At meetings, executive's style can reveal itself in odd ways.

When Bill Harrah, the late founder of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., held annual meetings at his casinos years ago, he served dinner to shareholders and then lured them to the gaming floor by giving away free poker chips.

Those were the days when annual meetings meant something--a way of getting individual shareholders to reinvest in the company. Along the way, they got to meet top executives and sometimes were offered a free meal.

These days, with the proliferation of financial information over the Internet, and investors more likely to buy funds than purchase individual stocks, annual meetings don't seem to have quite the same impact.

"Basically we try to figure out how many people will show up and then find a place that's big enough to hold them," said Babette Heimbuch, chairman and chief executive of FirstFed Financial Corp., the parent of First Federal Bank of California. "It's about as exciting as that."

The bank, which will hold its annual meeting this year at Doubletree Guest Suites in Santa Monica, used to get about 200 individual shareholders but that number has dropped to about 50. Heimbuch said most of the individual investors bought the company's stock when it came public in 1983.

"We try to accommodate our local stockholders but many of them are getting so old they are no longer capable of coming," she said, noting that large institutions own 70 percent of the bank's stock.

Though shareholder groups have been active in pushing corporate governance issues, there is no rallying cry for individual shareholders to become more active by attending annual meetings. Moreover, only a handful of companies--usually those that are high profile or have stumbled badly--have annual meetings that generate high drama.

Walt Disney Co., in particular, has been a standout for coming under attack from large shareholders--primarily Roy Disney, nephew of Walt Disney, chairman of Shamrock Capital Advisors and who along with Shamrock CEO Stanley Gold have campaigned to remove Chief Executive Michael Eisner.

Michele Bergman, a spokeswoman for Burbank-based Disney, said the company has a policy of holding its annual meetings in different cities to give individual shareholders an opportunity to attend. Disney held its annual meeting in Minneapolis in February, after a voter revolt in Philadelphia last year. Its annual meeting in Denver two years ago occurred during a blizzard.

This year, Sempra Energy, parent of San Diego Gas & Electric, has become the target of disgruntled shareholders for scheduling its annual meeting in London next month at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel. Two of the company's 10-largest institutional share holders are based in London, but since it is a local utility, Sempra is more likely than many other companies to attract individual investors. At least one analyst suggested that the meeting was a retirement present for outgoing Sempra Chief Executive Stephen Baum.

Many Los Angeles-based public companies still hold meetings at their own corporate headquarters, which tend to be the cheapest and most accessible locations. The list includes Avery Dennison Corp., City National Corp., Health Net Inc., Indymac Bancorp Inc. and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Still others have opted for discreet hotels or far-off locales that cater to the wealthy--namely, the directors and money managers that form the company's core shareholder base.

KB Home Corp. and Univision Communications Inc. are holding their annual meetings this year at the Hotel Bel-Air, where the Garden Room, a popular spot for weddings, seats 120 people. Occidental Petroleum Corp. will hold its annual meeting in May at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, while Ryland Group Inc. has picked the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey.

Jannice Koors, managing director at Pearl Myer & Partners, said the purpose of annual meetings has shifted from catering to individual shareholders--though they are always invited--toward corporate directors, who typically spend the day in break-out sessions.

"Often the reason is purely based on location," she said. "There is a strong expectation that all directors will show up at the annual meeting."

Mark Kerwin, director of sales at Hotel BelAir, has been wooing corporate clients to hold more meetings there, with some success. "Once you enter the hotel over the arched bridge, you're on beautiful grounds and you really feel like you're out of the city," Kerwin said.

"Well-heeled travelers are used to luxury properties and they really want to be amongst their own--other executives, dignitaries, celebrities--they want exclusivity," he said, adding that the hotel's rates and location on Stone Canyon Road keep paparazzi and bystanders at bay.