Podcast 01: Credit Union Innovator Gene Blishen

By Tim McAlpine

Currency now has a podcast! It's called Credit Union Innovators and you can listen by streaming audio here on the blog or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod.

The format of this and future episodes will be interviews and conversations with people that are doing good things for the credit union movement. Credit union leaders and employees and partners to the movement including vendors, technologists, strategists, designers, specialists, marketers, developers, speakers and members. Anyone with passion for the credit union movement and with something to say.

I have met so many great people involved in the credit union world and want you to get to know them too.

First up is my good friend and long-time client, Gene Blishen. Gene is the General Manager of Mount Lehman Credit Union located in Mount Lehman, British Columbia, Canada. It is a small community just north of Abbotsford and about 45 minutes east of Vancouver.

Mount Lehman Credit Union has 1,800 members and 10 employees and bucks every credit union rule! Who says you can't be small and innovative?

 
Some links to get to know Gene even better

+ Gene's personal blog
+ Gene's Flickr photos
+ Mount Lehman Credit Union's website
+ Mount Lehman Credit Union's blog
+ Mount Lehman Credit Union's YouTube channel

Gene is doing great work and is a credit union innovator to the core. Get to know him.

Fast facts about Gene

• Live? Burnaby, BC
• Height? 188 cm
• Favorite color? Green
• Favorite computer? Mac
• Most embarrassing thing on a Trans-Atlantic flight? Sitting beside a rugby team

Looking for innovators

If you know a credit union innovator who I should interview, please e-mail me at tmcalpine at currencymarketing dot ca.

Production notes

If you are considering producing your own podcasts, here are my production notes. It took a fair amount of digging to figure out a good way to produce these without having to lug around a bunch of gear. I found it really difficult to get clear answers on all this stuff. Hopefully my research can save you some time!

+ Recorded with a M-Audio Microtrack II mobile digital recorder
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Music is All I Said by Everyday Jones licensed through Creative Commons

Gene actually recommended the Microtrack to me awhile ago—it is a very cool device. Man, that guy knows everything!

I chose Audacity because it is very simple for a non-audio engineer like me and it is free.

I chose Evoca because I can easily embed audio clips on our blog and Evoca also provides an RSS feed for selected files at reasonable cost. And there are some really cool recording options with Skype that will come in handy for future long-distance interviews.

And, finally, after all that, I am using Feedburner to see if anyone actually listens and downloads our podcasts. Having never gone through the process before, I was surprised that both Evoca and iTunes do not track the number of listeners or downloads. Feedburner also helps you put your RSS feed information together properly so your podcast artwork and details display correctly in iTunes and on iPods. The most time-consuming part was getting the feed approved by Apple—it took five days. I guess they were pretty busy with Macworld to worry about me.

I swear, the tangle that is Web 2.0 boggles my mind sometimes. It has been an adventure figuring all of this stuff out. Kind of fun, but mostly painful.

Go easy on me!

My interviewing skills are not at Oprah or Letterman level yet, but I think my first attempt is alright! Hope you enjoy it. Want to really make my day? Write a (positive) review in iTunes!

Comments

1) Jon Strocel @ Jan 16, 2008
http://www.upnext.ca

Congratulations on the launch of the podcast! Nice production and a great conversation.

2) Ginny Brady @ Jan 17, 2008
http://boardcast.typepad.com/weblog/

Tim, I can't wait to listen and subscribe through iTunes. Great idea! I listen to Current Issues in Credit Unions but, I have to admit, sometimes my eyes glass over because of the in-depth legal content. Your podcast sounds more my speed because it will feature credit union innovators who are "in the trenches".

3) Trey Reeme @ Jan 17, 2008
http://www.treyreeme.com

"How tall are you?" "I'm 188 centimeters."

I've never heard anyone give their height in centimeters. We're so backward down here in the states. I figured that I'm 167 cm. It makes me sound a lot taller.

Many thanks guys for letting us all into that conversation. I have no doubt that if we were at 10 CUs in 2015, Mt. Lehman would most certainly be one.

4) Tim McAlpine @ Jan 17, 2008

@Trey - I've never heard anyone give their height in centimeters either! And you are right, you sound like a tower of a man at 167 cm!

5) Morriss Partee @ Jan 17, 2008
http://everythingcu.wordpress.com

Thanks for doing this interview, Tim. Looking forward to meeting Gene at BarCampBank NewEngland. I think Gene is right on when he says he isn't concerned about the time frame that social media tools are adopted by others. People didn't worry about how fast television would catch on, why should this be any different?

6) benry @ Jan 17, 2008
http://www.benry.net/blog/

Nicely done Tim. Classic Gene. 15 years, 10 employees, 1 branch and a great CU leader who has his game on. Only wish there was some video in the podcast as he's such a character.

7) Andy LaFlamme @ Jan 18, 2008
http://theculoop.blogspot.com

Great podcast Tim, looking forward to more.

8) William Azaroff @ Jan 18, 2008
http://www.azaroff.com/blog

@Tim - Gene was a great first choice. He is my hero. Thanks for doing this. I've already subscribed in iTunes. I'll blog it too.

@Trey - You'll always be 170cm in my books!

9) Adam Monteith @ Jan 21, 2008
http://www.kscu.com

It's nice to have someone who's so obviously into it and having fun with it. I know for one of our internal campaigns last year, I did a quick 5 minute podcast every week, just as a replacement for the typical 'word/excel' update that was marginally well-received. It's tough! Not only to keep it interesting, but to keep it relevant, even after the podcast is over. Used Audacity as well for the post-production, definitely recommend it. Price is right too :)

10) nancy (aka money coach) @ Jan 22, 2008
http://www.nancyzimmerman.com

Hi Tim! Like you, I'm hoping to see the day where credit union members outnumber bank customers. In fact, even grander than that, I hope to see the day when Canadians are, in aggregate, known for being thoughtful and intentional in how they use their money - no to garages full of crap, yes to having money left over at the end of the month, and being able to 'afford' buying strategically and sustainably, and having money to help out developing countries. I see credit unions (and Citizens Bank of Canada, owned by VanCity and for whom I work part time) as potentially playing a big role in that. What if credit unions gave workshops not on the usual investing stuff, but on the "here's how to manage your money effectively on a daily basis", "here's how to create a sustainable debt reduction plan" "here's how to develop a healthy relationship with your money" - the stuff we all grapple with, and hardly anyone talks about. Anyway, love what you do and thanks! (ps want to start a revolution with me?)

11) Doug True @ Jan 22, 2008
http://www.dougtrue.net

Thanks Tim. Appreciate the conversation. It was an honor to meet Gene twice - once in Vancouver and once at our symposium. I always learn from my conversations with him and again, listening to this one.

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