08/31/2010

Want to attend How Magazine's Mind Your Own Business Conference? I've got a code for you!

By Tim McAlpine

if you are a credit union marketer, this post is likely not for you. But if you are a marketing agency or design firm owner, then this post is definitely for you!

After being in business for ten years, I attended How Magazine's inaugral Mind Your Own Business conference in Cancun, Mexico in 2000. It was a watershed moment in my professional life. Up until that point, my business had grown like wildfire, but it felt like a handful of mud. If you've every tried to keep a handful of mud from slipping through your fingers you know what I mean! In design school I was taught how to design, not how to run a business and my first decade in business was an adventure in figuring things out in complete isolation.

I learned so much at that those three days in Mexico. It was amazing. I have attended three more MYOB Conferences since and each one has been incredible. It's not cheap, but worth every penny.

Fast forward ten years later and I've been asked to speak at this year's MYOB Conference in New York. I am totally honored and excited by the opportunity.

As a speaker, I’d like to invite you to join me at this year’s event being held October 12 to 14 at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers.

Tailored specifically to address the challenges faced by creative-firm principals and owners, this one-of-a-kind business conference offers ways to improve your corporate positioning, grow your bottom line and realize your firm’s potential. Trust me, you'll learn a ton and meet other people in your situation.

For complete session descriptions, speaker info and everything else you need to know, visit www.MYOBconference.com.

And be sure to use discount code MTM10 to get an additional $100 off the registration rate. See you in New York!

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

08/08/2010

Young, Free and Super-charged

By Tim McAlpine

This past Friday morning I presented in front of about 1,500 credit union CEOs and directors at the 33rd Annual Directors' Convention. This was definitely the largest crowd I have ever been in front of. I am the little scared dot on the stage in this photo!

Here is my slide deck.

The subject was Young, Free and Super-charged: Building social media campaigns that work. It was basically an overview of my thoughts on social media marketing for credit unions and a recap of the lessons learned from our eight live Young & Free regions.

I promised the folks in the audience that I would have these slides online after my presentation. Suffice it to say that the flaky hotel Internet access had other plans for me!

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

07/28/2010

There actually IS meat on bacon!

By Nala Henkel

Most of you have probably seen that Cheryl and I have thrown our collective hat in the ring to be the CU Water Cooler Symposium WildCard Speaker.

When you work in marketing and advertising, surrounded by fun co-workers and fun clients, on an incredibly fun and innovative product (Young & Free) it's hard not to let that spill over into contest entry for a wildcard speaker’s spot (as evidenced by our most recent campaign video).

But we want to clarify something—our presentation isn't going to focus on funny videos and bacon, it's going to delve into research we are doing with Gen Y'ers in regards to their use of social media platforms.

We are asking a cross section of young people across North America about:
• Which platforms they use
• What they actually use them for
• What they would never use them for
• And how they perceive businesses interjecting in those spaces

(just to name a few)

We will be compiling these results and sharing 3 practical ways that Credit Unions can take this information and implement a social media strategy in these spaces that will be relevant and get results.

So here’s what you need to know: yes, half of us are young and both of us are silly, but we're going to deliver a fun presentation that will leave the audience with some insight into how Gen Y is actually using social media and share information on how credit unions can get involved and get bottom line results.

We’re really excited to have a conversation about this, and if you are too, you can vote for us here:

http://www.cuwatercoolersymposium.com/vote/

Voting closes Friday at 2pm PT.

All the best,

Nala (and Cheryl)

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

06/14/2010

The Symposium is back!

By Tim McAlpine

I wrote a guest post on the CUES Skybox on May 12 and Doug True at FORUM Credit Union left this comment.

"Your post also made me think how we really should bring back the Symposium. The foundation blocks are still there and FORUM Solutions would welcome the opportunity to host in Indy. If there is interest we just need to find out who the enablers will be and get together to work out the details. I only want to do it though if it adds value to an already crowded conference marketplace"

Further down in the comments, George Hoffheimer from Filene chimed in.

@Doug...Filene's in for next iteration of Symposium

I immediately emailed Doug True and Matt Davis and said let's make it happen. So, after a one-year hiatus, the symposium is back. We've got a new title, the CU Water Cooler Symposium, and a new theme, Bubbling up the best new credit union talent!

