INVESTOR RELATIONS COMMUNICATIONS

Investor perception studies and new communication achieving buy-in for communications initiatives
Lawrence Parnell

Communicating corporate positioning
Deborah Trouten

Case study: Cross functional financial communications process
Gordon K. Forstner

Online investor relations communication
Catherine Elder

Media relations communication and IR
Tom Enright

Annual reports as a key communication tool: Creating annual reports that have IR value
Deborah E. Kelly

As a Senior Counselor for Hill & Knowlton Canada, Larry Parnell utilizes his 30 years of corporate, agency and public sector experience to provide senior level counsel to select H&K clients. He is especially skilled in reputation management, integration of corporate messages across communications disciplines, corporate and financial communications to enhance market valuation and crisis and issues management. He has worked across most industry segments and has particular depth in the natural resources, financial services and telecommunications sectors. Prior to affiliating with Hill and Knowlton, Larry held a variety of communications positions in the consulting, corporate and governmental segments. He came to H&K from Barrick Gold Corporation, where he was Senior Vice-President, Corporate Relations; and was previously at Ernst & Young LLP in New York, where he served as Director of Global Public Relations.

Deborah Trouten, APR, is president of Dakota Communications Inc., a Toronto-based corporate communications firm. She has 20 years experience in public relations, public affairs and business/financial communications and in her current roles she provides strategic communications services to a variety of corporations and organizations. Her expertise covers a wide range of sectors including financial services, telecommunications, resources, environment, government, utilities, retail, transportation, health care and new technologies. Deborah holds an M.A. in journalism from Wheaton Graduate School and a B.A. in social communications from Ottawa University. She is an accredited public relations practitioner and holds memberships in the Canadian Investor Relations Institute, the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) and the Counselors Academy, Public Relations Institute of America. She successfully completed the Canadian Securities Course in 1999. Active in the community and with professional associations, Deborah has served on the volunteer boards and committees of several organizations and has spoken on a range of communication topics at numerous conferences. Prior to establishing Dakota Communications, Deborah was a Senior Vice-President with a major international public relations firm, leading their corporate practice. She spent several years in senior corporate communications positions with various organizations in the telecommunications, utilities and not-for-profit sectors prior to becoming a corporate communications counsellor.

Debbie has more than 30 years experience in corporate communication, investor relations, corporate affairs, brand positioning and strategy, employee communication and crisis management, including senior roles at Fortune 500 corporations.

Debbie joined Genesis as a partner in 1995 and since has directed value-enhancing investor relations, corporate communication and strategic brand positioning projects for Allegiance Corporation, ArvinMeritor, Barrick Gold, Boeing, Hach Ultra Analytics, IHS, Johns Manville, 3M, McDATA, Nordstrom, PepsiAmericas, Qwest Communication, Steelcase, TeleTech Holdings, Wild Oats and Washington Mutual.

She has advised senior management and boards of directors concerning strategic positioning, value creation and integrated communication programs, as well as disclosure issues and policies. Her 25-year corporate experience spans both staff and line positions, in companies that include The Quaker Oats Company, Esmark and Lowes Companies. Debbie's most recent corporate assignments were vice president, new business for Gatorade (Quaker Oats), where she led the development of a new product line consistent with the Gatorade brand, and prior to that, vice president, corporate affairs for Quaker Oats.

Debbie's experience combines leadership, communication and traditional packaged goods marketing skills with a strong background in finance gained as a securities analyst and honed as an investor relations executive. She lectures frequently on strategic investor relations and disclosure issues.

Debbie was a member of the blue-ribbon Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Corporate Disclosure. She served on the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) board of directors, chaired the NIRI Task Force on disclosure issues and served as president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter for the 1997-1998 year, continuing as a director. Investor Relations Magazine gave Debbie its second-ever Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. She is also a member of the board of directors of Perdue Farms.

Tom Enright is President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada NewsWire. Mr. Enright is an innovative thinker who leads a staff of 220 employees in seven offices across Canada. With more than 25 years of experience in the electronic publishing and financial information services industries, he has held progressive positions in notable organizations. He was General Manager of the Financial Post DataGroup, and spent 15 years with The Toronto Stock Exchange in a senior management capacity. He is an active member of the academic and financial communities. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Journalism Foundation and the Journalism Advisory Council at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario. He participates in The Canadian and National Investor Relations Institutes and is a member of the Washington United Church. He is the recipient of the 2003 University of Toronto Arbour Award and the 2004 University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC) Alumni Award. He is Honorary Chair of the UTSC Mentorship Program. He also serves as an occasional television commentator. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) degree from the University of Toronto and has tremendous insight in the areas of Canadian and U.S. regulations on corporate disclosure and best practices of communications.

Catherine Elder is a consultant with Prescient Digital Media where she has worked with a variety of client creating assessments and strategic plans for their Internet and intranet sites. Catherine has over fifteen years experience in communications and design. She has strategically designed, implemented and managed intranet sites and multimedia projects. Her communication skills, combined with a strong understanding of technology and the corporate environment, enable her to manage a diverse range of projects.

Gordon K. Forstner joined Dofasco Inc. in 1998 as Director of Communications and Public Affairs. Prior to this, Mr. Forstner was Vice-President and General Manager of an international public affairs firm. For twelve years, Mr. Forstner was a consultant to major Canadian and international corporations, provincial and federal governments, growth companies and industry associations. He worked extensively in the energy and health care sectors during this period. He began his career in the publishing industry. At Dofasco, Mr. Forstner has overall responsibility for the company's stakeholder relations activities, including corporate and financial communications, marketing communications, public and government affairs, international steel trade, employee communications and community relations. In addition he is responsible for co-ordinating the communications activities of Dofasco subsidiaries, and the company's participation in industry communications programs through Dofasco's various international industry and business associations. He Chairs Dofasco's Community Investment Committee and has a primary role in stewarding Dofasco's commitment to social responsibility.

Chethan Lakshman is senior communications advisor for RBC Financial Group, the brand name for Royal Bank of Canada and its subsidiaries. In his current position, he leads the team that provides strategic and tactical communications support for the functional groups including Risk, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations. His team is also responsible for the corporate communication and stakeholder relationship elements of RBC's Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and for the public speaking programs of the RBC CEO. He was previously responsible for RBC's corporate employee communications activities worldwide. Throughout his career, he has used his expertise to develop strategies that communicate complex issues to internal and external audiences, and ideas and policies in an environment of competing interests. A former journalist with The Globe and Mail, The Financial Post, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., he moved into corporate communications in 1994. Since then, he has worked in senior communications and investment marketing positions for several large financial organizations, including RBC Financial Group, Scotia Capital Markets and Fidelity Investments Canada Ltd.

Greg Secord is the Director of Investor Relations at Open Text Corporation, a mid-cap Canadian software company listed on both Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Greg was recognized for the excellence of Open Text's investor relations activities by portfolio managers, buy-side and sell-side analysts and professional and individual investors. For three straight years, Greg has been a finalist for Best Investor Relations Officer in Canada, winning the award in both 2002 and 2004. Prior to his position as Director, Greg served as Manager of Public and Investor Relations. Before joining Open Text, Greg worked as an investor relations and communications consultant for the insurance and high tech industries. Greg serves on the board of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI) in Ontario, and was previously the regional president of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). He is a guest lecturer in two MBA programs at Wilfrid Laurier University, and has been profiled in the Globe and Mail and Investor Relations Magazine.