Online shareholder meetings lower costs, but also interaction

New York

NOT one shareholder showed up at Intel's shareholder meeting last week. In person, at least.

Instead, Intel's annual meeting was entirely virtual. There was no in-person gathering site, the questions were submitted in advance, and management and the board made all their presentations online.

Virtual meetings are a growing phenomenon, but although technologically feasible, they are a bad idea.

In 2015, 90 companies used this method using Broadridge, a big provider of virtual meeting technology. In addition to Intel, GoPro, SeaWorld Entertainment, PayPal, Fitbit and Yelp have all held virtual shareholder meetings in the last year.

Companies are adopting this technology for a number of reasons. There are the obvious cost savings, because they do not have to pay for a location and serve food (however meagre, although some companies are known for their shareholder meeting spreads). And having a virtual meeting allows people to "attend" who would not otherwise want to make the trip. The company can …