Going to the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting

The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting is just around the corner (4/30/2011) and I couldn’t be more excited about going again this year.   Since I posted Widening the Moat: Business Advice from Warren Buffet after attending last year’s meeting, I’ve been bombarded with people asking questions about the meeting.  I decided to do another post as a “reply all” as most of the questions are about the same.  I am by no means an expert, but this should shed some light on the subject.  So here are the top three questions that I get most often:

1. How do I gain access to the meeting?

First and foremost, you have to be a shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway.  In the early part of the year shareholders will receive in the mail (the same address you would receive a proxy) a card to send back for shareholder meeting credentials.  It’s essentially a lanyard that you have to wear throughout the weekend to gain access to special events.  I also know that some stores in town are willing to give you a discount if you show them.  Now, with that said, you can easily obtain credentials by going on eBay and buying them, so if you can fork over $70 for a share of stock, you could likely fork over $35 for a pass on eBay (though you would be banished from the event for your poor allocation of funds.)

1. How do I meet Warren Buffett?

Good Luck.  Last year there were an estimated 35K people asking the same question, and I would wage to guess that the dream came true for only a handful.  However, meeting and coming up close are two very different things with the latter being much easier.  Mr. Buffett is very visible, but your best bet is to get to the meeting early and stand in line.  When the doors open, people will do a dead sprint into the arena to get a close seat.  Buffett usually makes his rounds on the outside loop, which is where seats are most coveted.  To get an idea of 35K people running toward one seat, see below:

Here is what it looks like when he’s making his rounds:

1. What are the must attend events of the weekend?

Obviously, the meeting is number one, but the cocktail party the Friday night prior as well as the Sunday morning events after are both things you can’t miss.  Be prepared to be blown away, fed to the hilt, with a few drinks for good measure.  One of the things that amazed me most was that you can leave your wallet at home.  Everything last year was for the purpose of saying “thank you” to the shareholders and therefore, “free.”

If there was one more event that I would highly, recommend, it would be Gorat’s Steakhouse on Sunday.  It’s Mr. Buffett’s favorite restaurant for good reason and he usually makes an appearance around 6:30 himself.

All in all, this is a bucket list event like no other, and while this post has nothing to do with our company, I hope it helps answer some of the questions that keep coming my way.  So if you like this and need some software developed, contact us.