With the push to get AutoCAD running underway, and other Autodesk development projects proceeding concurrently, there wasn't much time to write minutes of meetings, though the meetings continued to be held every month. The next general communication was the announcement of Autodesk's first annual stockholders' meeting. Dan Drake alludes to some of the overwork and the communications problems this engendered herein.
Dan Drake
December 28, 1982
Our good old algorithm for determining monthly meeting dates strikes again: the January meeting would come up on the first Saturday of January, alias New Year's Day. Of course, we don't have it on a holiday, so it moves up a week, to December 25. Oops.
So....
The January monthly meeting will be at 1:00 on Saturday, January 8 (eight), 1983, at Jack Stuppin's house in San Francisco. At 2:00 it will be interrupted for the annual shareholders' meeting (required by our bylaws and state law). This probably won't take long, as the only item currently on the agenda is the election of directors (required by law). Then the directors will meet, again required by law and again probably very briefly, to organize the board and appoint the corporate officers. With luck, if no new business comes up, we may break the world speed record for a bona fide annual meeting.
Those of you who are now stockholders of record will receive a formal notice and proxy with this announcement. If you exercised an option by the 28th, you're a stockholder even though you haven't got your certificate yet.
Employees who aren't stockholders, and stockholders who aren't employees, are encouraged to attend the whole shebang.
The fact that this is the first written notice in months brings up a sore point. With respect to communications in the company, people have taken two positions:
Both of these positions seem to be quite right. Anyone who has constructive proposals on the subject is guaranteed a high place on the agenda for the meeting, if any of us has time to prepare an agenda.
Finally, here's the meeting algorithm again, with its output for the coming year. Should this silly thing be changed?
The meeting for an odd-numbered month is on a Saturday; for an even month, on a Sunday.The meeting is normally on the first (Saturday or Sunday) of the month.
If that day falls on a holiday weekend, the meeting is held a week early. This is certain to happen in July and September, likely in January, and possible even in April.
The schedule for the rest of the year:
Saturday, January 8
Sunday, February 6
Saturday, March 5
Sunday, March 27 (April 3 is Easter)
Saturday, May 7
Sunday, June 5
Saturday, June 25
Sunday, August 7
Saturday, August 27
Sunday, October 1
Saturday, November 5
Sunday, December 4?
Wednesday evening, December 7 (annual meeting)
December 29, 1982
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING
The annual shareholders' meeting of Autodesk, Inc. will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, January 8, 1983, at the home of Jack Stuppin in San Francisco.
(The meeting was re-scheduled by order of John Walker, president, from the normal time of the first Wednesday in December, when most of the company was in Las Vegas.)
Stockholders of record December 28, 1982, will be eligible to vote at the meeting. If you are not absolutely sure that you will attend, please sign and return the enclosed proxy, which will be revoked automatically if you do attend. It looks better on the records if we do not drag through with a bare quorum.
The only business currently scheduled for the meeting is the election of four directors for the next year.
Daniel Drake
Daniel Drake
Secretary
PROXY
I appoint JOHN WALKER, DANIEL DRAKE, and KEITH B. MARCELIUS my proxies to vote on my behalf at the annual shareholders' meeting of Autodesk, Inc., to be held on January 8, 1983, and at any adjournments thereof. All previous proxies are hereby revoked. The majority of said proxies present at the meeting, or their appointed substitutes, shall have the power to vote my shares in the election of directors or any other business which may come before the meeting, with the following restrictions:
I may revoke this proxy (1) by giving written notice to the corporation; (2) by executing another proxy, which will take effect when presented to the corporation or exercised at the meeting; (3) by attending the meeting and voting in person.
(signed) Name Date
Editor: John Walker