DCSpring21

Staying relevant? A look back to #AOBA12

2012-02-07T07:59:00.001-05:00

In my next few posts, I'll share some of the key takeaways from various presentations made at last week's Acquire or Be Acquired (AOBA) conference. As you may have read, I had the pleasure of introducing a number of our speakers over the three day event -- a culmination of a year's worth of effort for the Bank Director team. Leading up to the conference, I spoke with many of the participants as they framed their information and insight for an audience of 550+ bank CEOs, CFOs, Chairmen and board members from banks that ranged from a few hundred million in assets to nearly $17Bn in size. Up first: a workshop presented by our friends at Griffin Financial entitled "How Do You Make Your Bank Relevant in Today’s Consolidating Industry?"

The first time I met Mark McCollom, I had just downed three cups of coffee & was trying to shake a long night of travel from my eyes. It was Jan. 30th 2011 -- an early Sunday morning to be exact -- and I'd just entered a conference room in Hyatt's Gainey Ranch in Arizona chocked full of talkative bankers eager to hear from the former CFO at Sovereign Bank and his colleagues at Griffin Financial. Mark, now the Senior Managing Director at the investment bank, was speaking on the first time spot at last year's AOBA -- and I'd been back with Bank Director for only a few months so we hadn't met.

While I'd prepared to welcome everyone to our conference, I quickly realized the time for small talk between the two of us would have to wait until after his two hour presentation... a real problem, as I couldn't find his bio. Thank goodness their Chairman (who was leading the presentation) bailed me out by introducing Mark to the crowd!

Fortunately, this year's intro went far smoother than last -- much needed, in fact, as it was Mark leading this year's workshop. So "taking a bailout" was not an option as we opened AOBA with his presentation on staying relevant to potential merger partners and/or investors who provide growth capital. With a 80+ page deck, let me share some of the more salient points of Mark's presentation (IMHO):

Over the past 10 Years, large banks have typically out-earned smaller banks due to both size & scale + an ability to leverage operating expenses.
Returns for community banks will continue to suffer, with margin compression due to increased competition and flatter yield curves, higher capital requirements under Dodd-Frank and Basel III and more severe risk weighting.
As recently as 5 years ago, a moderately performing community bank could gain access to public capital sources. This has largely dried up in recent quarters.

To the merger-side of his talk, many are on record that banks < $1 Billion in assets should seriously consider selling their bank (or tying up with a similar sized institution). While I know quite a few CEOs under this threshold who have absolutely no interest in selling, Mark did share stats like these:

About 2% of small banks (<$250 million) have sold each year since 2008, and represent about 67-81% of total M&A volume each year, despite being only 66% of the total number of financial institutions
The median relative size of seller assets has shifted upward from 13% in 2005 to 18.5% in 2011 – according to Mark, this implies lower premiums are allowing banks the opportunity to grow more quickly when they do transact a deal and a greater willingness to pursue a merger of equals

While many factors ultimately impact “relevance” for banks today, Mark ultimately believes it comes down to generating the best returns for shareholders when taken in light of attracting investor or acquirer interest. Agree or disagree? Feel free to weigh in below.

*If you attended the conference, you can access all of Mark's slides using the "on demand" feature on BankDirector.com (under the past conference tab on the site).

Posted via email from DCSpring21

Staying relevant? A look back to #AOBA12

2012-02-07T07:58:00.003-05:00

Over the past 10 Years, large banks have typically out-earned smaller banks due to both size & scale + an ability to leverage operating expenses.
Returns for community banks will continue to suffer, with margin compression due to increased competition and flatter yield curves, higher capital requirements under Dodd-Frank and Basel III and more severe risk weighting.
As recently as 5 years ago, a moderately performing community bank could gain access to public capital sources. This has largely dried up in recent quarters.

About 2% of small banks (<$250 million) have sold each year since 2008, and represent about 67-81% of total M&A volume each year, despite being only 66% of the total number of financial institutions
The median relative size of seller assets has shifted upward from 13% in 2005 to 18.5% in 2011 – according to Mark, this implies lower premiums are allowing banks the opportunity to grow more quickly when they do transact a deal and a greater willingness to pursue a merger of equals

*If you attended the conference, you can access all of Mark's slides using the "on demand" feature on BankDirector.com (under the past conference tab on the site).

Posted via email from DCSpring21

Staying relevant? A look back to #AOBA12

2012-02-07T07:58:00.001-05:00

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]The first time I met Mark McCollom, I had just downed three cups of coffee & was trying to shake a long night of travel from my eyes. It was Jan. 30th 2011 -- an early Sunday morning to be exact -- and I'd just entered a conference room in Hyatt's Gainey Ranch in Arizona chocked full of talkative bankers eager to hear from the former CFO at Sovereign Bank and his colleagues at Griffin Financial. Mark, now the Senior Managing Director at the investment bank, was speaking on the first time spot at last year's AOBA -- and I'd been back with Bank Director for only a few months so we hadn't met.

Over the past 10 Years, large banks have typically out-earned smaller banks due to both size & scale + an ability to leverage operating expenses.
Returns for community banks will continue to suffer, with margin compression due to increased competition and flatter yield curves, higher capital requirements under Dodd-Frank and Basel III and more severe risk weighting.
As recently as 5 years ago, a moderately performing community bank could gain access to public capital sources. This has largely dried up in recent quarters.

