william azaroff | blog

BarCampBankBC2 was a local, reflective event.

2009-09-26T19:39:00.006-07:00

BarCampBankBC2 took place today. Tim McAlpine, Gene Blishen and I decided to make it a lower key, locally-focused event, given the economic times. It took place in the Vancity board room, and about 25 people from FIs and FI-related organizations took part in the conversations. The conversations focused a lot on co-operation, and, as often happens at BarCampBanks, the participants were mostly from the credit union world.

We talked about co-operation amongst co-operatives, about innovating new products, about channel strategy, about pulling together our members' data to help them understand their finances more easily.

As I reflect, I think the main theme that emerged was the implicit or explicit barriers that are in place in our various organizations that hinder innovation, agility and sometimes even common sense. In some ways it was a 'grass is always greener' conversation where smaller organizations envy the resources bigger organizations have, and larger organizations envy the agility and lack of silos in smaller organizations.

It was a pleasure to discuss the issues of the day with some Twitter friends, including @eddron, @wendyholm, @dcesarini, @currencyTim, @pennyminder and @ebrett. Almost all of whom were at BarCampBankBC last year. So, I think we're safe to say we'll do it again next year. Perhaps same place and same weekend...

The wifi was spotty, and the conversations were involved, so there wasn't a lot of Tweeting, but the Twitter tag was #bcbbc2, if you want to see the commentary.

On a personal level, BarCampBankBC2 marks the end of one of the busiest periods in recent memory for me. Starting with buying our house, going to Bologna, moving, launching the League of Kickass Business People in Vancouver, Ivan starting Kindergarten, finishing a major business case to revamp our intranet and bring enterprise 2.0 to our organization, writing an online service experience strategy, driving Vancity's co-op week activities, plus some critical business issues at work and, oh yeah, my day job. Summers are usually a little slower, but this one was jam packed, almost all with outstanding items, but slightly more than my plate could hold. It's one of those times where I'm excited about all the different things I'm involved with, but I've still been looking forward to having some of them behind me and not in front of me.

So there it goes.

Less than a week until BarCampBankBC2.

2009-09-20T10:22:00.003-07:00

We still lots more room at BarCampBankBC2. I know that there will be people from most of the major credit unions and FIs in the region, plus some visitors from Alberta, Washington State and Oregon. Should be a good time.

If you know anyone who works in financial services and is interested in a freeform, innovative forum to learn, share and discuss, please spread the word.

See ya there!

Tim McAlpine's 30 things.

2009-09-13T09:44:00.006-07:00

My friend Tim has decided to create an advent calendar in September for credit unions.

Every day he is publishing one thing for credit union leaders to ponder or implement. Here's how he puts it:

Since September has 30 days, I am going to present 30 things that I would implement or consider implementing at my credit union if I was a credit union leader.

I have been remiss in commenting much on his blog lately, but this series has brought me back. So many good ideas, so much good dialogue amongst his commenters.

What is striking to me is the diversity of information he presents. Here's a sample:

You can see all his different posts here.

Thanks Tim!

And it's worth pointing out that Tim is one my partners in crime in planning BarCampBankBC2. Join in the conversation by coming down to join us.

Trend City Vancouver on September 23rd.

2009-09-03T20:07:00.005-07:00

On Wednesday, September 23, join the League of Kickass Business People for a stylish, thought-provoking evening with Vancouver's leading trendspotters, tastemakers and opinion leaders.

We'll ignite conversation and networking with a panel discussion on what's hot and what's next in design, branding, style and media. Plus, we'll supply appetizers and beverages.

We're counting on you for heated debate and sizzling conversation as you exchange ideas and build relationships with heavy hitters in Vancouver's business community. Plus, tweet your questions, trends and observations on our live Twitter wall before, uring and after the presentation - #lokbp!

GET YOUR TICKETS EARLY!
Our last event was a sold out, smashing success, and tickets for Trend City Vancouver are pre-selling quickly. Get your tickets today to avoid disappointment!

Pricing for Members: $30 in advance and $40 at the door (to become a League of Kickass member, just create a profile at www.theleagueofkickassbusinesspeople.ning.com - it's free!)
Pricing for Non-Members: $40 in advance and $50 at the door

Order Today:
2ndlokvancouvereventsep24th.eventbrite.com

EVENT DETAILS
Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Location: Cossette, 5th floor, 1085 Homer Street, Vancouver
Networking: 6:00pm to 6:45pm
Introduction: 6:45 pm to 7:00pm
Panel Presentation: 7:00pm to 8:15pm
Apres party: 8:15 pm onwards

FEATURED PANELISTS
Kirk LaPointe
Managing Editor of The Vancouver Sun, Adjunct Professor at University of British Columbia and author of themediamanager.com

Ginger Grant, PhD
Digital storyteller and creative business consultant. Author of Re-Visioning the Way We Work and Branding: From The Inside Out.

Eric Karjaluoto
Creative Director and Principal at smashLAB, Founder of MakeFive and design/brand/experience blogger at ideasonideas.com

Paul Melo
Designer, photographer, style-spotter and founder of stylequotient.ca and meloCreative.

MODERATOR
Angele Beausoleil
Associate VP Strategy and Client Service at Fjord Interactive, former CEO of ITP Entertainment, interactive media marketer, inventor and Renaissance woman.

EVENT SPONSORS
Agent Wildfire | Cossette-Fjord Interactive | Flip Video | Vitamin Water| Granville Island Brewery

ABOUT THE LEAGUE OF KICKASS BUSINESS PEOPLE
The League of Kickass Business People is a network of headline stealers, trend spotters, tastemakers, rainmakers and opinion leaders who live, work, play and think ahead of the mainstream. The group was established by Sean Moffitt, former VP of Marketing for Molson, and one of Canada's leading experts in word-of-mouth and social network marketing. There are 1,800+ Kickass members in Toronto and Vancouver, participating in exclusive networking events that draw over 200+ business leaders. Learn more at: www.theleagueofkickassbusinesspeople.ning.com

BOOK YOUR TICKETS TODAY: 2ndlokvancouvereventsep24th.eventbrite.com

See you on September 23!

Two Interactive jobs in Vancouver.

2009-08-24T10:59:00.002-07:00

I always love it when I can post a good job opportunity. And today I can post two.

The good people at Fjord Vancouver, the interactive wing of Cossette , Canada's largest ad agency, is hiring two positions.

The first job could be a good reason to move to Vancouver. The second is a mat leave replacement contract for one year.

Good luck!

Come to TransportCamp on October 30th.

2009-08-22T06:45:00.004-07:00

My friend Jeremy Osborn invited me to an interesting event called TransportCamp: A Sustainable Transportation Unconference.

Here's how it is described on the website:

TransportCamp is an unconference, created for exploring the following theme:

How can transportation be a catalyst for building more vibrant communities in the Lower Mainland?

I love this BarCamp model applied to areas in need of collaborative thinking. I'm signing up.

Here are the details:
Where: BCIT Campus Downtown, 2nd Floor 555 Seymour Street Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6B 3H6
When: October 30th, 8:30AM - 4:00PM
Why: To network, generate ideas, and organize around sustainable transportation!
Cost: $25.00

Here's where you register. See you there.

Go up on the roof with Carol.

2009-08-13T22:16:00.003-07:00

I have written before about the immensely inspiring Carol Schillios. Right now, she is living on a roof for as long as it takes to raise $1 million to support women and their families in developing countries.

What does she want? Simply put, she wants you to give at least one dollar to the Fabric of Life Foundation, and accompany your donation with some small act of kindness.

Video Short~UP ON THE ROOF with Carol Schillios from Jeff Schumacher on Vimeo.

So for the love of Pete, let's get Carol off the roof!

My photos from Bologna.

