Tag Archives: banking

Make a plan for BarCampBankBC.

BarCampBank BCYesterday, Gene Blishen and I booked the space for BarCampBankBC. I’m very excited that we got such a great space at BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology).

BarCampBankBC will take place in Vancouver all day on Saturday, September 20th and a half day on Sunday the 21st. You can sign up here.

What is BarCampBankBC?

What if we changed banking and finance? The aim of BarCampBank is to foster innovations and the creation of new business models in the world of banking and finance.

It’s going to be an amazing time, and may just:

  • change the way you do your job
  • introduce you to new concepts and innovations
  • connect you to some amazing people
  • inspire you

We’ve already got 16 people coming from some great FIs and vendors, including HSBC, Industrial Credit Union, Westminster Savings Credit Union, Everything CU, Credit Union Central of BC, Creative Brand Communications, Citizens Bank of Canada, Ripple Project, Open Money, Mount Lehman Credit Union, Community Savings Credit Union, Vancity and Currency Marketing. And I just noticed Denise Wymore is planning on coming in for it.

I have no doubt that by the time September 20th and 21st arrive many more FIs and vendors will have signed up.

BCIT’s downtown campus is extremely well located, right in downtown Vancouver. If you’re coming in from out of town, you can walk there from any of Vancouver’s downtown hotels. It’s also very close to a SkyTrain station, so it’s easy to get to from almost anywhere.

All that for about $35 Canadian. So go ahead, add your name to the wiki and come on down.

See you there!

UPDATE (May 29): Thanks to Boris for adding this event to Upcoming.org!

Net.Finance reflections

Net.Finance 2008This year’s Net.Finance conference was the best yet. This was my third annual Net.Finance (not including their Online Innovations conference this past January).

The first year, I was new to financial services, and it was a great opportunity to learn about the industry from some of our leading thinkers and doers. The second year was great for networking, but the presentations were somewhat hit and miss. This year many of the presentations were strong, and the people I met were incredible. It was a great experience, professionally and socially.

The main takeaway I have from this year is that the online part of the financial services sector is at a healthy, natural plateau. Many of the things we’ve been exploring are now in place, and it’s time to execute, learn and improve. This includes metrics and analytics, optimization (A/B testing and multivariate), search engine marketing & optimization, website usability and core online banking functionality. We’ve gone from a period of doubt and experimentation to a period of adoption and execution.

I sense many of my peers are getting the respect they deserve within their organizations, and have roadmaps in front of them to follow. All the while they’re keeping an eye on some of the upcoming innovations, including social lending, personal financial management and mobile banking. I was amazed and heartened by how many more people were open to the Prosper and Wesabe models. A year ago, it was all so foreign, and many people I met at other FIs just didn’t have it on their radar. Not any more.

If you want to catch up on great blog coverage of the conference, my peer at Westminster Savings Credit Union, Ed Brett, captured it all on his new and valuable blog, Small FI Blog. Check it out.