about me
Hi, I'm William and I head up the WEB Team (Web Engagement & Banking) at Vancity, Canada's largest credit union.

My opinions and views are just that, and don't reflect the views of my employer (or, perhaps, anyone else).

I can be found on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook

Looking forward to the Partnership Sympiosium.

Last October I was unable to attend the Partnership Symposium, a credit union conference sponsored jointly by FORUM Solutions and Trabian. I was greatly disappointed because my peers who were there said it was a highlight of their year.

So I'm very excited to announce that I have been invited to deliver a keynote at this year's Partnership Symposium. Some of the other amazing speakers already announced include some of my favourite CU peers and thought leaders: Tim McAlpine, Morriss Partee, Robbie Wright and Gene Blishen (with more to follow I'm sure).

I have proposed the following as my topic, and I'd love feedback from you on this. Does it sound interesting? Am I missing anything at a high level?

Engaging with the Social Economy
A growing segment of the economy is being driven by social decision-making. Credit unions play a natural key role in this shift, both as community-focused organizations and as holders of significant consumer assets. This presentation will include examples of the emerging social economy, as well as a case study of ChangeEverything.ca, a social network created by Vancity which speaks to the values the largest credit union in Canada shares with the community it serves.

UPDATE (Feb 4, 2008): Ron Shevlin was just added to the lineup in a very interesting way:

Ron Shevlin will serve as the host for the 2008 Partnership Symposium. He will spend time with each presenter following their session to ask a couple of questions and engage the audience in asking their questions. This is an interactive conference and Ron will help ensure that everyone takes part!

I'm nervous and excited to work with Ron in this way. He's tough, but all in search of making us better, more rigourous marketers.

Labels: azaroff, conference, credit union, partnership symposium, social economy, vancity

posted on Saturday, February 02, 2008

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5 comments
Hi William, the topic you're proposing for the Partnership Symposium sounds interesting. I think Vancity is a wonderful example of how a credit union develops a social stance, a social identity then, through ChangeEverything.ca, and other programs and initiatives invites the community to share in that unique social consciousness. Is that what you mean by the "social-economy" and "social decision-making"? In a way ChangeEverything.ca is a variation on the P2P notion and in that regard it certainly is part of the social economy.
comment from Ginny Brady on February 02, 2008

William, I may just have to come up from Texas to hear this!
comment from

Trey Reeme on February 04, 2008

Perfect use of Ron's talents. You know, a boostrapper such as myself would have never been able to afford to "face to face" with such people as Ron when he was at Forrester. $125 makes it possible. Thanks to all for the opportunity.
comment from

Roger Conant on February 07, 2008

William, I am trying to parse the first sentence of your talk's description. "A growing segment of the economy" - I take that to mean "more and more people's transactions". So let me see if what you are saying can be translated to either of these sentences:
A.) More and more people's transactions are being influenced by their peers using online social tools such as Wesabe and Facebook. or B.) More and more people's transactions are being driven by a desire to help the common good as a component of the transaction.

Am I on the right track with B? Or perhaps you can explain further.
comment from

everythingcu on February 07, 2008

Hi Morriss, thanks for the comment. I mean a combination of the two. As the keepers of consumers' money, we have a role to play in influencing their purchasing to both deal with their finances in a more responsible way, and also to use their purchasing power to better our society.

I'll work on that sentence for clarity, thanks for pointing out that it wasn't clear.
comment from

wazaroff on February 07, 2008

Looking forward to the Partnership Sympiosium.

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