Here are some details.

• This will be a unique experience in the already over-crowded credit union conference space.
• It will be held in Fishers, Indiana on Thursday, October 28 and Friday, October 29. FORUM Credit Union has been gracious to donate the use of its wonderful FORUM Conference & Events Center.
• It's dirt cheap. The $199 early-bird price basically covers the costs of catering.
• Matt Davis and I will be your hosts.
• The other 11 CU Water Cooler editors are each responsible for recruiting a speaker with a new story. These speakers will be revealed two at a time over the next six weeks on the Liquid Lunch.
• There is a "Be a Speaker" contest. This is an awesome opportunity for someone with an interesting credit union story to tell. 
• There are sponsorship opportunities for a few select vendors.

This is sure to be a fantastic event and we want you there! Book your spot today.

+ Check the website out for all of the details.

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

01/22/2010

Young & Free presentation for NCUF REAL Solutions

By Tim McAlpine

Yesterday, DeAndré and I joined Brent Dixon for a presentation at the REAL Solutions Winter Field Coach and League Liaison Meeting in Orlando, Florida. Brent set the stage with a 30 minute overview of social media and user-generated content and then DeAndré and I split the next hour talking about Young & Free. 

Here are the slides from DeAndré and my portion of the presentation.

 

Thanks to the National Credit Union Foundation for inviting us out to share our progress!

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

09/27/2009

BarCampBankBC2: the crystal ball diaries

By Tim McAlpine

Today, William Azaroff hosted BarCampBankBC2 at the Vancity head office. The picture above is the inspired view from the boardroom! William has beat me to the punch with a nice recap of BCBBC2, so rather than just a repeat, I am going to give my thoughts on how this event compared to Seattle in 2007 and BC in 2008. I have enjoyed all three and although they could not have been more different, they do share a common theme—interested parties speculating on what the future might bring.

Seattle, July 2007

Being the first in North America, BarCampBankSeattle was shiny and new and full of discovery and optimism. I remember arriving in Seattle early in the morning not knowing at all what to expect. I was there first and found the tiny address numbers on a very nondescript door. I waited for someone to come. This black Suburban pulls up and this young man jumps out swearing a blue streak about the "guy with the chairs and food" falling through. By this time a couple others had arrived and we all helped him lug about 75 folding chairs through dark hallways and up a small elevator into a really cool space. It was an old building that had been converted into open-plan offices. It had creaky hardwood floors and you could tell that during the week the space was inhabited by a tech start-up.

Turns out the young man in the Suburban was Jesse Robbins, the event organizer. About 60 people were there from all over North America and it was the first time that many credit union bloggers met in person. There was a mix of credit union employees, bankers, analysts, technologists and consultants. The discussions were varied and deep and everyone participated. Online friendships were crystalized in real life and the discussions continued well into the evening throughout a dinner that about 20 people attended. There was a subset of people using Twitter at the event and I remember a discussion around what the heck is Twitter and why would anybody use it?

It had a Woodstock vibe and the pervasive crystal-ball theme was how would social technologies affect the financial services industry? There were a number of entrepreneurial people in the room in the midst of innovating and a lot of speculation on how online personal financial managers, peer-to-peer lending and social media would potentially disrupt the financial services industry. I would rate the experience a 10 out of 10. It was exceptional.

Vancouver, September 2008

Gene, William and I organized the first BarCampBank in Canada. The facility was fantastic—it was held at the downtown campus of BCIT, a technical university. About 70 people attended from 10 different provinces and states. Again, it was a melting pot of people. The discussions were more rooted in the realities of the time. We were in the front-end of the financial crisis and everyone was speculating on what would come. There was great discussions about the differences and similarities between the financial marketplace on either side of the Canada-US border and also the differences between banks and credit unions. Social media and technology were still themes, but the discussions had shifted to the real applications versus blue-ocean thinking. The vibe was less entrepreneurial and more practical.

Again the discussions were in depth, well argued and continued well into the evening as about 30 people continued on to dinner. I would rate the experience 8 out of 10. It was great.

