Let the Good Times Roll with XBRL

“Tony, I need 400 words on XBRL. Make it funny, whimsical and entertaining.”

Sure. Right after I put the finishing touches on my new sci-fi / romantic comedy / musical sensation, “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner on Holiday in Cambodia” (you’ll laugh and cry, and that’s just when you buy the tickets).

Something must be up with this thing, though, because it has gotten to the point where random people have been stopping me in the streets lately and asking, “Tony, what exactly is XBRL and what does it mean to me?” Why just yesterday, a beautiful woman with flowing brunette locks approached me. Before she could get a word out, I said, “Yes, yes. eXtensible Business Reporting Language. I know, this thing is really gaining momentum!” She looked at me and asked in broken English, “Is this…how you say…Empire State Building?” Clearly she was impressed.

Truth be told, my knowledge on this subject matter is limited, but because the XBRL train is leaving the station, I decided to hop an Amtrak train that was leaving the station and head someplace where no good New Yorker should ever go: Boston.

Deep in Red Sox Nation is where I summon a Goliath of information named David Comeau, whose knowledge of XBRL is rivaled only by his utter disdain for the Yankees and Manhattan Clam Chowder (“a made-up soup,” is what he claims).

I open the conversation with some friendly banter. “So how ‘bout those Mets?”

Dave grimaces. It’s a fingernails screeching across a chalkboard moment. He responds with a deadpan, “I know you didn’t come up here to talk about lousy New York baseball. What’s really on your mind, Anzivino?”

“Dave," I say, “I know about a lot of stuff, but XBRL is not one of them. Can you give me a synopsis on what this is and why it is such a hot topic?”

“An uncharacteristically excellent question,” Dave retorts while clearly mispronouncing every letter “R” with Beantown flair. “XBRL, as you know, is an acronym for eXtensible Business Reporting Language. It’s Interactive Data. In short, XBRL is going to help investors match risk and return information. It will give people the opportunity to compare two or more funds, side-by-side, and get an apples-to-apples snapshot on performance in an easy to read form. It will also help companies prepare the data more quickly and accurately. Most importantly, it has been mandated by the SEC for January 2011.”

“Ah, I’m starting to see the light here, David.” I say, jumping on a follow-up question. “But what will Shareholder Communications firms like Merrill bring to the party?”

“It’s all in the 'tagging.'” Dave confidently confides. “Data becomes interactive when it’s labeled using computer markup language. The markup languages use standard sets of definitions - or taxonomies - to enable the automatic extraction and exchange of data. Merrill provides the experience and knowledge of tagging and filing in XBRL that will be quite helpful to our clients with this new rule.”

As I nod my head and start to truly believe New Yorkers and Bostonians might be able to agree on something, David ruins it by saying, “it is, what we call up here, ‘wicked-cool.’”

I walked away from my conversation with David with a much better understanding of XBRL and the belief that it is a topic that will be discussed a great deal leading up to the January 2011 mandate.

I know now that XBRL is very real and here to stay…not unlike this delicious bowl of Manhattan clam chowder (sorry Dave).

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Tony Anzivino hails from the greatly misunderstood state of New Jersey. He's worked in Financial Shareholder Communications world from the age of 12, starting with Janitorial duties at his Father's firm. He likes biking, hiking and ketchup.

Beating the Sort

Ah, spring is in the air. Overcoats slip into hibernation; the lone 3 trees in NYC start budding; subways emit that uncatogorifiable funk of the highest standard, but most importantly, attitudes change from winter gloom to spring perkiness (walking through Times Square, I actually got some smiles as opposed to the usual hand signals known as 'sweet urban charm').

It is a time of rejuvenation, which brings me to my point.

When I got home tonight, my mail, as usual, was shoe-horned into the box like Shakira in a dance outfit. Catalogs were abundant:

• International Auto Parts (good start)
• CB2 (ok, kinda cool)
• Harry and David (I need another Tower of Treats before beach season like I need higher taxes)
• Solutions (my wife loves this catalog and I have a closet full of the stuff to prove it)
• Winter Silks (ugh!!)
  
• Walter Drake (Bunion Remover? C’mon. Really?)

As I was flipping through the stacks of glossy pages, it occurred to me that between the printed pieces that come via Pony Express and the electronic messages that abound on my PC, I get the feeling that people might just be trying to take advantage of all the loveliness of the season and everyone’s good spirits to “reach out.”