2009-08-10T07:42:00.002-07:00

At long last, here are my Flickr photos from Bologna

Slideshow below...

And here is an aggregate of all the Bologna participants' photos (tagged vancitybologna2009).

Enjoy!

My final ChangeEverything.ca guest column.

2009-08-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

My final Guest Column on ChangeEverything.ca has been published. It's called Reflections on Bologna - It's all about the Social, and attempts to sum up my main takeaways from my amazingly inspiring adventure in Bologna. (check out parts 1 and 2 of my journey, or all my blog posts about it).

It also gives me a chance to explore the term social. Something I've been wanting to do for a while.

What I know is, it was all about the social. The connections we developed among the group of participants are strong and deep, and will serve a great purpose as we all struggle to make full sense of, and take action on, what we learned. The personal social connections made the greatest impact on me; but I also come back with a greater sense of the social fabric of our society and how it can be both fragile and incredibly enduring and forceful.

So, it's led me to think a lot about what social is.

So check it out, and please leave me a comment there with your thoughts.

The last thing I want to do is upload a boatload of photos from the trip. All in good time...

Register now for BarCampBankBC2.

2009-07-31T19:50:00.005-07:00

Yesterday, my friend Tim McAlpine who is helping to plan BarCampBankBC2 with myself and Gene Blishen, blogged that BarCampBankBC2 is less than 60 days away. So true!

Things have been so busy, I haven't written much about BCBBC2 recently, but I am very excited about this banking innovation event.

It'll take place on Saturday, September 26th from 9am to 5pm at Vancity's head office at 183 Terminal Avenue in Vancouver (map below). I especially want people at local banks and credit unions to attend and join the conversation.

View Larger Map

We're charging $10 (CDN) to cover a pizza lunch and to ensure people will actually show up if they say they will. You can register for the event now.

If you're coming, please add your name to the wiki.

Internet Marketing Conference coming back to Vancouver in September.

2009-07-25T19:18:00.005-07:00

I have taken 2009 off from presenting at conferences, and it's been a good decision. I've really enjoyed being able to focus on work and family here in Vancouver.

But I am making one exception.

The Internet Marketing Conference is coming back to Vancouver September 16-18, 2009 at the Four Seasons Hotel. Last year's was a great event, and this year I'm speaking on a panel entitled Social Media for Business.

The panel is described as so:

Social media is the new hot thing. It's a great way for consumers to share their opinions and interact with leading brands. But how does social media fit in the B2B/B2C environment? Panelists will discuss how they use social media for their clients as well as their own businesses.

A couple of my fellow panelists are the same as my fellow panelists from last year (which is good thing).

The panel includes:
JP Holecka, Powershifter Media
Christopher Berry, Critical Mass
Patrick Schwerdtfeger, Tactical Execution
Warren Sukernek, Radian6 ( who will be moderator)

You can register now.

Cooperation on The Drive.

2009-07-14T16:02:00.002-07:00

I have a blog post on ChangeEverything.ca about something I've been thinking about on this trip I call Independent Collectivism. Take a read.

There is one area in Vancouver that I think comes closest to this model. After several years of living in the Commercial Drive neighbourhood, it strikes me that the attitude of that area, the number of coops, both retail and housing, the defiance but focus on equity, and the Italian roots is perhaps something we should be looking closer at for inspiration.

Those funky areas in your town where the coop bookstore is and the indie bands play may be that same kind of neighbourhood in your town. Maybe there is something we can learn from those neighbourhoods and how they operate.

The last one standing.

2009-07-10T02:38:00.006-07:00

I'm alone in Bologna today, the last Vancitizen left.

It has been an intense trip. Full of experiencing the local culture, understanding new business models, learning economic theory, leadership development and powerful bonding with other Vancity employees and Board members, labour leaders, city councilors, not for profit directors and some fantastic spouses and partners of the participants. It has been intensely social and I leave here with a real love for all of those I was lucky enough to be in Bologna with, some of whom I had never met before our orientation just three weeks ago.

