Podcast 19: Credit Union Innovator Larissa Walkiw

Welcome to episode 19 of Credit Union Innovators. My guest is Larissa Walkiw. Larissa was the 2008 Young & Free Alberta Spokesperson for Alberta's Common Wealth Credit Union (now Servus Credit Union). In this role, Larissa put the Young & Free program on the map with her groundbreaking videos and great blog posts. Her The Difference Between Banks and Credit Unions - Part 1 has been viewed more than 57,000 times on YouTube and thousands more times at credit union conference and in credit union staff training sessions around the world.

Larissa's spokesperson term began on Jaunary 1, 2008 and ended at the end of August 2008. During this time, she created 183 blog posts, 46 original videos and attended about a dozen events. Her work lead to Young & Free Alberta becoming one of the most celebrated marketing programs in the credit union industry. Highlights included winning the Forrester Research's Groundswell Award and Credit Union Central of Canada's National Credit Union Innovation Award.

Bravo Larissa!

You can listen by streaming audio here or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod.

Powered by Podbean.com

Some links to get to know Larissa even better

+ Larissa's year on Y&F Alberta
+ Larissa on YouTube

Fast facts about Larissa

• Where are the stickmen? In a box
• Favorite super hero? Spider-Man
• YouTube, Facebook or Twitter? YouTube
• How tall are you? 5' 5''
• Toronto or Edmonton? Both
• On your iPod? Laura Marling

Looking for innovators

If you know a credit union innovator who I should interview, please e-mail me at tmcalpine at currencymarketing dot ca.

Production notes

+ Interview recorded with Call Recorder and Skype
+ My side recorded with a Blue Snowflake microphone
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Music is A Song for Jake by Oregon Chad licensed through Creative Commons

Leave an audio comment

Leave an audio comment on my Skype voicemail.
+ 1-206-792-9470

Tim

Podcast 17: Credit Union Innovator Christopher Morris

Welcome to episode 17 of Credit Union Innovators. My guest is Christopher Morris. Christopher is the Web Manager for the CUNA Councils, a national organization for credit union professionals. Christopher is responsible for the Councils' online presence, including all seven council websites (one main site and six individual council sites) and communication tools.

Previously, Christopher was Manager of Communications & Information for the National Credit Union Foundation. His primary duties included public relations and marketing, as well as managing the Foundation’s websites. Christopher also built cuaid.coop, the first national online disaster relief fundraising system for credit unions.

Christopher is a blogger at the YES CU Blog and was a member of Filene Research Institute’s 30 under 30 group.

Before entering the credit union system, Christopher was a high school English teacher and is a veteran of the United States Army.

You can listen by streaming audio here or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod.

Powered by Podbean.com

Some links to get to know Christopher even better

+ CUNA Councils
+ CUNA Councils Connect
+ CU Aid
+ YES Summit Blog
+ YES CU Community
+ Filene 30 under 30 project
+ Christopher on Twitter
+ Christopher's LastFM profile

Fast facts about Christopher

• Weather in Madison? Ugly
• Madonna or Radiohead? Radiohead
• Ever been a movie extra? Yes
• Facebook, MySpace or Twitter? Tie between Facebook and Twitter
• Did or did you not buy a My Little Pony castle yesterday? Yes
• Favorite Princess movie? Enchanted
• Favorite Smashing Pumpkins album? Adore
• How tall are you? 5'10"
• Bank or credit union? Credit union
• Army or Navy? Army
• Do you have $700 billion dollars I could borrow? No

Looking for innovators

If you know a credit union innovator who I should interview, please e-mail me at tmcalpine at currencymarketing dot ca.

Production notes

+ Interview recorded with Call Recorder and Skype
+ My side recorded with a Blue Snowflake microphone
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Music is A Song for Jake by Oregon Chad licensed through Creative Commons

Leave an audio comment

Leave an audio comment on my Skype voicemail.
+ 1-206-792-9470

Podcast 16: Credit Union Innovator Jeffry Pilcher

Welcome to episode 16 of Credit Union Innovators. My guest is Jeffry Pilcher. Jeffry is the editor of The Financial Brand and an independent financial services brand strategist with his company IconIQ.

Jeff Pilcher has spent over 15 years as a branding, advertising and marketing consultant, including eight years as brand strategist and creative director with Weber Marketing Group, an integrated marketing agency focused on the financial industry.

Previously, Pilcher was Marketing and Advertising Director with a Seattle-based consumer electronics retailer, where he managed a multi-million dollar budget and orchestrated the marketing activities of 15 stores in three states.

Pilcher has a B.A. in Mass Communications from Menlo College. Following college, Pilcher founded Sharp Advertising in Las Vegas, Nevada, which grew to 10 employees in four short years.

