An effective IR marketing program requires a long-term commitment to building and maintaining relationships throughout the financial community. Our experience has shown that a targeted, ongoing investor relations program produces results, regardless of a company's size or market capitalization.

In measuring the effectiveness of our investor relations efforts, we look for improvements in a number of areas, including the following:

• Attitude of the financial community
• Perception of the company
• Information flow
• Consistency in communication
• Market receptivity for future IR activity

We also look for improvement in more quantifiable areas, such as those listed below:

• Stock price
• Market capitalization
• Trading volume
• Institutional ownership
• Sell-side analyst following
• Conference call attendance
• IR Web site traffic
• Requests for financial information