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 and Twitter.
A look back at the Partnership Symposium.
Okay, I really meant to live blog the Partnership Symposium, but I was too engrossed with what was going on to bother. Sorry 'bout that.I know Andy and Morriss live-blogged some of the sessions, and lots of it was streamed and archived by Brent.
One of the main things I liked about the conference was that Ron Shevlin played host and moderator of the whole thing. I'd never seen that done before - Ron introduced each speaker and then interviewed them about their presentation and moderated a Q&A with the audience. It gave a continuity to the conference which is often lacking.
photo credit: Gene Blishen
He asked one question in particular to many of the speakers I thought was valuable: What CU would this NOT work for?
That one question made the presenters work harder to define what is the strategic value to their topic by defining who it would not be a good fit for. He kept us honest, while being on our side (with one exception, perhaps).
Ron's main takeaways from the two days were:
- There are no easy answers - no definitive answers
- Knowing what to do means knowing who you are as a CU
- You can't understand what members and prospects feel unless you are doing the same thing - which means get on Facebook, read blogs, etc...
- Nothing is more important than engaging with your members
It was a great time, and I hope to make it back next year.
Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV
Labels: credit union, partnership symposium
posted on Thursday, October 02, 2008
8 comments
It was an absolute honor to finally meet you in person. You are one of my heroes in the movement, and a great human being.
comment from 
Matt, the Credit Union Warrior on October 04, 2008
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Thanks Matt! It was so great to finally meet you too! So glad we got some good time to chat! Hope we can do it again soon!
comment from wazaroff on October 04, 2008
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I've seen you present this story three times and heard it an additional time in a podcast. Each time, you add to it and make it better and more relevant. Awesome job.
comment from Tim McApine on October 05, 2008
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Vancity is a model for what credit unions should pursue to be - a social force in their respective communities.
comment from 
Michael Hostetler on October 06, 2008
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Thank you William, your presentations and blog are an invaluable point of reference for me. It impacts me socially, personally and on a business level.
comment from Douglas on October 06, 2008
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I had a half-intelligent comment which I attempted to leave here a couple of days ago, but yer blahg software ate it, and now it's gone into teh ethernets forever.
-Morriss
comment from 
everythingcu on October 06, 2008
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Can I be the Assistant Director of Online Banking & Engagement at Vancity?
comment from Ron Shevlin on October 07, 2008
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Thanks Tim, Michael and Douglas! I appreciate it!
Sorry Morriss, Blogger ain't perfect.
You embarrass me, Ron.
Looking at a bit of this video, I see that I pace like a maniac on stage. No one's told me that before. Good to know.
comment from wazaroff on October 07, 2008
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