You can listen by streaming audio here or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod.

Powered by Podbean.com

 
Some links to get to know Jeffry even better

+ IconIQ's website
+ The Financial Brand website
+ Jeffry on Twitter
+ Jeffry's LinkedIn profile

Fast facts about Jeffry

• Last movie? Rainman
• Cable? No, DirectTV
• Underwear at work? Yes, among other things
• What time does your day start? 5 to 6 a.m.
• Dogs? Dude, Sweet Pea, Booby, Buddy, Jake, Sparkle, Rosie
• How tall are you? 6' 0"
• What's your favorite colour? Gray
• How is the Dow Jones Average doing today? Down 14
• Last vacation? Fishing in Alaska last summer

Looking for innovators

If you know a credit union innovator who I should interview, please e-mail me at tmcalpine at currencymarketing dot ca.

Production notes

+ Interview recorded with Call Recorder and Skype
+ My side recorded with a Blue Snowflake microphone
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Music is A Song for Jake by Oregon Chad licensed through Creative Commons

Leave an audio comment

Leave an audio comment on my Skype voicemail.
+ 1-206-792-9470

Tim

Podcast update

I have switched podcast hosts to PodBean.com. My previous host's service was always crashing when I uploaded my files and the embedded player on this blog didn't work half the time. After almost a year of hoping it would get better, I've finally had enough.

So far, PodBean seems much better. The uploading and publishing procedure is so simple.

For those of you who subscribe in iTunes, you will see duplicates of all episodes. Sorry about that, but in order to replace the flakey embedded players on all 15 previous podcasts, I had to reupload to PodBean. You can view the complete directory here.

Tim

Podcast 15: Credit Union Innovators has jumped the shark

Welcome to episode 15 of Credit Union Innovators. My guest is, errr, me. That's right, my guest is Tim McAlpine of Currency Marketing.

This is a strange one.

Back on May 30, I interviewed my good friend Morriss Partee from EverythingCU.com for Episode 9 of this podcast series. Well, being a clever and crafty guy, Morriss only agreed to the interview if he could turn the tables and interview me for the following episode. I agreed and then somehow six months slipped by as I had second thoughts about publishing what might come off as a self-servicing commercial for Currency Marketing.

I recently took a listen to the recording and thought why not. Morriss did a great job and I didn't sound too awful or self-promotional. Interestingly, this was recorded one week before we went public with our plans to license Young & Free to other credit unions, so I think I was a little guarded at a few points in the interview.

Tim is the president and chief strategist of Currency Marketing. He founded the company in 1990 straight out of art school. Tim lives in Chilliwack, BC, Canada with his wife Jan, son Aidan and daughter Elise. He is a graduate of the University of the Fraser Valley's graphic design program.

If you are not familiar with the phrase "jump the shark," here is some background information from www.jumptheshark.com.

Q. What is jumping the shark?

A. It's a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favourite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on...it's all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it "Jumping the Shark." From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same.

The term "jump the shark" was coined by site founder Jon Hein's college roommate of 4 years, Sean J. Connolly, in Ann Arbor, Michigan back in 1985. This website, book, film and all other material surrounding shark jumping, are hereby dedicated to "the Colonel."

The aforementioned expression refers to the telltale sign of the demise of Happy Days, our favorite example, when Fonzie actually "jumped the shark." The rest is history.

Jumping the shark applies not only to TV, but also music, film, even everyday life. "Did you see her boyfriend? She definitely jumped the shark." You get the idea.

You can listen by streaming audio here or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod.

Powered by Podbean.com

 
Some links to get to know me even better

+ Currency's corporate website
+ Currency's blog
+ Me on Twitter
+ My LinkedIn profile
+ My Facebook profile
+ My YouTube channel

Fast facts about me

• Weather on the day of the interview? Rainy
• Temperature? 12 degrees Celsius
• Pets? One cat—her name is Ally
• Industry or movement? Industry that thinks its a movement
• First Mac ever? G4
• Favorite Twitter client? Twhirl
• Favorite URL shortener? TinyURL

Production notes

+ Interview recorded with Call Recorder and Skype
+ Intro recorded with a Blue Snowflake microphone
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Music is A Song for Jake by Oregon Chad licensed through Creative Commons

Leave an audio comment

Leave an audio comment on my Skype voicemail.
+ 1-206-792-9470

Tim

Podcast 14: Credit Union Innovator Trey Reeme

Welcome to episode 14 of Credit Union Innovators. My guest is Trey Reeme. Trey is TDECU’s Director of Channel Integration, where he leads social media campaigns and corporate blogging efforts, launching Young & Free Texas in August 2008. Prior to joining TDECU, he was an entrepreneur and the main contributor to the most acclaimed blog in the credit union industry, Open Source CU.

