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May 20, 2007my upcoming conferences
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about me
Hi, I'm William. I'm the Director, Online Banking & Engagement at Vancity, Canada's largest credit union.
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Discount code to attend Finovate.
Last October I was lucky enough to attend and live blog at the inaugural Finovate conference. Finovate was started by Jim Bruene, who writes both NetBanker and Online Banking Report. No slouch, he.I loved attending Finovate 2007, and live blogging it gave me a great perspective on what I was seeing. The format is simple: each presenter gets seven minutes to present their solution or product. No PowerPoint, no speeches, just live demos so everyone can see what they do. You can read my blog posts here, here and here
Jim wrote a post on NetBanker the other day giving the details of Finovate 2008 with all the presenters listed. It's a great lineup!
This year, Finovate 2008 again happens in New York on October 14th at the Crowne Plaza Times Square. The cost is $995 USD, but if any of my readers want to go and are planning to book by the end of August, the Finovate organizers have given me a special promo code to pass along.
The first five people who go to finovate.com, and use the discount code "azaroff55" will get $250 off the $995 conference cost. It'll definitely be an event worth attending!
Labels: banking, conference, credit union, finovate, innovation, netbanker, technology, web 2.0
posted on Monday, August 25, 2008
My post about BarCampBank on NetBanker.
Well here's something I haven't done in a while... write a post for NetBanker. I just wrote an article about all the BarCampBanks coming up, called Going to Banking Camp this Summer?As many of you know, I'm helping to plan the upcoming BarCampBankBC this September. It's going to be an amazing time, with an amazing group of people, and I'd love to see you there.
Labels: barcampbankbc, netbanker
posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2008
BarCampBank continues East, West and South.
Last summer I attended an amazing event called BarCampBankSeattle. It was a coming together of, and collaboration between, some amazing bank and credit union folks from across North America. I wrote a few blog posts about it at the time.Jesse Robbins organized this first-of-its-kind-in-America conference, and now he's written about two more BarCampBank events that are happening. It was also covered by NetBanker and Frederic Baud.
The next two events will be:
BarCampBank San FranciscoAnd now I see that there will be a BarCampBank Dallas. This is spreading like wildfire. Innovation is taking root among some bankers, which is exciting. Hmmm, maybe we need a BarCampBank Vancouver...
Saturday, March 29, 2008
UC Berkeley campus - Soda Hall in the Wozniak Lounge
RSVP @ EventBrite ($25)
BarCampBank New England
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
America's Credit Union Museum, Manchester, NH
Unfortunately, I can't attend any of these events, although I truly wish I could. Lots of great people will be there, and you can see exactly who will be attending at each event's homepage.
I hope some of you attendees will blog about it, so the rest of us can feel included. It is worth noting that Morriss Partee is behind a couple of these and seems to be the thread between SF and NE. Morriss, looks like you're gonna need to go to Dallas too.
Labels: banking, barcampbankseattle, conference, credit union, everythingcu, netbanker
posted on Friday, February 15, 2008
IOU Central is Canada's first social lending platform.
For all my interest and excitement about social lending, I have not been able to use a social lending platform because there wasn't one available in Canada. Then, this morning, I read on NetBanker that IOU Central has launched, making them first out of the gate for Canadians.I had heard that there was a group in Quebec working on this, but I had assumed my friend Colin Henderson would be first out to market with CommunityLend, which is launching early this year.
I'll give IOU Central a try and report what I find. As I've written before, my main question, one that is about to be answered, is: will Canadians who love to hate their five main national banks engage in social lending, or will we complain but stay put?
Interesting times...
Labels: communitylend, innovation, iou central, netbanker, social lending
posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Recap of Net.Finance on NetBanker.
I wrote a recap on NetBanker of what happened at last week's Online Innovations in Financial Services Marketing conference that Net.Finance held in New York. It was an excellent conference, full of great presentations from some of the companies pushing the boundaries in the Financial Services sector.The big surprise for me was the number of speakers who spoke of the Social Economy. Any reader of my blog will know that this is a new big topic for me.