Vancouver, September 2009

Gene, William and I envisioned BarCampBankBC2 as a more low key and local event given the economy and the realities of slashed travel and education budgets. We were able to keep the fee to just $10 because of the generosity of Vancity. We had access to the top floor of Vancity's head office. We ended up using the boardroom and a smaller foyer for each concurrent session. There were about 25 in attendance—mostly from the credit union world including credit union executives, technologists and a board member and also a number of vendors that work with credit unions. We had representation from four BC credit unions including Vancity, Westminster Savings, Community Savings and North Shore Credit Union.  There were also two people attending from Servus Credit Union in Alberta. Folks from Central 1 and Credit Union Central of Alberta were also there.

I liked that the discussions were rooted in the local realities of one of the most robust credit union marketplaces in the world. BC and Alberta are home to the four largest credit unions in Canada. This also made the discussions quite insular compared to my two previous BarCampBank experiences. Four people from Washington and Oregon had planned to attend, but were unable to make it. There were also at least two representatives from major banks that were unable to make it as well. This was disappointing, because I feel that perspectives from different realities and regions add so much to the discussion.

There were good debates about the future of products, branching and digital marketing. I felt the discussion on digital marketing was particularly good because it included e-mail marketing, social media and search engine optimization all in one discussion rather than the typical segmentation that happens. There is a growing realization that social media is just another vehicle that can enable credit unions to listen and to tell their unique stories. Ed Brett hit the nail on the head when he said (something to this effect), "Until we can say that creating compelling content is one of our core competencies, we are staying away from having a presence on Twitter and Facebook?"

Another good discussion centered around channel strategy. What different roles should our branches and websites play? I was impressed with the depth of William's thinking on this subject. He has clearly spent a lot of time thinking about how the web channel is different than the branch channel and how it should not be treated simply as another branch.

Because all of the credit unions represented at BCBBC2 (and half of the credit unions in Canada for that matter) share the same online website and banking system—Central 1 Credit Union's MemberDirect—the meeting felt more like a user group meeting than a freeform open sharing of big ideas typically associated with an unconference. There were three product folks from Central 1 there—Chloe Morrow, Margarita Lurye and Rene Gourley—who added to the conversation and kept it grounded in reality. This was good and bad. Good that the clients (the credit unions) could ask the vendor (Central 1), "can you guys do that?" And bad that it seemed to cap the big idea generation that I have experienced at previous events.

The vibe was good and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was definitely more low key and local and I was disappointed that it didn't naturally extend into a great dinner with continued discussion. I would rate it 7 out of 10. It was good.

Final thought

During the future of cooperation session, William asked the question, "What if membership to credit unions was optional?" I love this idea. It could really give meat and meaning to the advantages of membership.

The irony of this question hit me on the drive home. The BC credit union system is renowned throughout the world for its cooperation in technology and province-wide marketing. It occurred to me that inter-credit-union cooperation in Canada is mandated unlike the entrepreneurial CUSO environment that has organically sprung up in the US. "What if membership to credit union centrals was optional?" Now that would have made for a great discussion!

P.S. Had Gene Blishen been able to make it, with his Yoda-like comments and wisdom, BCBBC2 would have been exceptional!

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

09/08/2009

Thing 8 of 30: send a bunch of staff to an unconference

By Tim McAlpine

September is 30 things I would implement or consider implementing at my credit union if I was a credit union leader.

Thing 8: send a bunch of staff to an unconference

I read a Callahan & Associates e-mail today (speaking of the importance of opt-in e-mail lists!). Within the e-mail was this quote, "According to 2Q 2009 data, credit unions reduced travel and conference expenses by 24.8% from the same quarter in 2008."

I can certainly back this up. Three of my speaking engagements have been cancelled this year due to a lack of conference tickets sold (I'll blame the economy instead of the lack of interest in hearing me—it's easier on my ego).

But before you scrap your conference budget entirely, there is another type of conference that is very affordable and extremely valuable. They are called BarCamps.

From Wikipedia: BarCamp is an international network of user generated conferences—open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants. The first BarCamps focused on early-stage web applications, and related open source technologies, social protocols, and open data formats. The format has also been used for a variety of other topics, including public transit, health care and political organizing.

BarCamps have also been established in the finance arena. In fact, in the last two years, there have been about a dozen BarCampBanks all around North America starting with BarCampBankSeattle in July 2007. Don't the "Bank" in the name fool you—there are always plenty of passionate credit union people in attendance.

I attended the Seattle event and thought it was fantastic. I also helped organize the inaugural Canadian event last year—BarCampBankBC—which was held in Vancouver in September 2008.

And we are doing it again in less than two weeks:

BarCampBankBC2
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Vancity Head Office
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Cost: $10
+ Visit the wiki and sign up today

William Azaroff, from Vancity was able to secure a fabulous location for zero cost! The ten bucks will cover the pizza lunch. If you have not experienced a BarCampBank, you should give it a try. If you have experienced a BarCampBank, you know it will be a worthwhile use of your time.

Can't make Vancouver? No problem, there are sure to be more next year. If I were a credit union leader, I would send a dozen employees (including myself and members of the executive team right down to frontline staffers) to a BarCampBank in my area. Everyone will come back energized and brimming with great ideas.

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

07/29/2009

BarCampBankBC2 is less than 60 days away

By Tim McAlpine

It's time to get off the fence and put your name on the BarCampBankBC2 attendee list. Here's the details:

BarCampBankBC2
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Vancity Head Office
Cost: $10
+ Visit the wiki and sign up today

William Azaroff was able to secure a fabulous location for zero cost! The ten bucks will cover the pizza lunch. If you have not experienced a BarCampBank, you should give it a try. If you have experienced a BarCampBank, you know it will be a worthwhile use of your time.

I hope to see you there!

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

05/19/2009

Vote for six young guys and one slightly older guy to speak at YOUR Symposium!

By Tim McAlpine

About two years ago, I answered an open call for speakers at the 2007 FORUM Solutions/Trabian Symposium in Fishers Indiana. I submitted my first-ever YouTube video, won the wildcard spot and had an absolute blast. In 2008, I was invited back to be the keynote speaker. This has become my favorite conference of the year. It has a very progressive vibe, the presentations are relevant and well done and the attendees are a forward-thinking group of credit union advocates.

Well, this year the format is completely different. It has been retitled YOUR Symposium and all of the speakers will be selected by the crowd. I've decided to enter the race again, but this time with the help of six friends!

Here's our application video!

The Generation Y Extravaganza

I am suggesting that the entire morning of day two be dedicated to addressing the need to attract the next generation of credit union members and employees. As silly as this video is, I really believe we can deliver some valuable advice and get some good discussion going. As I've stated before, the lack of new Gen Y members at credit unions throughout North America is not a problem that is going to just fix itself.

Truth be told, we could definitely stretch this out by an extra hour or two or it could even go for the entire day two if there is an appetite for it. I'm sure the crowd will decide!

• Tim McAlpine from Currency Marketing (9:00–9:30)
  An overview of the Gen Y issues facing credit unions and a recap of how Young & Free is going
   
  
• Brent Dixon from the Haberdashery (9:30–10:00)
  Designing for Gen Y
   
  
• Myles Peterman from Servus Credit Union, Josh Sutherland from South Carolina Federal Credit Union and DeAndre' Upshaw from TDECU (10:00–10:45)
  The Young & Free Spokesperson panel will discuss what young people really want from their financial institutions
   
  
• Andy LaFlamme from Maine State Credit Union (11:00–11:30)
  A Gen Y credit union employee's perspective
   
  
• Ben Rogers from the Filene Research Institute (11:30–12:00)
  The Chrome Credit Union idea and a selection of 30 under 30 concepts

Please vote for our entry here and do yourself a favor—attend the YOUR Symposium. It's only $225 per attendee and the cost includes two packed days of speakers, networking and six meals! I guarantee you will learn a lot, meet great people and you won't regret it. Add yourself to the network and pledge your support.

See you in Fishers, Indiana on October 7 and 8, 2009.