A seasoned speaker at national events for CUES, CUNA, the Filene Research Institute, over 10 state credit union leagues, and even the NCUA, Trey’s topics focus on reaching youth, social media and technology trends. Trey recently authored a CUES Executive Brief to be released in late 2008.

Trey lives in Austin with his wife and daughter and enjoys tech toys, writing and golf. He is a graduate of Centenary College of Louisiana and in 2007 began work on his MBA.

You can listen by streaming audio here or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod.

Powered by Podbean.com

 
Some links to get to know Trey even better

+ TDECU's corporate website
+ TDECU's blog
+ Young & Free Texas
+ Trey's blog
+ Trey on Twitter
+ Trey's Flickr photos
+ Trey's LinkedIn profile
+ Trey's Facebook profile

Fast facts about Trey

• Favorite breakfast burrito filling? Egg, cheese and chopped beef
  
• What was yesterday? Ava's 5-month birthday
  
• Love about Austin? The weirdness
  
• How tall are you? 6' 8" (not)
  

Looking for innovators

If you know a credit union innovator who I should interview, please e-mail me at tmcalpine at currencymarketing dot ca.

Production notes

+ Recorded with a Zoom Handy Recorder H4 mobile digital recorder
+ Intro recorded with a Blue Snowflake microphone
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Music is A Song for Jake by Oregon Chad licensed through Creative Commons

Leave an audio comment

Leave an audio comment on my Skype voicemail.
+ 1-206-792-9470

Tim

Podcast 13: Credit Union Innovator James Anderson

Welcome to episode 13 of Credit Union Innovators. My guest is James Anderson. James is the Vice President, Electronic Services at Michigan First Credit Union.

James has been with the credit union for just over one year. In that time, he has authored an e-commerce blueprint and led the implementation of a new virtual branch. He shares with us his experience in researching, evaluating and selecting vendors for the online account opening and funding applications and also touches on a new check scanning process that Michigan First has developed inhouse and is just about to roll out.

Prior to joining Michigan First, James was the Assistant Vice President, IT Banking Analysis and Project Management with Michigan's Flagstar Bank. He has a background in graphic design, publishing, web design and technology.

You can listen by streaming audio here or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod.

Powered by Podbean.com

 
Some links to get to know James even better

+ Michigan First Credit Union
+ James' LinkedIn profile

Fast facts about James

• Windows, Linux or Mac OSX? Windows
• Where do you live? Royal Oak, Michigan
• How tall are you? 5' 9"
• Future goals? Write a book and produce a movie
• Favorite professional athlete? Richard Hamilton of the Pistons
• Obama or McCain? Obama
• Heavy metal or hip hop? A little of both
• Soup or salad? Salad
• Rather watch PGA or NFL on TV? NFL

Looking for innovators

James was recommended to me by William Azaroff. If you know a credit union innovator who I should interview, please e-mail me at tmcalpine at currencymarketing dot ca.

Production notes

+ Interview recorded with Call Recorder and Skype
+ Intro recorded with a Blue Snowflake microphone
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Music is A Song for Jake by Oregon Chad licensed through Creative Commons

Leave an audio comment

Leave an audio comment on my Skype voicemail.
+ 1-206-792-9470

Tim

Podcast 12: Credit Union Innovator Bryan Sims

Welcome to episode 12 of Credit Union Innovators. My guest is Bryan Sims. Bryan is the 25-year-old founder and CEO of brass|MEDIA Inc.

Bryan founded brass when he was 19, working out of his dorm room and parents’ garage in Corvallis, Oregon. In a high school business class in 2000, Bryan wrote a business plan for a teen investment club. Starting the club at his high school, it quickly grew to the largest in the nation, investing nearly $25,000 of students’ allowance money and part-time job paychecks. After high school, Bryan wanted to spread a message about the importance of understanding money that would speak to young adults, not at them. A few years and lots of hard work later, his vision is now a reality.

Bryan’s company, brass|MEDIA Inc., publishes brass|MAGAZINE, a lifestyle money magazine produced for young adults, by young adults about the money side of life™. brass|MAGAZINE has over 465,000 readers across the country, is distributed in 39 states and currently employs 35 people through brass|MEDIA Inc. The newest brass initiative, the brass|STUDENT PROGRAM, takes brass|MAGAZINE into high school classrooms to every public high school in New York and Wisconsin.

You can listen by streaming audio here or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod.