And that is the lens through which I wrote my recap on NetBanker, Discovering the Social Economy at Net.Finance.
As always, all of my NetBanker posts can be found at netbanker.com/azaroff
Please comment there to further the conversation.
Labels: innovation, netbanker, netfinance, social economy
posted on Monday, January 28, 2008
Touring Stagecoach Island on NetBanker.
It's been a while since I posted anything new on NetBanker. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to write about next, and then Ed Terpening, VP of Social Media Marketing at Wells Fargo invited me and a few other bloggers (including one of my favourites, Ron Shevlin) to tour Stagecoach Island, their own Second Life-like virtual world.This tour became the fodder for my newest NetBanker post, entitled A Virtual Tour of Wells Fargo's Stagecoach Island. In my post I examine what SI is, what it does for Wells, and where some future opportunities may lie.
As always, all of my NetBanker posts can be seen here.
Labels: innovation, netbanker, second life, social media, wells fargo
posted on Wednesday, December 05, 2007
My final thoughts on Finovate.
I just posted my final thoughts on the presenters at Finovate in a post titled My Finovate Wrap-Up. In it, I try to pull out those products and services that resonated with me, as someone who is passionate about social media and credit unions.And some photos from the event below...
The building in NY where Finovate happened.
NetBanker's Jim Bruene introducing the event.
Finovate organizers Jim Bruene and Eric Mattson.
Labels: azaroff, banking, credit union, finovate, innovation, netbanker, social media, social personal finance, technology, web 2.0
posted on Monday, October 08, 2007
A great time at Finovate.
I had a great time today at Finovate. I gotta hand it to Jim - he ran a good show. The format of giving each presenter only 7 minutes, no powerpoint, no bullets, just a real live demo of their product, was genius.Maybe it was the curating, knowing that each presenter was invited to participate because they had something to offer made the difference, but every conversation I had was so amazingly useful. I don't think I have ever been to a conference where I got so many useful business cards.
I'd be curious to know what others thought, but I had a great time.
Now, my vacation begins...
Labels: banking, credit union, finovate, innovation, netbanker, social media, social personal finance, technology, web 2.0
posted on Tuesday, October 02, 2007
More live blogging from Finovate.
My afternoon coverage can be found here.Labels: banking, blogging, credit union, finovate, innovation, netbanker, social media, social personal finance, technology, web 2.0
posted on Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Live blogging from Finovate.
I'm live-blogging from Finovate for NetBanker. See my updates here.UPDATE: My second part of this post can be found here.
Labels: banking, credit union, finovate, innovation, netbanker, social media, social personal finance, technology
posted on Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Off to Finovate.
I'm off to New York to attend Finovate on Tuesday. I'm excited to see first-hand demos of all of these products and services that are evolving the landscape of the financial services industry. Many of them I've read about, but seeing them first hand is a real opportunity to understand them on a deeper level.I'll be live blogging the whole thing on NetBanker, so check in throughout the day on Tuesday and I'll be updating as often as I can.
And if you're gonna be there, please say hi.
Labels: banking, blogging, credit union, finovate, innovation, netbanker, social media, social personal finance, technology, web 2.0
posted on Saturday, September 29, 2007
New NetBanker post: Spending Your First Social Media Dime.
I haven't posted on NetBanker in a little while, but I released a new one today. It actually came out of a discussion with the wise Ted Josephson from People's United Bank a month or so ago. Ted is obviously someone who gets it and wants to try out social media, but is at a crossroads I hadn't thought of:I want in, but where do I start?
I kept thinking about this situation, and it seemed to me that there might be others in the same boat. I wish there was a roadmap I could describe to make the journey easier, but in the end it's a very customized strategic development process. Different for every company.
So I wrote an article called Spending Your First Social Media Dime. Enjoy.
Here's where you can see all my NetBanker posts.
Labels: banking, corporate responsibility, credit union, netbanker, social media, web 2.0
posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007
Live blogging at Finovate.