There is obviously a lot to reflect on. What is exportable back to Vancity and British Columbia, and what is unique to this region's attitudes and culture that might not be effective back home? What does Redefining Wealth truly mean, and how do we bring that to life? What role can cooperatives play in our local economy and how can Vancity play a role in their development and success?

Some people started catching their trains on Wednesday afternoon, most left Thursday morning, a few left today. I am the only one who stayed in through Saturday. It seemed like a good idea when I booked the trip. The last time I was in Europe was exactly twenty years ago when I traveled with a good friend who is now my brother-in-law. I wanted an extra couple of days to soak it all in.

But after absorbing everything we have done in the last two weeks, and going from such an intensely social time to being alone, and missing my wife Amy and son Ivan back home, I just feel done.

So today is a day of reflection, exhaustion and a small touch of loneliness and homesickness.

I am not looking forward to a long day of flying tomorrow, but I can't wait to be home.

Thanks for reading my blog. I write my blog as a way of making sense of my thoughts and experiences, and am so gratified and humbled that people find it worth reading. Each comment people left on my blog gave me a wonderful moment of elation. I thank each of you who left a comment, it made me feel connected to you at home, which was a much needed feeling.

Monday, I'm back in my office and will try to just be around to catch up an email and connect with people and projects. If you're in head office, please drop by at the NE corner of the 7th floor to say hi. I'd love to see you!

And now I'm going to do something for the first time since arriving - take a nap!

Where we spend our time.

2009-07-08T09:24:00.001-07:00

In our time here, we had three lectures by Stafano Zamagni, professor of cooperative economics at the University of Bologna. He is a leading economics scholar.

On Monday evening we all had dinner at his summer home in the hills outside Bologna. That day he had been in Rome meeting with Prime Minister Berlusconi about economic models that could relieve the economic crisis in Italy. It was pretty amazing that his day consisted of meeting with the Prime Minister to debate economic policy and spending the evening with a bunch of cooperators from Vancouver.

The next morning was to be our last lecture with him. But our schedule was changed and he was moved his lecture to the afternoon, and then, when the time came, he was an hour late for our lecture. The reason? He was in Rome again meeting with the Pope to work with him on his upcoming encyclical on poverty.

That has got be one of the best excuses for running late I've ever heard.

And it got me thinking: Who do we make time for in life? Here's a busy man, meeting with the head of state one day and the Pope the next and yet he doesn't cancel his sessions with us. He sees the value of his time spent with us.

Are there groups in your community that are worthy of your time but somehow never get it? Are there small cooperatives running on a shoestring that are doing good work but struggling that could use our help as credit unions?

That balance between what is large and what is small, but seeing the importance in each is pretty powerful.

Meant to write.

2009-07-06T16:03:00.006-07:00

I really wanted to write something meaningful today, but it's 1am and I need to sleep.

Lots of thoughts, and I will write up a thoughtful piece for ChangeEverything.ca in the next couple of days. I'm inventing a theory I call Independent Collectivism that I am eager to share.

I spent a day in Florence and one in Venice. Fantastic times!

Too many ideas swirling around. How to sum it all up in a post? I really have grown so fond of my fellow travelers. Having a group of people across the organization aligned in this experience is in itself an accomplishment and should prove to bring some good action back with us.

I add this one photo from a session with a union yesterday.

Photos for Vancity employees.

2009-07-03T09:26:00.007-07:00

I hear that some of my photos are ending up on our intranet, so here are some more of my colleagues and friends whom I get to work with...

At a social coop focusing on integrating people with disabilities, addictions and prison records back into society.

A print shop focused on helping to integrate those with disabilities.

At a winemaking coop.

Randy Johal at a workers coop focused on property management.

A fun moment at a Zemagni lecture.

At a coop making concrete.

At a transport coop.

What I'm loving.

2009-07-02T23:28:00.003-07:00

Just some random notes before I head out today.

It is remarkable having so much time with a group of people spread throughout Vancity. It is a treat to not just be in a meeting or have a lunch, but spend so many days, have so many meals and really get to understand each other. So much of what we need to do involves building networks, and the network we are building should prove totally useful back home.

We are here with labour leaders, the head of a not for profit focusing on integrating those with addictions into productive roles in our society and a Vancouver city councillor. Hearing their reactions and getting to discuss our experiences with them is truly a treat and keeps us from getting too in the weeds about Vancity stuff. If we are to be inclusive we gotta keep it high level.

In other news: I bought a nice Italian suit. It's being altered, so I hope I can find the little shop again when the time comes to pick it up.

The food is truly excellent, and is a critical part of our experience.

The city is really lovely. Over the weekend I plan to go to Florence, and perhaps someplace else. We'll see what the trains have in store for me.

My brain is working overtime with thoughts about what this all means and what I can do differently once I'm back home. I feel a tremendous obligation to the rest of the Vancity employeees to find something useful, not a new money making opportunity, not a short term fix, but something meaningful to help Vancity along its mission. I also owe it to future years to discover something tangibly useful about this trip, so others can go too. Any thoughts? How do you prove this isn't a junket, but is relevant to our organization at large?

Lost in translation.

2009-07-02T14:39:00.009-07:00

It should be no surprise that the models of business reflect the models of society. And yet I find myself surprised.

The nature of a cooperative is that it lives by the seven cooperative principles. These are:

Voluntary and open membership
Democratic member control
Member economic participation
Autonomy and independence
Education, training and information
Cooperation among cooperatives
Concern for community

In Canada this model is fairly rare, with a few notable examples, like the credit unions, MEC and a few others. So we keep asking the cooperatives here questions about how they operate, because to us it seems like a huge deal that they have woven a social fiber into their business operations. Some of the answers we are receiving back delve into tax law and details of their corporate structure and organization. It seems like we're not quite understanding each other, even though the translators are doing a superb job.

And then it hit me - to them the cooperative model is so expected that they think we're asking a different question. We're asking about the model because it's so novel to meet a big machinery manufacturing company doing business in 75 countries making billions of Euros a year and behaving according to the cooperative principles. To them it's just called business.

The intention with which you create a business affects the nature, culture and values of that business from then on. These businesses started with a social conscience and it is a part of how they operate. So they are free to innovate and expand, while making society stronger. It is social finance in action.

The model of businesses making a lot of money so you can give some of it back as corporate donations doesn't resonate here. Companies doing awful things give back money, and sometimes lots of it. That doesn't stop them from corruption and shady business dealings. When the people who work at the coop are involved with its ownership, governance and profitability the need to give a lot back doesn't make it socially responsible, responsibility is part of the very core of business.

My son asked for a picture of me eating gelato.

My son loves turtles and right near our hotel there is a turtle fountain that always makes me think of him.

Thoughts on cooperation.

2009-06-30T14:31:00.003-07:00

First of all, let me just say that, wow, it's been a long time since I've been in school.

We had two half day sessions today. The first was with Cooperative Economics professor Stefano Zamagni, who lectured on economic theory from Adam Smith to today. The second was with Pier Luigi Sacco, from the IUAV University in Venice. Yesterday we heard from Professor Zamagni's wife, Vera, who is also an economics professor here.

Professor Zamagni is a world renowned expert on economics, who discussed the distinction between the political economy, which is composed of the exchange of equivalence of value and redistribution, and the civil economy which layers in reciprocity.

What does that mean? It means that beyond the negotiated cost of a product or service, in the civil economy there is the concept of reciprocity. Families often work this way, in that they will give each other money or their time knowing that they might need to call in a favour at another time, but the deal of that exchange is organic and isn't set out ahead of time. I wouldn't sell my car where the agreement was that I gave over my car but we'd negotiate the price later. With social capital in place, the value of the exchange can be negotiated informally over a longer period.

Lots of interesting concepts here, but what strikes me is that the history of the region created tight communities who cared about individualism. Social capital is extremely strong. People don't care about growing singular large companies, but in creating smaller companies, often as coops, which partner and work together to create the goods or services they wish to produce. Because social capital is so strong, deals are done on a handshake, and contracts are avoided most of the time. Seventy percent of companies in Italy have less than 100 employees, and only 10% are large companies, defined as having more than 500 employees. Companies with 500 employees at home would not even be considered large companies, and here they are in the top 10%.

A lot of what seems to work here is not necessarily directly exportable to North America, which is a less trusting and more litigious society. Having said that, I think the search for partnerships and the building of reciprocity has some lessons for us back home. Imagine if, instead of starting a new division in your company, you partnered with another company to achieve what you wanted. What if these partnerships were tight and based on trust, so not everything had to have an SLA and a legal contract? Would that fly?

Another concept I find interesting is the two models of competition. As an employee of a cooperative, we discuss coopetition when I get together with my credit union peers, and that's what they have here. Traditional companies have positional competition, where companies compete to take the top position, and only one can win. Here they have cooperative competition, where competition helps companies focus and hone their edge to make themselves better, but not to drive their competitors out of business. They need each other to stay lean and innovative. This seems to me like the way credit unions compete back home.

It strikes me that we actually have a lot of cooperative competition at home, but with one key difference. I share lots of ideas with my peers at the banks and credit unions, but only once I meet them and develop some trust. It isn't the default. Because companies here are very small, they are often family run, and the default is to trust because families know each other. The trust is inherent as opposed to built.

Tomorrow we're out of the classroom to visit Imola and meet with a couple of cooperatives. Will write more in the next two days.

Also, my first of three guest columns on ChangeEverything.ca was published today.

First impressions of Bologna

2009-06-28T04:46:00.002-07:00

It is truly lovely here. The city is dense but seems very livable. Last night three of us went out for a drink after dinner, and the streets were bustling, people were out drinking and socializing. But unlike at home, where at midnight the only people out would be young people, often getting rowdy and obnoxious and drunk, people of all ages were out to enjoy each other's company. It felt more like community, rather than older people in their homes and the night owned by the young and inexperienced.

My flight over was uneventful, and I stayed up well past the point of exhaustion to make the leap to Italian time. Last I slept 10 hours and feel great today.

I wandered the streets for a bunch, having slept past the informal meeting time this morning. The agenda today doesn't start until 3pm, when we get a debrief and a walking tour of parts of the city.

I have included some photos below from my first evening and morning.

Putting the BLOG in BoLOGna.

2009-06-26T07:32:00.004-07:00

I'm in one of those odd moments where I'm ready to go but have a few hours before I have to leave for the airport. I can't tell if I'm in a bit of denial, or if I'm good to go, but I feel ready.

It's hard leaving my wife and son for two weeks. That's the hardest part. I also feel a sense of obligation and duty to discover something useful and actionable, yet strategic to bring back with me to Vancity. It's a responsibility to my fellow staff and our members that I appreciate and want, but I know that it's critical to deliver something.

As I work on our next three years online with my WEB Team (Web Engagement & Banking), we've been putting our opportunities into three buckets. The Strategic (this aligns with our vision of Redefining Wealth), the Opportunistic (what will be easy to implement based on other work going on at Vancity, especially in IT and at Central1) and the Fixit (what do we just need to get right). I like this sense of planning, because it creates clarity on what is strategic and what we just need to get done.

I feel the same way about this trip. Meeting with cooperatives in Bologna, learning about cooperative economics, seeing different models of how cooperatives operative, innovate and deliver should give me the same three levels of ideas. There will be a strategic layer that aligns with our vision, where every transaction our members make at Vancity has some positive benefit or impact on the greater region and our citizens. Those things won't be quick fixes, they will require some effort and planning and likely several steps to get us there. There will be some things we can do opportunistically, those things that are low hanging fruit or tie into other things we're doing that we can try almost for the sake of trying. And there are those things we just have to do because it would just simply make us better.

