Care and Feeding of Advisory Board Members - Controlling Media. Communications and Information Part 3

If you are looking to redeem your reputation or build a new
one, and have selected advisory board members to do that, communications and
media will be very important. When and how can you use advisory board members’
names? Will there be a media alert or press release announcing their addition
to the board? Is the advisory board member expected or invited to do media
interviews on the company’s behalf. Are they prohibited or discouraged from
doing interview when the company is involved? How are they supposed to
introduce themselves or disavow formal spokesperson capacity?

It is crucial, if the company has selected a member to help
support its reputation that the advisory board member not be seen as bought or
harnessed. That’s where a solid alignment and ongoing trust between the members
and the company are essential. The relationship must be  credible.

In some cases, having a honest naysayer in a limited
advisory board role may be warranted. Watchdog groups are sometimes tapped to
play an oversight role within an advisory board. But, be careful of hidden or
political agendas. Some groups may get more attention and improve funding by
appearing to leave the board in protest against the company. Even when asked to
leave, they may spread rumors that they left voluntarily. Little is gained by
the company announcing that they have terminated an advisory board member.

How much information should be shared with the board? While
there are critical fiduciary rules that apply to boards of directors, there are
no similar legal restrictions for advisory boards. They are creatures of
business, not law. That means that any non-disclosure, non-compete and
non-circumvention agreements must be entered into. But this can be tricky.
Don’t want to be seen as buying off watchdog groups or honest criticism? Gag
agreements may give the wrong impression.

And, given the high profile of a typical advisory board
member, structuring a non-compete, non-circumvention and non-disclosure
agreement that doesn’t cripple the board member’s activities where they can be
helpful to the company and acceptable to the member is a challenge.

You brought them in for their ideas. But their ideas have
earned them well-respected reputations and attention. Can you really expect
them to share lucrative ideas and use valuable connections to help the company,
instead of themselves? That’s why ascertaining their alignment and loyalty and
repaying it in kind is so important.
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