I'm very pleased to be going to NYC in October for Finovate. This is a new conference created by Jim Bruene who runs NetBanker. According to the website:Following the popular format pioneered by DEMO, FINOVATE 2007 will provide each company with a mere 7 minutes to "wow!" an audience of 200 leading executives, investors, analysts, members of the press and bloggers with an actual demonstration of their latest and greatest product or service. The demos will be followed by intimate networking sessions where the attendees will get unprecedented access to the executives from these innovative companies.
Twenty leading companies have already committed to present including (in alphabetical order): Andera, Billeo Inc, CheckFree, ClairMail, Firethorn, Digital Insight (an Intuit company), Geezeo, Identity Theft 911, iPay Technologies, Jwaala, Lending Club, Metavante, mFoundry, Mint, Monitise, MortgageBot, MShift, Online Resources, Prosper Marketplace, and Yodlee.
I'll be a fly on the wall for the day, live-blogging the whole thing. I'm very excited to be covering the event and getting a chance to learn from all the innovative presenters. See you there...
Labels: banking, blogging, credit union, finovate, innovation, netbanker, technology
posted on Thursday, August 23, 2007
Final part of trilogy now on NetBanker.
The third and final installment of my three part article on success factors of social media projects is now live on NetBanker.The Importance of Community Management in Social Media Projects examines the crucial role of the moderator in ensuring the success of social media projects, including efforts by Vancity, Verity and Wells Fargo.
The first part was titled Key Success Factors for Social Media Projects, and the second part was Measuring Success for Social Media Projects.
All my NetBanker articles can be found at netbanker.com/azaroff.
Labels: banking, changeeverything, credit union, innovation, netbanker, social media, vancity, verity, web 2.0, wells fargo
posted on Monday, August 20, 2007
SPLIT IT - a TD Canada Trust Facebook app.
My newest NetBanker post went up today about TD Canada Trust and how they are leveraging Facebook:TD Canada Trust Launches "Split It" on Facebook
I'll wrap up my three part series on social media next week (as always you can see all my NetBanker articles at netbanker.com/azaroff).
Labels: banking, blogging, facebook, innovation, netbanker, social media, td canada trust
posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007
Second part now on NetBanker.
The second part of my three part article on success factors of social media projects is now live on NetBanker.Measuring Success for Social Media Projects examines the changing role of metrics.
The final part of this series will focus on the role of the community moderator to help ensure the success of a social media project. The first part was titled Key Success Factors for Social Media Projects. I was very pleased with the discussion that followed the post.
All my NetBanker articles can be found at netbanker.com/azaroff.
Labels: banking, blogging, innovation, metrics, netbanker, social media, web 2.0
posted on Monday, August 13, 2007
A three-parter on NetBanker.
My newest article is now live on NetBanker. Key Success Factors for Social Media Projects is the first part of three, detailing some of the success factors we at Vancity have found with ChangeEverything.ca since its launch a little over a year ago.My next part will be about metrics and key performance indicators of social media projects and will be published next week. The third part will focus on the role of the community moderator to help ensure the success of a social media project.
All my NetBanker articles can be found at netbanker.com/azaroff.
Enjoy.
Labels: banking, blogging, changeeverything, credit union, innovation, netbanker, social media, vancity, web 2.0
posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007
A final reflection on BarCampBankSeattle.
I have been reviewing my notes and trying to write some coherent posts about BarCampBankSeattle to sum it all up. I'm finding that a tall order.So much of the weekend was about the relationships, the dialogue, the intense collaboration, that it doesn't do the experience justice to write it out.
I think I captured some of the key takeaways pretty well on NetBanker, in my latest guest blog post.
Have a look and please shoot me a comment there.
Labels: banking, barcampbankseattle, blogging, credit union, innovation, netbanker
posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007
Guest blogger on NetBanker.
