A few months ago I was put in touch with Kristin Rodriguez at Financial Research Associates who was starting to put together a conference about social media and finance. She was calling it Finance 2.0, but beyond that she was simply seeking advice and support to put on a great conference.

Over the next few weeks, we spoke a lot, and she caught on extremely quickly, talking to many of the best and the brightest in the online world of banking innovation. The result is that I’m on the advisory board of what should be an amazing conference at the intersection of community engagement and banking.

Some of the highlights I’m completely looking forward to are (and no offence at all to the people on the agenda I’m overlooking):

• Trey Reeme – Are You a Spider or a Fly? Defining Your Relationship with the Web
• Ron Shevlin – Why Are We Talking About Finance 2.0 When We Haven’t Figured Out Finance 1.0?
• Tim McAlpine – Young & Free Alberta: Integrating Marketing & Social Media to Connect with Consumers
• Ed Terpening – Crashing the Party: Are Financial Institutions Welcomed on the Social Media Scene?
• Shari Storm – Best Practices in Blogging: How to Maximize the Benefits of This New Medium
• Morriss Partee – Perfecting Your Palette: Recipes for a Successful Social Marketing Campaign
• Jeffry Pilcher – Results 2.0: Using Web 2.0 Tools to Achieve Real Business Objectives

I’ve heard many of these speakers before, and I’m looking forward to hearing from them again

My session is called Using Social Media to Connect With Your Community: It Really Does Change Everything. I’m excited and honoured to be sharing the stage with these amazing thinkers and experts.

I am particularly excited to finally meet the amazing Ed Terpening in person. He will be chairing the whole event, and his take on things should prove illuminating and insightful.

I’m also really excited to hear from Jeffry Pilcher. After meeting him this weekend at BarCampBankBC, and catching his energy and enthusiasm, plus after reading Gene Blishen’s review of a recent presentation, I imagine he will close out the two-day conference with a bang.

If you’re looking for a conference on the future of financial services marketing and engagement, check out The Finance 2.0 Summit – Channeling the convergence of social media and finance: Practical marketing strategies to connect with your customer. Coming to New York January 26-27th, 2009.

Let me know if I’ll see you there!