For the marketing-inclined, it’s probably a good time to give all that material a thoughtful look to see what compels, what motivates the motor action of your delete button finger, or spiral hand-off to the rubbish bin:

• Is the information fresh, or yesterday’s news?
• Has the piece been personalized and does it speak to you, or do you scratch your head wondering how the heck they got your address?
  
• Is the contact information clear and concise or frustrating?
• Is there any information that’s actually useful?
  

Thank goodness for sharp Marketing Wizards that not only know how to reach out, but to actually touch someone and make a real difference. You might not think about it, but the wealth of knowledge at the fingertips of a quality Compliance and Marketing Document Solutions partner can be a solid source of all the hot solutions and communications marketing avenues your firm can take full advantage of. You might want to call them and pick their brain. Many times, it’s that one, small additional idea that can pole-vault a good campaign from silver, over the top to Olympic Gold.

Now I’m looking through the Dr. Leonard’s Healthcare catalog. Jumbo Bath-Handle Grip, Amazing 30-Second Hair Transplant, Miracle Magnetic Bracelet and Ultra Blue Foot cream are all looking pretty good to me…

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Tony Anzivino hails from the greatly misunderstood state of New Jersey. He's worked in Financial Shareholder Communications world from the age of 12, starting with Janitorial duties at his Father's firm. He likes biking, hiking and ketchup.

Take my documents....please

FADE IN

INT. NEW YORK CITY OFFICE BUILDING – LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON

A CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE stares out the window as a blizzard covers the city. She is preparing to go home when the PHONE RINGS. She answers.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REP
Hello?

MARTINDALE HUBBELL

(in a hurried, stressed voice)

This is Martindale Hubbell from Allister, Michaels and Crouch. I’m sending over 50 pages of heavily marked changes and 35 riders…in Cantonese. I need them back QTA. We want to file by 5:30 tonight.

Now, for many, three responses spring to mind:

1. “On what planet?”


2. “Define heavily marked?”


3. “Well I want a party with ice cream cake and a pony.”

But for a seasoned Customer Service Rep, this exactly what a great compliance print partner does every day. She responds with unshakable confidence,

CUSTOMER SERVICE REP
(calmly)
We are on it. Happy to be of assistance.

While this is an extreme circumstance, it doesn't mean it can't happen, and to better understand why the solution is possible, let’s hitch a ride with the document.

First, it arrives in Customer Service with the polish of a new comedian full of new ideas, but unsure how to present. (“Good Evening, Ladies and Germs. I just flew in from Boston and boy are my arms tired!”)

The Customer Service professional will take the document (this particular piece bears a slight resemblance to Shecky Green), which brings with it a mix of electronic files (knock-knock jokes), hard copy (limericks) and various riders (puns) and starts the rigorous process of “prepping for primetime.”

First, everything gets printed out. With precision, all the data is reviewed, poked and prodded. The Rep makes sure that the most current data has been submitted, and everything matches (or, to keep with the analogy, rewrite the material, make sure it makes sense and is topical).

They then open a cycle on their job control system, a complex integrity tracking platform program that follows every twist, turn, edit, and style change over the life of said document (like developing a ‘bit’ to get it from just a few chuckles to a full-on knee-slapper).

Once all this is done, it is time to take the show on the road to different “clubs” to make sure the whole routine is put together properly and works. Composition reviews the materials and breaks down the work between various Typesetters for the fastest execution turn times. The data is then converted, making it “Typesetter-friendly.” They implement the changes, the style, the EDGAR conversion to circumnavigate the jungle of thousands of type fonts.

Finally, the files are sent back to Customer Service where yet another QC check is completed before the electronic proofs are distributed to the working group…just in the nick of time, before the SEC filings need to be transmitted.

Like comedy, there is a lot more to this craft of document development than what most folks go through when they open Microsoft Word. So, in a world where composition ‘don’t get no respect,’ a little illumination on the process can help us all understand that what might seem like a walk in the park, is actually a painstakingly cautious tip-toe through a minefield.

You've been a great audience, and don’t forget to tip your bartenders.

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Tony Anzivino hails from the greatly misunderstood state of New Jersey. He's worked in Financial Shareholder Communications world from the age of 12, starting with Janitorial duties at his Father's firm. He likes biking, hiking and ketchup.

What to Print, (or not to Print): That is the Question

Print quantity forecasting can be much like the delicate art of applying one’s make-up in a moving vehicle.