Powered by Podbean.com

 
Some links to get to know Bryan even better

+ brass|MEDIA website
+ brass|MAGAZINE website
+ brass|SHOW website
+ brass|TV website
+ brass|STUDENT PROGRAM
+ Bryan on Twitter

Fast facts about Bryan

• Favorite magazine? brass|Magazine, Fast Company, Inc.
• How tall are you? 5' 9"
• Future goals? Write a book and produce a movie
• Facebook or MySpace? Facebook
• People with facial hair? No opinion
• Favorite music? Country, rap and hiphop
• Bacon or eggs? Bacon
• What did you do in Maui? Lost luggage and went snorkeling

Looking for innovators

If you know a credit union innovator who I should interview, please e-mail me at tmcalpine at currencymarketing dot ca.

Production notes

+ Interview recorded with Call Recorder and Skype
+ Intro recorded with a Blue Snowflake microphone
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Music is A Song for Jake by Oregon Chad licensed through Creative Commons

Leave an audio comment

Leave an audio comment on my Skype voicemail.
+ 1-206-792-9470

Tim

Podcast 11: Credit Union Innovator Shari Storm

Welcome to episode 11 of Credit Union Innovators. My guest is Shari Storm. Shari is the Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Seattle's Verity Credit Union. She has been with the credit union industry since 1998.

Shari's staff at Verity has been using a corporate blog since 2004. They have found it to be an excellent way to communicate with members on a level never before possible. Their early foray into this medium earned them an "Innovator of the Year Award" from NetBanker in 2006.

Shari has an undergraduate degree in speech communications from the University of Washington and earned her MBA from Seattle University. She teaches "Using Social Media to Grow Your Business" at the University of Washington’s Experimental College as well as through the Corporate for Capital Development’s "Women's Networking and Entrepreneurial Training" programs.

Her accomplishments include participating in over 60 media interviews on consumer issues, teaching free enterprise in the communist country of Belarus, working on Filene’s prestigious i3 team, and raising three daughters. She will also be publishing a book on how motherhood is the perfect management training (Thomas Dunne).

You can listen by streaming audio here or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod.

Powered by Podbean.com

 
Some links to get to know Shari even better

+ Verity's corporate website
+ Verity's blog
+ Shari's website
+ Shari's book blog
+ Shari on Twitter

Fast facts about Shari

• Where do you live? Edmonds, Washington
• What do you take in your coffee? All sorts of things
• How tall are you? 5' 7"
• How many hours of sleep last night? 4 hours
• How long in the CU world? 10 years
  
• What's on your iPod? The Bridge
  

Looking for innovators

If you know a credit union innovator who I should interview, please e-mail me at tmcalpine at currencymarketing dot ca.

Production notes

+ Interview recorded with Call Recorder and Skype
+ Intro recorded with a Blue Snowflake microphone
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Music is A Song for Jake by Oregon Chad licensed through Creative Commons

Leave an audio comment

Leave an audio comment on my Skype voicemail.
+ 1-206-792-9470

Tim

Podcast 10: Credit Union Innovator Denise Wymore

Welcome to episode 10 of Credit Union Innovators. My guest is Denise Wymore. Denise is a sought-after speaker, published author and credit union culture consultant based in Cochita Lake, New Mexico.

She has been involved in the credit union world for 28 years, starting as a teller and working her way up to Vice President of Marketing for Washington's First Tech Credit Union. In 2000, she struck out on her own as a consultant and hasn't looked back.

Her latest work of passion is bringing the Net Promoter Score to the credit union industry. Her dream is to have a standardized tool to measure member loyalty. Her dream is becoming a reality with the newly formed CUSO, the new Member Loyalty Group. If you get the opportunity to see Denise speak or to meet her in person, do it. She is a terrific advocate for credit unions.

You can listen by streaming audio here or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod.

Powered by Podbean.com

Some links to get to know Denise even better

+ Denise's website
+ Denise's blog
+ Denise on Twitter

Fast facts about Denise

• How's the corn in New Mexico? The corn is good
• Favorite colour? Yellow
• Favorite computer? Mac
• Hair colour today? Blonde
• How long in the CU world? 28 years
• Favorite brand? Apple iPhone
  
• What's on your iPhone? Monkey Ball, Bloomberg and Tikibar TV
  
• How tall are you? 5' 4"
• Why not banks? The money for shareholders thing

Looking for innovators

If you know a credit union innovator who I should interview, please e-mail me at tmcalpine at currencymarketing dot ca.

Production notes

+ Interview recorded with Rogue Amoeba's Audio Hijack and Skype
+ Intro recorded with a Blue Snowflake microphone
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Music is A Song for Jake by Oregon Chad licensed through Creative Commons

Leave an audio comment

Leave an audio comment on my Skype voicemail.
+ 1-206-792-9470

Tim