, decidedly so. I fear you’ve been reading too many Sunday editions of The New York Times. Basing its opinion on some California college lecturer—in marketing, for goodness' sake. What trees does he plant? What’s a marketing person know about annuals, other than that he says he doesn’t base his investment decisions on the print report? Ignore false prophets, my mother used to say. I’m not sure, until now, I quite knew what that meant.
	2.	By and large, it’s the small companies that obfuscate in their annual reports. True or false? Answer: One would think so, but while small companies may have a slight edge in obfuscation, even the big guys deceive. Tenneco again this year and Phillips Petroleum are two that come to mind. Plus AT&T and Gannett. And then Informix, no great shakes from a size standpoint, rates plaudits for as forthright an approach as they come. Go figure.
	3.	If someone coming to your conference fouls up, you’re inclined to give him or her a pass, rather than place them in an embarrassing position. True or false? Answer: Sorry, false. In the August issue, we take to task the Engelhard annual for having the year’s hardest-to-read shareholder letter, and a new member of its communications staff is signed up to attend my 11th annual conference Sept. 16-18 in Atlanta. I remember a pioneer in the business who pleaded with me to "give me a pass this time; I promise my clients won’t mess up again!" My response: "If I give you a pass, you who certainly should know better, then I have to give everyone a pass. Then there’ll be no 10-worst list!"
	4.	Strange as it seems, the multi-part annual report theme is in vogue. True or false? Answer: Increasingly, companies are presenting a bifurcated, confusing approach, rather than one that’s tautly executed, that hews to a line, that makes navigating the annual report easy, straightforward, the document comprehensible. Typical is Carolina Power & Light. Its 1997 annual presents more theme lines than one cares to count. Only one will do nicely, thank you.
	5.	Honesty is at a record high—that is, among 1997 annuals. True or false? Answer: On the contrary: Honesty stands far too close to a near-record low—at 86% currently, meaning 14 of every 100 annuals don’t play straight with the facts. Lowest in the last decade: the 85% perceived honest among 1993 annuals. Most-honest year of the decade was 1995, when we assessed 91% of reports as forthright.