It’s time to vote on your favorite speaker slot submission for the 2008 Partnership Symposium. From the FORUM Solutions blog (some links added):

Ron suggested that we open up the selection process for the open speaking slot to you, ala American Idol. At the present time, we have four stellar entries to choose from. If there are others out there then please let us know.

Please visit this page to view the video auditions and cast your vote.

This is important stuff here so take your voting privileges seriously. Just ask Tim McAlpine. We want you to vote for the candidate that will add the most value to the symposium and not just the cleverness of the video – they are all exceptional so focus on the value. We also don’t want any hanging chads or Michigan and Florida delegate issues so we are asking you to enter your name and email address to validate the vote after you choose your candidate.

Click here to rock the vote.

All of the speakers at the upcoming FORUM Solutions/Trabian Partnership Symposium are encouraged to submit a guest post to help promote the event. Being the not-so-subtle, highly over-exposed credit union marketer that I am, I thought I would just cut to the chase with an old-fashioned sales pitch. Here goes (best read with a high-energy, monster-truck-loving announcer voice).

Have you registered for the FORUM Solutions/Trabian Partnership Symposium yet? No? What’s up with that? This is the hands-down best emerging technology conference in the credit union space. Here are five reasons that you need to stop what you are doing right now, mark your calendar for October 1 and 2, 2008 and register now!

5) The venue is superb! Not only is the FORUM Conference Center an awesome meeting space, it will be transformed into a swank party zone complete with multiple Nintendo Wii stations featuring Guitar Hero and other geek treats.

4) The hosts with the most(s)! Mr. Doug True is a highly connected credit union advocate with a unmatched passion for product innovation and technology. And, Mr. Matt Dean is a silent-but-deadly agent of change. Combined, they represent the new guard of leaders that are making a real difference in the credit union movement.

3) Speakers solving problems, not blathering on! The Symposium features great credit union speakers discussing real-world situations. You will not be subjected to academic 300-word PowerPoint slides. You’ll hear from real practitioners who get their hands dirty everyday.

2) The CU Skeptic will be unveiled. This is the most highly anticipated unmasking since Kiss was unmasked in 1980. Doug has even talked about the Skeptic being lowered from the ceiling amidst pyrotechnics.*

1) Ron Shevlin is the on-stage host. Our resident, lovable blog-o-sphere curmudgeon will be going all Oprah as he interviews the speakers at the end of each presentation in an attempt to get to the real dirt.

Bonus Feature

I had the good fortune of being the wild card speaker last year. Luckily for me, I was the only one who answered the call for entries. This year it is a different story! The competition is really heating up with four phenomenal video applications so far.

I am so glad I don’t have to complete for my spot this year. However, as I stated above, being the highly over-exposed marketer that I am, I couldn’t help but to get involved!

Sign-up today and I’ll see you in Fisher’s in October!

Tim McAlpine

* Unveiling may vary.

Tim McAlpine is the President & Chief Strategist of Currency Marketing. You can read Tim’s ‘stuff’ on the Currency Marketing blog at www.currencymarketing.ca/blog.

Check out two more speaker auditions, both wrought with radness:

Jwaala’s Andrew Taylor

(Andrew is the one on the left)

ThriftyCU meets WannabeCU from andrew taylor on Vimeo.

For a recap on Jwaala, check out Chaz’s Tour of Jwaala’s MoneyTracker.

Members Credit Union’s / CU Warrior Matt Davis

(Matt is the one with the ninja moves)

Thrift - The Rise of the Credit Union Warrior from Matt Davis on Vimeo.

Thanks, fellas!

Also, Doug True has informed me that the official submissions deadline is June 30th, so there’s still time for you to put yourself in the ring. Rock on.

(Click here to learn more about auditioning for the 2008 Partnership Symposium)

We’ve received two lovingly-crafted auditions. Check them:

UFirst FCU / The Boardcast’s Ginny Brady

2008 Partnership Symposium Audition – Ginny Brady from Ginny Brady on Vimeo.

Maine SCU / The CU Loop’s Andy LaFlamme

Thanks to both of you for your awesome work.

Earlier today Matt Davis asked “When’s the deadline?” The answer for now is…keep em coming. The more the merrier.

Do you have one up your sleeve, Matt?

(Click here to learn more about auditioning for the 2008 Partnership Symposium)

Here is the next installment from the 2007 Partnership Symposium sessions. This time, it’s Shari Storm and Trey Reeme presenting A Credit Union Guide to Social Media, with a brief cameo from Tim McAlpine. This episode is packed with heavy hitters.

powered by ODEO

Last one to register for the 2008 Partnership Symposium has uncompetitive interest rates and doesn’t even care about it!

It’s time to start getting jazzed up about this year’s Partnership Symposium! To whet your appetite and pique your interest (and ultimately score your cash at registration – go do it now!), we are releasing the audio from several of last year’s presentations as a series of podcasts.

In this podcast, Wesabe’s Jason Knight speaks on Personal Finance Resurgence. It jams.

powered by ODEO

You can subscribe in iTunes here and download the podcast here.

For more info on the 2008 Symposium, see Kelly’s post on Trabian.com and see FORUM Solution’s site. Here is the speaker roster from FORUM’s site:

Speakers confirmed for 2008 include

• Tim McAlpine – Currency Marketing
• William Azaroff – Vancity Credit Union :William’s Blog
• Jeff Russell – The Members Group
• Morriss Partee – Everythingcu.com :Morriss’ Blog
• Robbie Wright – fi-linx :Robbie’s Blog
• Gene Blishen – Mount Lehman :Gene’s Blog
• Jeff Stephens – Creative Brand Communications

Last one to register works for a Bank! Oh yes I did.

Thanks to Brent, we have a ton of Symposium audio just waiting to be heard. To gain access, just send $1,495 cash to Trey Reeme. Nah, just kidding – it’s free below through the player, via download, or on iTunes. ;)

powered by ODEO

Speaker numero uno, Guy Messick, spoke on collaboration particularly related to CUSOs. You can grab his handout here if you’d like.

We’ll have plenty more to come in upcoming weeks. Check out our Flickr page and imagine you were there.

Guy Messick brought up four Collaboration Killers in his Symposium keynote yesterday; the collaboration Guy was focusing on is related to CUSOs, but I think these four killers apply to any new idea:

• People in your organization who don’t have the time to devote to doing something new.
• People in your organization who don’t adapt well to change.
• People in your organization who don’t want to give up perceived personal power.
• People in your organization who don’t understand the collaboration/idea.

I try to not be one of “those people,” but I always have to work on it.

Case in point, I never wanted us to start Open Source CU.

Two years ago, I didn’t think I’d have the time and didn’t want to change my routine to fit social media into my schedule. I had to get started with my day earlier. I had to get a feed reader. I had to get out of my comfort zone. I had to be transparent about how small our company was/is. But I’m pretty happy that I stuck with it.

This all got me to thinking, what’s the biggest idea killer of all?

“No one else is doing that.”

We’ve this feed to the OSCU sidebar, but for our RSS subscribers who rarely visit the site – Keep up with the show, minute by minute: