Right or Rite?

In the IR calendar, spring means more than daffodils, kinder weather and the annual Niri conference. It is also the time for that traditional corporate rite of spring, the annual meeting. As this year's round comes to an end in the US and continental Europe, and gets started in Japan, the UK and beyond, it seems timely to consider the prognosis for this regular ritual. Perhaps the first thing is to establish whether these meetings are a shareholder right, a corporate responsibility or just