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Well
With Clint Worley having introduced himself into the group, and with this year's shareholders meeting just around the corner, it occurred to me I never did write more about last year's blast. So
I came to the meeting with no intention of anything but silently observing. But immediately when I walked in the door, picked a seat in the front row and went for coffee and a snack at the side table, a certain fellow, good-natured, made a beeline for me to meet me and start a conversation. His name was Barry Dwek and I would learn he was a high-roller investor attending his first meeting as a very new shareholder. He was there in tandem with another such investor who was attending his second meeting. It gradually came out of me that I was a 20-year investor attending only my second with my first and only other being in the Nineties. This amazed them, and at least twice in succession they asked me if I had doubled down and why had I not doubled down. I had already done more talking in 5 minutes without the meeting having even started, than I believed I would do all day, but finally it occurred to me that I could open up to these two with my honest answer to their repeated question about my investor status: I went in in the 90's purely as an excited player of the product and that the pure answer to not investing more was that purely as a player I had long since been disappointed and didn't believe in the product. These folks (indeed, apparently not one investor in the room, I would come to learn) had never played or seen the games.
CEO Ram Krishnan opened the meeting, quickly moved through all the formalities and was about to adjourn the meeting when Mr. Dwek raised his hand and stood, astonished that Mr. Krishnan was making to close it up and leave without offering a more conversational message about the company, the product, the future, etc., which Mr. Dwek as a career investor was accustomed to hearing at other such shareholder meetings. It seemed Mr. Dwek at that point single-handedly kept the meeting going (amiably enough, but expressing more and more disappointment) with follow-up points and questions to each bit of further comment that Mr. Krishnan would offer.
The tablets became the subject of the back-and-forth. Mr. Krishnan identified two specific competitors who were developing tablets for restaurants with the technology for menu ordering and bill paying, that Buzztime was up against. Mr. Krishnan made the point to the room that what set Buzztime's product apart was the superior entertainment offerings that the competitors weren't attempting. Whereupon Mr. Dwek pointed at me and said well I was speaking to this gentleman right here before the meeting and he says the entertainment side is a disappointment also. Holy crap, is there a word for that, when every eye in the room follows someone's finger right to you in one split second.
So I made my comment to the room, that I had had no intention of speaking out like Mr. Dwek, but yes he was correct that from this player's perspective the product had become a disappointment.
The meeting ended and Mr. Krishnan amiably came straight to me and expressed he wanted to know more about this perspective, would I be sure to leave behind my contact information for someone to reach me. He had to run to another meeting but Jeff Berg hung around a while longer and a little cluster of investors formed near me for further conversation. (Jeff Berg was interim CEO prior to Ram Krishnan and was still in the picture as board member and major investor). Evidently not one investor in the room had ever attempted the simple pure playership experience - a few formed a grand plan right then and there to go out to a location and play it for the first time. I would have loved to have joined them as tour guide for that - but I had to go work a shift, drive back to L.A.
My little conversation with Jeff Berg was all about the split, it being the reason I had not played one single question in 18 months to that point, and not one premium game in 40 months to that point. I all but promised him he would get players back if he ended the split. It was Jeff Berg with whom I left my contact info, phone number.
A phone message came to me a few days later. It was from Clint Worley. He wanted to have a conversation at my convenience about the perspective I had introduced to Mr. Krishnan and Mr. Berg at the meeting. I left him a reply message and although we never did have actual live voice conversation, I did write an e-mail essay in reply, it was all about the network split.
The network split ended six weeks later.
Credit Mr. Barry Dwek - I hope to see him at this year's meeting.
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