PAST IS PROLOGUE


In this issue of IR Update, we introduce a new column, “Past is Prologue,” that looks back at an older issue of IR Update to see how the investor relations profession has changed and what core tenets remain the same.


Rebounding from 9/11 and a “Kinder, Gentler” SEC


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he phrase "What is past is pro- logue" is a quotation by William Shakespeare from his play “The


Tempest.” It means that history sets the context for the present or acts as the catalyst for the future. The phrase is even engraved on the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. We thought it fitting to name this new column after it. In this issue, we journey back to the


January 2002 issue of IR Update, published less than four months after the horrific 9/11 attacks. When we consider what uncertainty


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lies ahead today, think of what it was like 21 years ago during that uncharted time when markets plummeted, rebounded, and ultimately slid into recession later in 2002. “Welcome 2002!,” wrote NIRI President


Louis M. Tompson, Jr., in his column. “2001 will always live in our memories as the year marked by the events of September 11.” He went on to say, “From an investor


relations perspective—where looking ahead is often more important than conveying historical information—the issue is vis- ibility. Most forward-looking statements


are hedged with the cautionary language, ‘barring another 9/11-type terrorist attack.’ Tis kind of uncertainty is the terrorists’ goal. And we won’t erase that from our memories for some time to come, even if we win the war on terrorism.” Tompson recounted a comment from


SEC Chair Harvey L. Pitt saying he would make the SEC a “kinder, gentler” agency by welcoming the views of the businesses it regulates and organizations such as NIRI. “Confronted by the events of September 11 and the woes of companies dealing with


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