"cost savings"
A little bit too late. It's like Madoff worrying about filing his 2012 taxes.
However, I would be interested in how much the savings really are over a locally held SHM. Sure their travel, lodgings, and per diems to Chicago might have been expensive but I can't imagine that a reasonable meeing held locally would be that much more than a decent streaming conference capable of the interaction they promise.
What this sounds like is a post-earnings conference call, not an annual shareholder meeting. They read a bunch of stuff in flat monotone, open up for selected questions, and that's it. No voting, no proposals, etc.
On the plus side, it will be easy to record. But thinking about it, they will know that so they will speak accordingly [read: as evasively as ever].
IMO, they are now officially in "run and hide" mode.
