Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Greg Bolan with Wachovia Capital.
Greg Bolan - Wachovia Capital
Thanks for taking the question. I may have missed your comments on this, Jeff, but if I look at early development bookings, it appears that September was a stagnant month for gross booking wins and cancellations look like they may have increased about $4 million since the update guidance on September 11th.
Can you talk about your thoughts on the business activity for this segment over the past several months and more specifically, kind of what you've seen over the past month and what you seen in the marketing log over the next several months?
Jeffrey McMullen
Yes, thanks, Greg. There's no doubt that bookings are down in the early stage segment and cancellations are up a little bit from what we reported on September 11th. And as I said in the prepared remarks, we are looking closely at that to see if it is a temporary occurrence or whether it's indicative of a trend in the early stage business. And certainly there are other competitors who have reported some softening in their early stage business. So we're very cognizant of the possibility that there may be some softening there. But we're not ready to conclude that with certainly.
We are certainly -- I think you're aware that early stage backlog can change dramatically within a quarter and the visibility in terms of how that backlog will play out very far into the future is somewhat cloudy. So, again, we're taking a cautious approach.
We are, in response to what could be softening in that business, embellishing our business development efforts in the early stage segment. We're adding salespeople and expanding their reach geographically and to other clients as well. So, again, we're taking in it seriously, but we are tracking it and will respond accordingly.
Greg Bolan - Wachovia Capital
Okay, thanks, Jeff. And then, I guess, on a more philosophical level, as I think about the dramatic drop in the stock price and how that may be affecting employee morale, Jeff, can you pontificate on the idea of taking the Company private? Maybe vis-a-vis selling the Company to a private [zero] and then coming back to the market as part of a bigger and stronger franchise in the years to come?
Jeffrey McMullen
Well, as we said, Greg, we need to look at our options and do what's in the best interest of shareholders and the Company and certainly the immediate priority is to address the convertible notes. I think that is the overhang that is driving down the stock price. I think there's an obvious concern about how we'll be able to manage that in a climate where credit is difficult to obtain.
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