Whereas I’ll have to defer to my lovely wife on face-paint in motion (was that a collective sigh of relief?), I’ve navigated the high-speed print highways a time or two.

Print too little, you find yourself scheduling a re-print, usually creating an uncomfortable phone exchange with a higher authority. Produce too many and redundant materials end up getting the highly unpopular heave-ho. In other words, a few rapid accelerations, some hard braking maneuvers, a quick left or right and you’re pretty much going to look like Coco The Clown…on a hot, humid day…in a monsoon. It’s not a good look. I’m just sayin’.

In compliance mailings, your guides will be Shareholder Lists, Marketing, Sales or maybe your friendly neighborhood Proxy Solicitor. This isn’t to say that they’ll all agree with one another. To make matters worse, with the SEC’s new Summary Prospectus rules, you’ll have to dig even deeper into your files to identify who is invested in what.

A Shareholder Communications service provider worth their salt should be able to work with you to learn your identifiers and assist you in making sure you’re getting an accurate picture of the numerical landscape.

In today’s marketing, you’ll also want to consider a digital Print-on-Demand platform – a great innovation for creating marketing pieces on the fly. Inventory issues disappear like that one-pound massive chocolate bar with almonds that you hid under some canned asparagus deep in the back of the pantry, but your wife found and savored with reckless abandon (obviously this hit me harder than I thought if I’m writing about it. I got like one bite out of that thing).

Affordable, high quality digital print, once considered a myth, with the right page counts and quantities, is giving a serious run to the long-standing king, four color process printing.
So … start with the foundation before your get into eye shadow and lipstick …

Better still, educated forecasting and clear communications with your working group, along with a helping hand from your Compliance Printing partner can go a long way to hitting your print quantities with accuracy and consistency .

And, don’t fear the unknown, become more familiar with the vast capabilities of Digital Print on Demand. It can only benefit you and your team.

Lastly, if you’ve found a real good hiding spot for chocolate, please let me know.

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Tony Anzivino hails from the greatly misunderstood state of New Jersey. He's worked in Financial Shareholder Communications world from the age of 12, starting with Janitorial duties at his Father's firm. He likes biking, hiking and ketchup.

Hindsight & the SEC

The official role of the Securities and Exchange Commission is to execute seven major laws that govern the securities industry.

While that is a simple sentence to write, the sentiment behind it is anything but, mostly because those seven laws cover a broad range of areas that often meet at the crossroads of ‘careful insight’ and ‘decisive action.' Determining which should take precedence is somewhat of a gray area.

Two recent news items represent a perfect example:

This week, Harry Markopolos, the Bernie Madoff whistleblower, will release his new book "No One Would Listen" which tells the inside story of how he uncovered the $65 billion fraud. In it, he targets the SEC for their inaction. Here is how the Huffington Post is reporting it:

“Markopolos wields a bludgeon when it comes to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which effectively ignored his several complaints about Madoff, even after he provided the agency with detailed files of his findings. He goes into detail to describe his frustrating encounters with SEC employees, who usually didn't understand what he was talking about. And he even places ultimate blame with the agency if anything dangerous happened to him or Madoff.”

The article goes on to discuss other examples of cases in which the SEC as seemingly apathetic to documented crimes. Obviously this is a scathing timeline of situations that affect people who expected this organization to protect them from such crimes. However, juxtaposed to this story is one in which inaction by the SEC on an issue is being praised. Businessweek’s David Reilly commended the SEC this week in his commentary regarding their role in the decision to switch the U.S. accounting system to be more globalized. In it, he writes the following:

“The SEC shouldn’t foist massive change onto markets unless we know what we’re really getting into. Until then, it makes sense for the U.S. to go it slow and alone for at least a while more.”

“Until the SEC can provide investors and Congress, which is sure to weigh in at some point, with an answer to how it will deal with that fundamental flaw, the agency would be crazy to rush to switch.”

These two examples are clearly very different types of issues and investigations. However, the broader point is that decisions by the SEC as to whether to be aggressive or prudent are often determined to be correct only in hindsight. Hopefully, the SEC knows that the complexity (and therefore, the ability to exploit the complexity) of the global economy will not get any easier, so their ability to stay ahead of the curve and make the best decisions will be vital. This will be easier to accomplish, though, if individuals and organizations continue to cooperate with the SEC, whether voluntarily, or simply by meeting compliance regulations.