The City of Pittsburgh seized the opportunity to promote the practices it has pioneered. Acknowledging that there has been some skepticism and hesitation among the public finance community with this type of innovation, the City invited issuers, investors, advisors, and regulators to attend. Our intent was to dispel some of the myths that have grown around this practice. Methods and Channels . While there are numerous issuers of municipal bonds, there are relatively few investors in primary issues.
Public finance is, therefore, a relationship-based business where personal contact is highly valued.
Convening a meeting of issuers, investors, and other interested parties was judged to be an effective way to achieve the goals of communication, dissemination, and replication as set forth in the grant application. All participants were encouraged to review the City's experience in Internet bond auctions, review our results, ask questions, and raise objections. The City's partner in the production of the symposium was MuniAuction, Inc. , which has hosted all of the City's Internet auctions. The symposium validated the concept of using the Internet as a conduit to issue public debt. As more discussions take place about the mechanics of the auction, the novelty and mystery of each auction diminishes.