Tag Archives: netfinance

Four down, one to go.

William at BarCampBankBCI honestly have no idea what I was thinking a few months back when I agreed to speak at five conferences in two months. Today I finished my penultimate engagement, and I’m starting to feel relieved.

It was been an extraordinary honour to be able to address such a diverse set of audiences.

  • From the Internet Marketing Conference here in Vancouver focusing on general online marketing techniques and tactics
  • Organizing and promoting BarCampBankBC, which was a truly amazing, inspiring and rewarding experience
  • Traveling to Indiana for the 2008 Partnership Symposium which was an event I had been looking forward to for almost a year and was a fantastic chance to see many of my favourite CU people from across North America
  • And today I spoke here in Vancouver at the IABC Communicating Social Responsibility Conference where I got to address a room full of people dedicated to bringing integrity and values to their business models.

I have one last one to get to. Net.Finance East will take place October 28-29th in New York and will be focusing on banking innovations. I always enjoy Net.Finance conferences, as I learn so much and get to meet some amazing peers.

After Net.Finance East, I have nothing until January when I go back to New York for The Finance 2.0 Summit.

Next year, I need to be a whole lot more selective, I just can’t afford to be away from the office and my family this much.

It feels a little like the end of an era for me. I have learned a ton, met some amazing people, sparked some incredible dialogue and really found my place in the industry. If you’re reading this, it may well be because we met at one of these events. If so, shoot me a comment and say hello.

(photo credit by Brent Dixon)

My Net.Finance results.

Net.Finance 2008I received my scores this week from Net.Finance. These are the accumulated scores I received from the people at my presentation on April 14th.

Highest possible score: 5
Content: 4.4
Presentation: 4.7

Comments:

  • Great presentation
  • Excellent concept, illustrative presentation, thought provoking
  • Very interesting. Would have liked a bit more info on how they built this channel
  • Great insight into social marketing
  • Great presentation, just a little fast at times

I’m really pleased, because it means people liked both my content and my presentation style (although I was called out for speaking too quickly, to which I plead guilty).

I now have results from three Net.Finance presentations: this year’s, last year’s and this past January’s Online Innovation conference.

Just as a point of reference, my scores from last year’s Net.Finance were:
Content rating: 4.72
Presentation style rating: 4.61

My results from Online Innovations were:
Content Rating: 4.5
Presentation Style Rating: 4.67

It’s nice that my results are fairly consistent, and people seem to like what I’ve been serving up. I look forward to the myriad of conferences that lie ahead for me this year.

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.