If things have been a little quieter around here than usual, I have a good excuse. I have started guest blogging on one of the biggest and best FI blogs around, netbanker.com.Jim Bruene runs a great blog, his insights and research into how FIs use (and underuse) the online channel is amazing. I have long been a fan and follower, and was happy to finally meet him face to face in Arizona in April at Net.Finance. And now I'll be adding to his blog a few times a month. It's an incredible honour for me, as this is the first time Jim's ever had anyone besides him write on his blog, and because he has 6,000+ RSS subscribers (to my mere 40).
I'll be writing about how FIs can better use the social web and brand themselves online. I'll try and write from an insider, client-side perspective. I have the blessing from the folks at Vancity to do this, which is nice not to need the typical "these thoughts are my own and do represent..." disclaimers.
My inaugural post is entitled Finding your way to the Social Web. It's an examination of how FIs could better leverage the Social Web, and uses a proposed Bank of America case study. You can see all my posts collected together here.
Jim welcomed me aboard very warmly, and I appreciate that. I'll be linking to my posts on NetBanker from my blog everytime I add a new post, so stay tuned.
Labels: azaroff, banking, blogging, credit union, netbanker, netfinance, web 2.0
posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007
Finances on Facebook
Jim Bruene has a great post on netbanker.com about the rise of financial services on Facebook.Watching the explosion of content, and users, at Facebook, may be the most interesting thing we've seen since the rise of the commercial Web in 1995/1996.
Jim writes about the opportunities that exist for FIs to sponsor Facebook applications like ChipIn. Jim documents how ChipIn works really well using screenshots. Nicely done. It's exciting to watch this new explosion of financial services within Facebook. It really democratizes how people can access money.
And I'm not just mentioning this because he gave Vancity's Bike Share a nice plug (although it didn't hurt).
Labels: banking, changeeverything, credit union, facebook, microcredit, netbanker, social personal finance, vancity, web 2.0
posted on Monday, July 09, 2007
Discovering kiva.org
In all the recent posts I've been reading about peer-to-peer lending, including the excellent reporting by Jim Bruene at NetBanker and Colin Henderson at The Bankwatch and CommunityLend, I hadn't come across Kiva.org.I'm very excited about social personal finance and think it may well change the way people exchange money when they just need to borrow or invest a small to medium amount and don't want to bother with a bank or credit union.
But tonight my aunt showed me Kiva.org, and I got to admit I was a little embarrassed to admit that I didn't know what it was. It's an amazing concept where anyone can make microloans to people in the developing world who need small amounts of money to start an enterprise. According to their website:
Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.
You can cash out when you're repaid or reinvest it into a new opportunity. I think this is genius. Did everyone else know about this and somehow I'm the last to the party? Hard to be shown up by my aunt after all...
I started tonight by investing $25. Kiva.org asks you for a 10% addition as a donation to keep them running. That's optional. You can pay by PayPal or credit card. When you're done you can easily send the info about the cause you donated to to your email list to spread the word. Nicely done.
Here's who I donated to: Massan Aziado of Togo. Fantastic and inspiring!
Labels: banking, bankwatch, communitylend, credit union, innovation, kiva.org, microcredit, netbanker, poverty, social personal finance, technology, web 2.0
posted on Saturday, June 23, 2007
Verity's blog has kicked it up a notch.
Wow. I spend a lot of time looking at blogs and after a while they all start looking the same. But Verity Credit Union in Seattle has launched a new blog and has taken blog usability and readability to a whole new level.By moving to 1024x768 they have three nicely sized columns to work with and they make a lot of their real estate. The left column works like you'd expect a blog to work. The middle column gives you easy access to different posts by department, laid out in a very graphically pleasing way. Really makes you want to click to find out more. And the right column surfaces the people who post and some other blogs they like. Impressive.
It was designed and built by the fine folks at Trabian. It's one thing to know a lot about social media like Brent and Trey do, but to be able to design a site that's attractive and functional, honestly this gives me a whole new appreciation for what they are capable of. Kudos to all of them, and Shari Storm, Verity's CMO who has stuck with this and made it work better than anyone else. If you're thinking of creating a corporate blog no matter what industry you're in, you'd be well served to study what Trabian and Verity have done here.
