Before I go run out and enjoy this somewhat chilly Friday evening, I
thought I’d make one more entry, and this one goes out to anyone who’s
got shares in Tucows. I don’t know if any of the shareholders — who
were directed here from the Raging Bull site as a result of my Mark Cuban entry — are still reading this blog, but at half a million pageviews a month, there’s always a chance.
In the comments to the “I am Ten Scobles!” entry, I posed some questions but didn’t get any particularly useful answers. I’ll pose the questions again and see what I get.
What would you like to see from Tucows?
you like to be directly contacted, say via email if new developments
arise? Would you want to be notified during the “soft launch” or when
the launch is made generally public?
Let me know in the comments (or if you prefer, privately via email at jdevilla@tucows.com) and I’ll pass it along. I happen to be a pretty persuasive guy.
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Speaking for myself, I have to say that I hope the rumor about you becoming head of Investor Relations at Tucows is true. We need more direct communication like this.
If the rumor is just a joke, then I'd have to say this blog illustrates the pathetic state of IR at Tucows (which Elliot Noss made a candid confession about on this very blog by sticking his foot in his mouth and saying "if you have the choice between the company sucking and ir sucking choose ir every time!" Why does Elliot tolerate a hopeless IR department when he is so demanding of other Tucows employees? Please answer that Joey.
As for myself, I want Tucows to be more active with PR. The perfect example is the spyware issue that was also written about on this blog and an issue which Elliot Noss ducked completely (maybe he should be a politician). For those who missed it, Elliot graced us with his presence on this blog and he talked about a how he simply wanted to wait for the new Tucows website to be tested before issuing a PR about it but he refused to talk about why he did not issue a PR about Tucows clean spyware/adware policies.
I don't think any investor wants to be put on a mailing list to be notified about Tucows updates. We want Tucows to issue press releases when anything of any importance happens at Tucows. This will help attract new investors.
IR ought to start a blog.
More milk?
They could start by not relying on third parties to communicate with us.
We want the truth. I get the feeling these launch dates, which have been pushed twice since I became an investor, are mere appeasements. The last launch date I heard about was May 17. Is that a real target date? And are we talking about a soft or 'hard' launch?
I don't need emails. I need PR's, and some indication that this company is lead by serious people who value investors, are informed, and not afraid to communicate truthfully with us (which means answering emails and phone calls). Grown up companies have IR departments, or at least one responsible liason. Your business culture may not be white collar and stuffy, but few of us are impressed with cavalier attitudes when it comes to our money. Get real, Tucows, and tell us what's going on. Thanks for your ear.
I agree. I've sent 10-15 email messages to IR and I have not received a response to a single one. For a company as small as Tucows, that is a complete joke. I've communicated with IR liasons from companies listed on NYSE. My guess is there is no "real" IR department at Tucows and the person in charge of this department, whose name we cannot mention here or our message will be deleted, has other duties. Is this true Joey? Is the IR department a "ghost department" and is the person in charge actually a computer programmer?
Let's see some press releases and real communication.
It appears Tucows has forgotten who owns the company. We do. We want press releases about launches, general policies, new landmarks in software additions (i.e. "Tucows reaches entry 43,000 in Software Library"). Simple things like this bring the company more exposure.
There is a very anti-investor climate at Tucows. Are we not a part of the beloved "Tucows Family"? I guess we are the estranged parents and you are the kids who just like our money. Give us a break.
That rumour simply is not true -- I remain the Technical Community Development Coordinator and not the new head of Investor Relations. I'm simply taking advantage of the readership, reputation and "Google Juice" of my blog (here are Google results for "Joey" and "Joey deVilla") to promote my company and my work, just as Microsoft's technical evangenlist Robert Scoble does.
I don't know enough about the plans for Investor Relations or Public Relations to comment on them, but it is my opinion that we could do more to promote the company. The Tucows-related postings on my blog are my own "outside the box" way of doing so.
Keep those ideas and suggestions coming; they are getting channeled to The Powers That Be here.
Thanks Joey for the channel of communication.
I run a Google news alert for both "Tucows" and "Elliot Noss." I had 5 news alerts today and thought, "Hey, Tucows is getting off their fanny." However, just the opposite is true. It seems IR is choking their chain again because Lunarpages announced today that they have chosen Tucows to provide Webuilding Services for their hosting packages. Lunarpages issued a press release about it. Tucows did not. The link to the Lunarpages press release is pasted below (sorry but my link tool is not working on my old laptop).
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/05-16-2005/0003630707&EDATE=
These small PR do wonders for a small cap stock. Tucows lost 1.10% on today's trading. A PR like this would turn that into a 1.10% gain. Remember, you don't climb a mountain with one giant step. Taking one small step at a time is what it's all about.
Since IR at Tucows is either illiterate or too busy listening to "Let It Be" on their headphones, I have written a Press Release for them. What irks me even more is Eliiot Noss has a quote in the Lunapages PR. Come on Elliot. Issue your own PR for God's sake!
It is not stock pumping. It is simply making people aware of the new business Tucows is attracting (even if it is a small deal).
Feel free to use my press release tomorrow.
Press Release
Tucows Chosen by Lunarpages to Provide Webuilder Service
Tuesday May 17, 2005
Lunarpages has chosen Tucows Inc. to supply Webuilding Services for their newly launched Web Builder, a complete website design tool that will enable individuals and businesses to easily build professional, functional, and aesthetically pleasing websites, at a very low cost.
"We are pleased that Lunarpages has selected our comprehensive website builder service to add to their affordable hosting packages. Now, Lunarpages' customers will be able to create and host a professional website within hours," said Elliot Noss, CEO of Tucows.
Lunarpages' Web Builder consists of over 10,000 web design templates, and is available in eight languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch, German, Japanese and Chinese. Specifically developed to meet the needs of customers with varying levels of website design experience, Lunarpages offers a variety of Web Builder packages.
About Tucows
Tucows Inc. is a leading provider of wholesale Internet services and back office solutions to a global network of more than 6,000 web hosting companies, ISPs and other service providers. As the largest ICANN-accredited wholesale domain name registrar, Tucows offers a suite of complementary Internet services including domain name registration and management, digital certificates, email services and web publishing services. Tucows' back office products, including billing, provisioning and customer care solutions, enable service providers to automate and enhance their service offerings. Tucows alsodistributes software and other digital content through its global network of affiliates offering more than 40,000 software titles. For more information, please visit: http://www.tucowsinc.com
This news release contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the continued growth and success of Tucows' business, the ability to further develop and achieve commercial success for the company's business strategy and the deployment of the company's resources. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. More information about potential factors that could affect Tucows is included in the Risk Factors sections of Tucows' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements included in this document are based on information available to Tucows as of the date of this document, and Tucows assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements.
Is anyone listening? If so, when will we start seeing changes?
Every comment posted in response to this entry has been forwarded to management, and I know for a fact that a number of Tucows employees read this blog. People are listening.
I can't answer the question "When will we start seeing changes?" because I don't know. I'm not a member of management, so I'm not privy to their decision-making. What I do know is that there's some serious re-tooling going on right now within the company; we're taking a serious look at our processes and making plans for the road ahead. Yes, that's pretty vague hand-wavey talk, but I can't go into detail without breaking my non-disclosure agreement.
As the developer relations guy, I can tell you that there's a lot going on: a new client code suite for resellers, a big focus on helping developers build on the Tucows platform, a new developer site, a new games initiative, more and better developer documentation and new and/or improved products in our blog tools suite...and that's just the stuff I'm working on. That's what I'll be pumping like crazy.