What's friendship got to do with it? Three years ago at this time, I devoted a Blue Plate Special—since succeeded by Sid's Soapbox monthly—to the subject, "Friendship, friendship—does it matter a whit?" That is, where the evaluation, and ranking, of annual reports to shareholders is concerned. All consultants ("writer" is the first word I come up with to describe what I do; then, "advisor to corporations worldwide") walk a fine line between independence and the industry in this case they sit in judgment on. So it is with Sid Cato and the annual report industry. As I wrote three years ago, "Does friendship matter where judging of annual reports is concerned?" That is, does friendship figure in to my evaluation—now in its 20th year—of the world's key corporate communiqué? Does Sid Cato, like the New York-based PR firm, take huge sums of money from those he praises? Charge extra for trophies, mounted scrolls, photos of awards being presented, and the like? Or, in our case, demand payment for featured position in my monthly Newsletter on Annual Reports? As I wrote previously: A quartet of companies during 1997 retained me to critique their annuals, a critique running more than 70 pages in length, and encompassing 23,450 words—or more. (And consuming upwards of three weeks of my time.) Three of them—SPX, Tenneco and Armstrong World Industries—made the year's list of world's worst. Worst. Texaco's report came dangerously close. Tenneco's CEO—long since apprised by Wall St. as an incompetent ("couldn't even sell off his companies" huffed one analyst)—rode to the hounds on weekends with my then-editor of Chief Executive, since departed—my editor, as well as Tenneco's CEO. One to make the list, Outboard Marine Corp. (now niftified as OMC), was produced by a Chicago-based graphic design agency oft-hailed for the high quality of its work: Meta-4, Inc. Monsanto for years was hailed for quality of its print piece; in fact, a decade ago, it hired me to come to St. Louis to deliver a first-person critique. What's more, a member of its AR team attended at least one of my annual International Annual Report Conferences—1992 at New Orleans. And, if memory serves correct, spoke at one such conference. Also, its CEO was a member of Chief Executive's editorial advisory board. Yet, it, too, has joined the list of world's worst. (Monsanto no longer exists as a publicly held company, having been acquired by Pharmacia. Cato absolute: Show me a St. Louis-based company whose CEO makes his headquarters in Chicago and I'll show you a company on the block.) A steel company was at or near the top for years. (It's no longer independent.) But I advised its producer to rely on quality of his product—"and quit bugging me." It seemed that every time I turned around he was irritating me in some manner or other. Despite which, let the record show, his report remained at or near the top. If I played favorites, the world's best reports would include Wells Fargo, Deere & Co. and any produced by New York-based Inc Design. Or by Houston's Jerry Herring, or Chicago's Meta-4. But that's not the reality hereabouts. Despite what folks may suspect.

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