Jim also gave it a rave.
Check it out, it's well worth a visit.
Labels: banking, blogging, credit union, design, innovation, netbanker, opensourcecu, technology, usa, verity, web 2.0
posted on Saturday, May 19, 2007
Net.Finance Day Four - the big day!
Today was unequivocally the best day of the conference, and I'm not just saying that because my presentation went so darn well.I got to hear how prosper.com works straight from the CEO, Chris Larsen. This would be such a great business for Vancity to get into. I could see it as a separate spin off with its own discreet P&L. I'd be happy to run it, by the way, in case anyone in the C-Suite is reading this.
My new favourite colleague Shari Storm was fantastic. So much of the specificity of last year, the relevance, the results, the strategies that have been missing this year were there in force as Shari described why they started blogging, how they keep it going and what they get out of it. Great job Shari.
I was third up, and I'll let others describe how it went, but I'm really pleased and proud. I got a lot of great feedback and I know I had the full attention of the room. I couldn't get a break because so many people wanted to ask me questions.
Next up was Mickey Mencin from Key Bank, who spoke about podcasting. Last year I was really inspired listening to Mickey in a panel discussion and this year she had a whole presentation about what she's up to at Key. It's interesting to hear from the FIs who are willing to invest a little discretionary spending into innovative projects that don't have to rigidly prove their ROI. As Michael Seaton said so perfectly, "What's the ROI of a business lunch or a golf trip with a client." Sometimes you gotta have a little pocket money to try out new things.
I also enjoyed hearing from zecco.com CMO Gabriel Dalporto. Between them and propser.com I feel like I learned about business models that decentralized heavily centralized industries. People looking to start starfish organizations to attack the big bank spiders.
But my highlight of the day was hearing Colin Henderson. First off, he's a hell of a nice guy, and he's just so knowledgeable about this space. Great to finally put a face to a name, both for him and Jim Bruene, who should have been a speaker for sure.
Last year it was all about the amazing presentations, but I didn't meet a whole lot of people. This year it was all about the networking. Meeting people from across Canada and into the States who are doing interesting and innovative things.
Okay, I'm done. Ned and I are going to spend an extra day down here relaxing and seeing some sights. Let the vacation start...
Labels: azaroff, banking, bankwatch, blogging, credit union, netbanker, netfinance, prosper.com, vancity, verity, web, web 2.0, zecco.com
posted on Thursday, April 19, 2007
Net.Finance Day Two
So today started off strongly. Eskander Matta from Wells Fargo gave a very good presentation of some of the things they've done for business customers. People back at Vancity will be happy to know that business banking is a big focus here this year, and I don't remember anyone addressing it last year. Some good info to take back with me, including the keynote address from Michael Donalson from HSBC. Everyone's moving on business customers.Also some great new research from James Van Dyke from Javelin Strategy & Research on online banking trends and stats. He was great last year and his info was strong and relevant this year too.
James McGuire from Royal Bank of Canada also had a great presentation, which I'm hoping to get my hands on. Great to meet the Canadians down here, and there are plenty of us. Everyone comments how the Canadian banks are so far ahead, which is nice to hear, though not altogether believable.
At the cocktail reception, I met Jim Bruene, which was great. I've followed his blog for a while and am a subscriber to his extremely useful Online Banking Report. Nice to put faces to names of the bloggers I follow.
The conference just isn't as strong as it was last year. It's good, and I am getting some great ideas to bring back with me, but last year by this time my head was already swimming with new ideas and I had taken a ton of notes of relevant material to bring back with me.
Looking forward to Michael Seaton tomorrow from Scotiabank talk about crowdsourcing, and of course I'm super excited about Thursday. Evidently a bunch of people are leaving tomorrow night, as Thursday's an optional day, but 100 new people are coming in just for that day's presentations.
Labels: azaroff, banking, blogging, canada, credit union, netbanker, netfinance, vancity, vancouver, web
posted on Tuesday, April 17, 2007
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