This was a pivotal year for online annual reports.

Gone are the days of thick annual reports chock full of photos and traditional, typeset financial sections. Producing, printing and mailing hard-copy annual reports is expensive and time consuming. In an effort to manage costs and meet accelerated filing deadlines, companies have scaled back their printed annual reports to a point where the majority of 2007 and 2008 annual reports were slim 10-K wraps. A confluence of factors including cost saving initiatives, compressed filing deadlines and a general trend towards ubiquitous Internet use has fueled a move from hard copy to online distribution of annual reports. The final game changer, however, was the SEC’s Notice and Access.

Launched July 1, 2009, IR Alert provides the Investor Relations industry with a daily feed of news, opinion, analysis and marketing messages. This web-based service is delivered to IR practitioners at no charge and serves as a interactive advertising medium for service providers within the industry. The mission of the IR Alert editorial team is to bring together the best minds, practices and tools in IR.

The Online Annual Report (OAR) Report provides an overview of the history, evolution and possible future of Online Annual Reports. It establishes best-practices guidelines based on a comprehensive survey of the Fortune 1000 companies’ Online Annual Reports.

Rob & Felise Kissell with Nina & Robin Eisenman at NASDAQ

Nina & Robin Eisenman join NIRI NY President Felise Glantz Kissell at the NASDAQ Building in Times Square for the Closing Bell Ceremony. Felise, the Vice President of Investor Relations for HSN, Inc. and the host of NIRI NY’s exciting first event of the season, rang the closing bell.

Eisenman Associates wins three 2009 ARC Awards for excellence in Online Annual Report design. Maidenform Brands’ Online Annual Report “The Total Solution Company”, designed by design firm Eisenman Associates, wins a Silver ARC Award. Land O’Lakes Annual Report “Growing Together” wins a Bronze ARC Award for Online Annual Report Design. AFC Enterprises Online Annual Report wins a Bronze ARC Award for Online Annual Report design.

2009 ARC Annual Report Design Award

The 23rd Annual International ARC Awards – the world’s largest annual report competition honoring outstanding achievement in Annual Reports – were presented on September 17th at a gala ceremony at the Hotel Intercontinental in New York City. The winners were deemed the best out of over eighteen hundred entries from 25 countries.

About The Creativity Annual Awards:

Established in 1970, The Creativity Annual Awards is based in Louisville, KY and is one of the longest running international advertising and graphic design competitions in the world. A print, web, advertising and media design competition, each year the judges choose the best from all over the world to be reproduced in the 400-page Creativity Awards Annual.

Maidenform Brands, Inc., is a global intimate apparel company with a portfolio of established and well-known brands, top-selling products and an iconic heritage.

The piece notes that according to a recent survey by KPMG, 80% of the largest companies around the world are developing sustainability reports. Eisenman Associates has been working with their corporate clients to better communicate about their sustainability efforts for several years. Visit our sustainability section to learn more about our work on sustainability reporting.

The List

This List is a classification that represents the top small businesses in the U.S., in sectors such as technology, manufacturing, food service and professional services. Large organizational buyers throughout the country that do business with multicultural, small and women-owned businesses use the list. Eisenman Associates will be honored at a special awards ceremony at DiversityBusiness.com’s “9th Annual Multicultural Business Conference“, taking place April 29 – May 1, 2009 at the Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Florida.

For additional information please contact Nina Eisenman at 212-941-0550.