Fred Brown visits EverythingCU.com HQ

Based in Western Massachusetts, EverythingCU.com doesn’t often get a CU executive stopping by our offices to say hi.

So it was such a great pleasure that EverythingCU.com member Fred Brown, from Northeast Family FCU in Manchester, CT stopped by for the nickel tour. Fred is originally from Holyoke, and knows the area well.

Fred was kind enough to give us some Credit Union Man™ schwag, including the hat I’m wearing in the above photo! (That’s Fred on the left, and me on the right.) Thanks so much for visiting us Fred!

Seven Thoughts from PodCamp

Seven: Everyone has a story. Every camper brings their own story to the table, and experiences the camp in their own unique way, with their own perspectives, goals and ambitions.

Six: Enable others to connect with each other. It turns out that AuctionWally enjoys Voodoo Steve’s indie podcast. How cool is that? And many folks were not familiar with Amherst native John Robison before the camp. But everyone in his session came away with newfound knowledge and respect.

Five: Help others build their networks. It’s not about the size of your own network, it’s about how many connections you can make for others. That’s why I put the ‘Follow Me on Twitter” poster sheets up on the wall; to enable campers to continue the conversations.

Four: The spirit of PodCamp can be found in the little things. One of my favorite photos is this one of laptop bags lined up against the wall.

Three: The spirit of PodCamp can be found in the spaces. Yes, the sessions are usually excellent. But I learned from BarCampBank SF how great it is to allow ample time between sessions and leave a huge long lunch break. This is what really allows campers to connect with each other, and many times it’s these break conversations where new things are shared and learned.

Two: The buzz spread more AFTERwards. For an inaugural event word spreads more AFTER the event. WesternMass has never had any sort of ‘camp’ event before as far as I know. So even though many invites went out, many did not see the value in re-arranging their schedules in order to attend. But now that we have 14 GLOWING blog reviews of the camp, interest is piqued in a wider audience. So we’ll hold version two in about six months. If you are considering trying to get any type of new event off the ground, make sure it is WELL RECORDED online the first time out.

One: Seeing the camp through others’ eyes. This is actually one of my greatest joys of PodCamp. Being a ‘camp veteran, I take the open discussion and flexible format for granted. But since so many bloggers, photographers, and videographers attended, I get to experience the joy and wonderment of their first camp experience through their lens.

PodCamp WesternMass: A smashing success

Last Saturday, March 28, 2009, we held the first PodCamp in Western Massachusetts. I wasn’t familiar with any “camp” event before Robbie Wright invited me to the first BarCampBank in North America, BarCampBank Seattle in the summer of 2007. I didn’t attend, but after reading the glowing, superlative-laden blog reviews of it, I wished I had rearranged my schedule after all. And thus began my quest of ‘camp‘ discovery. I subsequently attended FacebookCamp Toronto 2, shortly followed by PodCampBoston 2. Even before attending this event, I thought that we were getting to the point where we could hold a PodCamp in the western half of Massachusetts, and convened an exploratory planning meeting with co-conspirators, nationally recognized social media maven Tish Grier, and well-connected writer, reporter, and traveler Jaclyn Stevenson on October 16, 2007. Life, and other ‘camps intervened over the following months, and it wouldn’t be for another year that we held another organizational meeting for PodCamp WesternMass. Finally, we just had to pick a date and make it happen. And boy, did it happen.

Tish and Jaclyn were in their element, getting the word about the camp out to everyone in their networks. A terrific surprise to me was that Jaclyn put the press release out on Pitch Engine, a fully web 2.0, social-media-compatible press release site, and this garnered attention from many in the region.

The day arrived, and it was all wonderful, start to finish. I facilitated getting the sessions onto the grid, and finding the right attendees to lead some of the sessions requested. We basically had two tracks going throughout the day, a beginner’s track for newbies, and a more advanced track for those already involved in social media.

I was gratified that several video bloggers recorded the day, including Voodoo Stevie who even live-streamed some of it. And many pictures were taken by me, Jaclyn, Shawn Toohey, and Stephen Sherlock. At last count, we have 13 blog entries, 6 pages of video, including two montages set to music, 140 photos, and too many tweets to count.

A huge congratulations to Tish Grier and Jaclyn Stevenson for a smashing PodCamp success! May there be many more!

Open House!

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of EverythingCU.com over the past eight adventure filled years. We’re celebrating International CU Day today and our expanded offices with an Open House in our offices in Open Square, Holyoke, Massachusetts. Please stop by and say hi if you are in the area, and if you’re not in the area, please take a second to log in below and type hi. We’re doing this from 5pm to 7pm Eastern Time followed by an hour of Rock Band fun.

Click here to view EverythingCU’s live video stream

Interview with Trey Reeme

Morriss Partee interviews Trey Reeme, now Channel Integration Manager for TDECU in Houston, TX. In the photo, Trey is on the left, and Morriss is on the right. Recorded on Friday, January 11, 2008, while Trey was in Lake Jackson, TX (near Houston), and Morriss was in Holyoke, MA. Trey’s new blog can be found here: http://treyreeme.com

The impetus for this interview was Trey’s leaving Trabian, a web-design company specializing in serving CUs, after being with the company for four start-up years, to work on the other side of the table for TDECU, a $1 billion, 107,000 member CU in Lake Jackson, TX. Inquiring minds wanted to know why, and what Trey is planning next.

Audio post uploaded by mmpartee using Utterz. mp3

Pioneer Valley credit unions are a-rockin!

Just gave a talk on World 2.0 to the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the Massachusetts Credit Union League. It was wonderful to see so many of our Western Massachusetts friends, and the turn-out was fantastic with 120 people representing 13 credit unions. Huge props to Jon Reske, VP of Marketing, at UMassFive College FCU, and the person responsible for my involvment in credit unions today. Jon is an excellent person doing great things for his credit union, which just opened a new branch in Northampton. Thanks for the great introduction tonight, Jon! Also a big thank you to UMassFive College FCU President, Kathy Hutchinson, for inviting me to speak to the chapter, as well as Chapter President, John Buckley, COO, of MassMutual FCU, a charming host. Dave Plantier, President of MassMutual FCU also provided helpful advice. The credit union industry is very very lucky to have these talented and gracious individuals working so hard on their behalf. Also big shout-outs to the other CUs in attendance that we’ve worked with; Jim Nagy and Noella Boileau of ValleyStone CU; Anabela Pereira and Trecia Marchand of Pioneer Valley FCU; and Wendy Tariff, CEO of Wemelco CU. I look forward to keeping in touch with the other credit unions in attendance.