I say all that, but I'm not sure what it will look like. Will those ideas come to me? Will it be a lot of philosophy and great discussion that will be a struggle to turn into action? Or can we get some stuff done?

In the meantime, I've said goodbye to Ivan for what will be the longest time by far that I've ever been away from him, and to Amy, whose support is always so appreciated. I've set my out-of-office messaging. I've written and submitted my first of three guest columns to ChangeEverything, which Kate will publish during my time in Italy.

There's nothing to do except open my mind and go experience something.

If you have questions, let me know. If you want to understand something while I'm there, drop me a comment. Part of my obligation is to you, the people who somehow find what I write interesting enough to follow along. I am eager to engage in discussion about what I am discovering.

Assuming I can find wifi...

.eco would be a good domain to have.

2009-06-18T20:32:00.004-07:00

A year and a half ago or so, I was introduced to two guys in Vancouver who were trying to start a new top-level domain for companies and organizations doing good environmental work - .eco. Their resumes and backgrounds were impressive, and they seemed to really know what they were doing, but still, I thought, what are the chances that these two guys could actually create a new top-level domain?

Cut to last week, and I run into Trevor Bowden, one of .eco founders, and they have made truly remarkable progress.

What? from dot eco on Vimeo.

They just launched their website, doteco.info, which is great blend of useful information and videos about what they are trying to accomplish, ways to participate and help spread the message, and information about their current supporters (some of whom are truly impressive). All in a very nice looking website. Pulling off an informative and good-looking website about a new concept is very difficult.

They are gearing up for a presentation in 2010 to ICANN, or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers . This is the organization responsible for the Internet's naming system.

So what is .eco?

The .eco system will display current, detailed eco-information to anyone with a browser, anytime they need it, anywhere on the planet. It will do this by collecting information from people when they register .eco domain names for their companies, organisations, products, or even themselves and then displaying that information on a standardised, open platform.

What they want to do with .eco is very impressive. They would link it to verifiable environmental action, so those using the .eco domain would be showing off a badge that they had made progress on reducing their environmental impact.

Treehugger has a great article about what they are doing.

They have one major competitor, namely Al Gore and a group who are also trying to start a .eco top-level domain. I'm a big fan of Al Gore, but it's kind of fun to watch some guys from Vancouver put together a very different and very compelling alternative to a .eco domain and see if they can give the bigwigs a run for their money.

I think the .eco domain is useful. A company like Toyota could assume that people going to toyota.eco would be at their site for specific reasons, and they could highlight their environmental products and policies and corporate initiatives front and centre. It could be a form of built-in audience segmentation (those who choose to visit a .eco version of the site instead of a .com), and not just a redirect to a main corporate site.

So check out doteco.info and see what it's all about. It may be coming to an Internet near you...

Preparing for Bologna.

2009-06-03T16:11:00.001-07:00

Things have been coming together nicely for my upcoming trip to Bologna. Just to recap, Vancity sends a small delegate to Bologna, and this year I have the great good fortune to be one of them.

We go to Bologna to learn from Stefano Zamagni, Professor of Economics at the University of Bologna, and visit several co-operatives in this area. The area around Bologna, Emilia Romagna, has 35% of the economy driven directly from co-operatives (it is estimated that they indirectly account for more than 50% of the local economic development).

I got my passport in the mail today, I have my plane tickets and hotel booked. Tomorrow I meet with a bunch of the other attendees to start prepping. I have read some of my pre-reading, including a paper we wrote for the BC Business Council about co-operatives and the part they could play in driving critical growth for our province.

In my last post, I wrote a little bit about Vancity's new vision of Redefining Wealth. I am heartened by the response I got from that. My friend Jeremy Osborn, a local social entrepreneur focused on climate change said: "What a great, broad way to think about sustainability." Not everyone gets this directly. I mean why is a credit union taking on something like redefining wealth?

