The Reynolds Center has announced its 2008 fall workshop schedule.
Select a workshop and register from the drop-down menu below.
The Reynolds Center has opened registration for select 2008 free online seminars.
Topics include:
*Intermediate Business Journalism
*Covering Private Companies
*Business Journalism Boot Camp
Reporting on the most anticipated IPO in years can be a daunting task. But last-minute controversy and an unusual bidding process calls for even tougher investigative skills.
Technology reporter Robert Weisman of The Boston Globe didn't allow words like "Dutch" and "Playboy," now associated with Google's IPO, to throw him off.
Although Weisman had previous experience covering IPOs, he had to familiarize himself with Google's unorthodox Dutch auction choice.
"I got up to speed mostly by talking to financial professionals who'd done them and academics who'd studied the results," said Weisman via e-mail.
While most business reporters focused on the dramatic drop in Google's share price, Weisman led with the failure of what was supposed to be stock democracy. Google chose the Dutch auction route to give smaller investors a chance, but it seemed to backfire.
"Many of those folks were spooked by the high target price, the lack of information, high minimum balance requirements at some participating brokerage firms, and some damaging disclosures by Google," said Weisman. "I thought this was one of the biggest stories of the IPO, if not the biggest."
One of the latest missteps along Google's move to Wall Street is the SEC's investigation into an interview the founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, had with Playboy magazine during the regulation "quiet period." It was this period that prevented Weisman from talking directly to someone within the company.
Faced with that barrier, Weisman instead turned to regulators, financial professionals, securities lawyers and business professors specializing in IPOs. He consulted Google's major competitors, delving into their strategies to dislodge the world's number one Internet search engine.
One of Weisman's colleagues provided his own type of analysis, buying five Google shares so he could write firsthand about the bidding process.
Weisman's advice to reporters covering IPOs is to be more skeptical than the media had been in the 1990s. He also suggests fostering a comprehensive network of sources who can help analyze the IPO process. And it always pays to get familiar with SEC filings, especially the $1 registration statement, which contains a wealth of information.
Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism
