1.	You poke fun at Tenneco, Inc., for its seven blank pages in the 1997 annual report, but wasn't that done intentionally to save money? True or false, hot shot! Answer: True, at least the company's executive vice president swears tons of dough were saved by running seven pages blank save for 16 horizontal rules and the word "Notes" on each. But you'll never find anyone else, other than that stalking horse for the CEO and his ill-advised-if-terribly-talented graphic designers, who'll buy that story. That's a case, pure and simple, of unconscionably poor planning. Amateur night at the races, I label it.
	2.	Graphic artists don't actually have any control over the score a company receives. True or false? Answer: While their responsibility is a report's appearance and the readability their talents help insure, the good agencies advocate many (if not all) of Sid Cato's copyrighted (since 1984) criteria. To be sure, if I'm to succeed at getting more companies to sign off on my standards, it'll depend on the degree of support provided by the likes of Chicago's Meta-4, Atlanta's Critt Graham + Associates, Houston's Herring Design, New York City's Conceptual Communications.
	3.	Once someone attends your annual conference, there's no need for them to return. True or false? Answer: False, it appears. One chap, Sweden's Bengt Hane, attended as early as the 1992 conference in New Orleans, likely will be back in N.O. next fall, Sept. 15-17, 1999, at the Omni Royal Orleans. That's on the edge of the city's famed French Quarter. Steven Khail of Manitowoc will be there. He first attended a Cato conference in Chicago, back in 1990. Critt Graham himself attended last year and this, already is signed for New Orleans, as is his VP, Rob Kennedy. Silver Communications' Renée Zoldessy was at Minneapolis three years ago, likewise is returning. MDU Resources' Cathi Christopherson was at Baltimore, back at Atlanta this last time.
	4.	Be honest: There aren't sufficient annual reports for you to evaluate in Kalamazoo—or, even the entire State of Michigan—to keep you busy. True or false? Answer: Unequivocally true! But I don't limit myself to Kalamazoo, or Michigan reports. I see annuals from the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, from Finland to Sweden, the U.K., Kenya, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Germany, the Czech Republic—you name it. That's of course in addition to growing numbers from our neighbors, Canada and Mexico (the latter a hotbed of annual report activity).
	5.	Few of the reports you analyze are from abroad -- other than the United States, Canada or Mexico. True or false? Answer: You decide if it's false: More than ever before, the non-United States report has occupied a prominent place in our evaluations. We strove, year after to year, to get more non-U.S. reports in our competition. This year (the 1997 crop of reports), one in six or 17% is from elsewhere in the world. That's a pretty fair representation, I'd say.