As someone who tried for years to get him to speak on a podcast, I was tickled to see John Chevedden in-person at the recent Annual Conference for the Society for Corporate Governance.

He wasn’t originally mentioned in the program so I was surprised when I was talking to Alan Dye at the opening reception in the Exhibit Hall and I saw out of the corner of my eye someone walk by with a “John Chevedden” badge. I introduced myself to John and procured a selfie. I was the first of many looking to get a picture with John over that week and he was very generous with his time as he stuck around all week.

Here are five things to know about John based on his remarks during a panel about shareholder proposals:

1. John became interested in shareholder activism way back in his childhood when one of the family’s first investments turned out to be fraudulent and John played a role in exposing the fraud.

2. During negotiations, he’s learned that “the companies that talk the most, want to do the least.”

3. John wants companies to take a material step right now to address the concern in the shareholder proposal and not drag it out over time.

4. John submits shareholder proposals on those topics he believes will garner a high level of support.

5. This was the first business conference of any kind that John had ever attended.