A note on the production of this video: This was a fun. Once everyone in the group agreed to participate, I put a loose script together and asked each member to record their lines using Apple Photobooth and the iSight camera on their Macs. This generates "Skype-looking" Quicktime files. Everyone then uploaded their files to Drop.io, I downloaded them and then put the finished video together in Final Cut Express. Easy peasy. You can see all of the clips in their full, hilarious, uncut glory here and here. There is some pure comedy gold in these clips. I'm sure some of the jokes were intended just for me, but that would be selfish! Enjoy.

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

04/28/2009

BarCampBankBC2. Here we go again!

By Tim McAlpine

William Azaroff, Gene Blishen and I are organizing another BarCampBank in Vancouver.

BarCampBankBC2
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Vancity Head Office
+ Visit the wiki and sign up today

William was able to secure the location for zero cost and it is a great space! The boardroom overlooks False Creek and Downtown Vancouver and is perfectly suited to having good discussions about financial services innovation.

We are doing a single day and keeping it real simple. If last year was a bargain at $35, this year it is an absolute steal at just $10 to cover the pizza lunch.

Last year's event drew about 75 people from all over North America. I'm sure this year will be just as successful.

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

Viewing 1 - 10 of 46      |   Next »

 

BLOG SEARCH

BLOG CATEGORIES

30 Things (24)
A Day In The Life! (56)
Announcements (27)
Awards (7)
BarCampBank (15)
Big Evil Banks (17)
Blogging (22)
Blogs To Read (7)
Board of Directors (2)
Book Reviews (2)
Branding (47)
Challenge Marketing (19)
Collaboration (2)
Community (4)
Conferences (46)
Co-op Advertising (2)
CU Branding 101 (11)
CU Innovators (19)
CU Movement (15)
Cuckoo Campaigns (6)
CUES Podcast (4)
Currency Work (21)
Demographics (3)
Economy (1)
Endorsements (2)
Guest Posts (10)
I Heart CUs (33)
In The News (8)
Innovations (10)
Marketing (80)
Member Acquisition (1)
Member Service (16)
Musings (4)
Naming (3)
New Competitors (2)
Off Topic (3)
Opinion Polls (6)
P2P Lending (4)
Podcasts (26)
Positioning (8)
Press Coverage (2)
Product Dev (10)
Productivity (2)
Public Relations (8)
Ranting (5)
Scary Big Ideas (4)
Segmentation (2)
Service Not Enough (3)
Shout Out! (25)
Small CUs (5)
Social Economy (6)
Social Media (137)
Speaking (40)
Technology (20)
The Truly Weird (4)
Tips: Bad Practices (2)
Tips: Good Practices (3)
User-Generated (31)
Viral Marketing (6)
Web 2.0 (154)
Wet Blanket (1)
Young & Free (78)
Youth Marketing (83)
YouTube Videos (76)

ARCHIVES

August 2010 (3)
July 2010 (2)
June 2010 (2)
May 2010 (2)
April 2010 (3)
March 2010 (2)
February 2010 (7)
January 2010 (5)
December 2009 (5)
November 2009 (6)
October 2009 (7)
September 2009 (27)
August 2009 (5)
July 2009 (3)
June 2009 (3)
May 2009 (6)
April 2009 (8)
March 2009 (6)
February 2009 (7)
January 2009 (6)
December 2008 (11)
November 2008 (17)
October 2008 (11)
September 2008 (25)
August 2008 (20)
July 2008 (18)
June 2008 (18)
May 2008 (18)
April 2008 (21)
March 2008 (21)
February 2008 (14)
January 2008 (11)
December 2007 (7)
November 2007 (6)
October 2007 (6)
September 2007 (7)
August 2007 (9)
July 2007 (12)
June 2007 (11)
May 2007 (7)
April 2007 (3)
March 2007 (3)
January 2007 (1)
December 2006 (3)

OUR WRITERS

Nala Henkel (38)
Tim McAlpine (354)
Colleen Pepper (1)
CU Skeptic (1)

RECENT POSTS

August 31, 2010
Want to attend How Magazine's Mind Your Own Business Conference? I've got a code for you!

August 20, 2010
Lack of young blood runs deeper than membership
(1 Comment)

August 8, 2010
Young, Free and Super-charged

July 28, 2010
There actually IS meat on bacon!

July 19, 2010
Co-op Vegas?
(2 Comments)