We are a credit union focused on our triple bottom line objectives: economic, social and environmental. We measure our success based on a blended value in these areas. But we are a financial institution, and as such our objectives have to be grounded in the tools of our trade. Redefining Wealth, in my opinion, is an inclusive, holistic view of sustainability rooted in finances. It isn't anything amazingly new for Vancity, but clarifies our role as a financial institution dedicated to social change.

This vision will drive our objectives over the next ten years, and I'm excited to be at the ground floor in defining what it means for our members, our staff and the communities where we live and work. It also has implications on our products and services, our service delivery experience, our technology choices, our suppliers and vendors... The list goes on.

In my view it takes a triple bottom line approach and blends it into a married value. In other words, a triple bottom line approach can be one where we maximize profits in order to do good work in the environmental and social pillars with our profits. We have always done this in the form of granting. But Redefining Wealth causes us to work even harder to ensure that all the ways we do business have a positive impact on our financial bottom line, as well as enhancing our members' and employees' communities. What if our basic service offering, our sponsorships, our deals made the environment better, our communities stronger and made us money. It's complicated, but it's something to aspire to.

Photo credit - L e l e

My Bologna has a first name, it's E-M-I-L-I-A.

2009-05-19T16:41:00.001-07:00

Next month I'm going to Bologna, Italy. Not on vacation, but on a business trip.

Why is the Web Director at a Vancouver-area credit union going to Italy on business? Good question, and in answering I will be asking you for help.

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My trip will be to Bologna, which is the capital of Emilia Romagna, whose economy is driven in large part by cooperatives. Agricultural cooperatives, cooperatives delivering social services, artisan cooperatives and so on. Vancity has been sending delegates to this region to learn from other cooperatives and, in particular, from Professor Stefano Zamagni, Professor of Economics at the University of Bologna for several years. This year they opened it up to a dozen or so employees from across the organization, and I was lucky enough to be chosen.

My task is to bring the knowledge, ideas and inspiration about what it means to be a financial cooperative back to my work at Vancity, to our employees and to our members. I believe that by combining the web, which is essential to the future of our company, with our cooperative roots we can more fully live up to our potential as a credit union.

I reach out to you because many of my readers work at cooperatives, especially financial cooperatives. The sixth principle of the Seven Cooperative Principles is:

Cooperation among Cooperatives
Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.

One of the things I am excited about in going to Bologna is that I get to reach out to you, my blog readers and have a conversation with you all about what I am learning and experiencing. And what I want from you is to participate. Comment, leave your thoughts, tell me what you think.

Vancity is embarking on a new vision: Redefining Wealth. It is an evolving mandate to look at how we create wealth in our communities and how we can do that in a way that is sustainable and equitable. I look forward to hearing from you about this journey I am on to better understand our vision and interpret that vision for our members and explore what it means (and doesn't mean) with you.

So that's my invitation. What do you think? Will you help me?

BarCampBankBC2 is coming in September.

2009-04-28T20:26:00.013-07:00

I was thinking about whether or not we'd want to do another BarCampBankBC this year.

What's a BarCampBank?

The aim of BarCampBank is to foster innovations and the creation of new business models in the world of banking and finance.

Budgets are tight, and the industry is in a very different place from when we were organizing the event last year. So I reached out to Tim McAlpine and Gene Blishen, my partners in crime from last year, to discuss.

We wondered if a smaller, scaled-back event, with a more local flavour might be a nice idea. No sponsors, no fancy meals, just a place to brainstorm about banking innovation and some amazing people to do the brainstorming.

I am very excited to announce that BarCampBankBC2 is on! It'll take place on Saturday, September 26th from 9am to 5pm at Vancity's Head Office. I especially want people at local banks and credit unions to attend and join the conversation.

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We're charging $10 (CDN) to cover a pizza lunch and to ensure people will actually show up if they say they will. You can register for the event now.

If you're coming, please add your name to the wiki.