About 2% of small banks (<$250 million) have sold each year since 2008, and represent about 67-81% of total M&A volume each year, despite being only 66% of the total number of financial institutions
The median relative size of seller assets has shifted upward from 13% in 2005 to 18.5% in 2011 – according to Mark, this implies lower premiums are allowing banks the opportunity to grow more quickly when they do transact a deal and a greater willingness to pursue a merger of equals

*If you attended the conference, you can access all of Mark's slides using the "on demand" feature on BankDirector.com (under the past conference tab on the site).

Posted via email from DCSpring21

Staying relevant? A look back to #AOBA12

2012-02-07T07:54:00.005-05:00

The first time I met Mark McCollom, I had just downed three cups of coffee & was trying to shake a long night of travel from my eyes. It was Jan. 30, 2011 -- an early Sunday morning to be exact -- and I'd just entered a conference room in at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch in Arizona chocked full of talkative bankers eager to hear from the former CFO at Sovereign Bank and his colleagues at Griffin Financial. Mark, now the Senior Managing Director at the investment bank, was speaking on the first time spot at last year's AOBA -- and I'd been back with Bank Director for only a few months so we hadn't met. While I'd prepared to welcome everyone to our conference, I quickly realized the time for small talk between the two of us would have to wait until after his two hour presentation... a real problem, as I couldn't find his bio. Thank goodness their Chairman (who was leading the presentation) bailed me out by introducing Mark to the crowd!

Over the past 10 Years, large banks have typically out-earned smaller banks due to both size & scale + an ability to leverage operating expenses.
Returns for community banks will continue to suffer, with margin compression due to increased competition and flatter yield curves, higher capital requirements under Dodd-Frank and Basel III and more severe risk weighting.
As recently as 5 years ago, a moderately performing community bank could gain access to public capital sources. This has largely dried up in recent quarters.

About 2% of small banks (<$250 million) have sold each year since 2008, and represent about 67-81% of total M&A volume each year, despite being only 66% of the total number of financial institutions
The median relative size of seller assets has shifted upward from 13% in 2005 to 18.5% in 2011 – according to Mark, this implies lower premiums are allowing banks the opportunity to grow more quickly when they do transact a deal and a greater willingness to pursue a merger of equals

*If you attended the conference, you can access all of Mark's slides using the "on demand" feature on BankDirector.com (under the past conference tab on the site).

Posted via email from DCSpring21

Staying relevant? A look back to #AOBA12

2012-02-07T07:54:00.003-05:00

Over the past 10 Years, large banks have typically out-earned smaller banks due to both size & scale + an ability to leverage operating expenses.
Returns for community banks will continue to suffer, with margin compression due to increased competition and flatter yield curves, higher capital requirements under Dodd-Frank and Basel III and more severe risk weighting.
As recently as 5 years ago, a moderately performing community bank could gain access to public capital sources. This has largely dried up in recent quarters.

About 2% of small banks (<$250 million) have sold each year since 2008, and represent about 67-81% of total M&A volume each year, despite being only 66% of the total number of financial institutions
The median relative size of seller assets has shifted upward from 13% in 2005 to 18.5% in 2011 – according to Mark, this implies lower premiums are allowing banks the opportunity to grow more quickly when they do transact a deal and a greater willingness to pursue a merger of equals

*If you attended the conference, you can access all of Mark's slides using the "on demand" feature on BankDirector.com (under the past conference tab on the site).

Posted via email from DCSpring21

Staying relevant? A look back to #AOBA12

2012-02-07T07:54:00.001-05:00

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]The first time I met Mark McCollom, I had just downed three cups of coffee & was trying to shake a long night of travel from my eyes. It was Jan. 30, 2011 -- an early Sunday morning to be exact -- and I'd just entered a conference room in at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch in Arizona chocked full of talkative bankers eager to hear from the former CFO at Sovereign Bank and his colleagues at Griffin Financial. Mark, now the Senior Managing Director at the investment bank, was speaking on the first time spot at last year's AOBA -- and I'd been back with Bank Director for only a few months so we hadn't met. While I'd prepared to welcome everyone to our conference, I quickly realized the time for small talk between the two of us would have to wait until after his two hour presentation... a real problem, as I couldn't find his bio. Thank goodness their Chairman (who was leading the presentation) bailed me out by introducing Mark to the crowd!

Over the past 10 Years, large banks have typically out-earned smaller banks due to both size & scale + an ability to leverage operating expenses.
Returns for community banks will continue to suffer, with margin compression due to increased competition and flatter yield curves, higher capital requirements under Dodd-Frank and Basel III and more severe risk weighting.
As recently as 5 years ago, a moderately performing community bank could gain access to public capital sources. This has largely dried up in recent quarters.

About 2% of small banks (<$250 million) have sold each year since 2008, and represent about 67-81% of total M&A volume each year, despite being only 66% of the total number of financial institutions
The median relative size of seller assets has shifted upward from 13% in 2005 to 18.5% in 2011 – according to Mark, this implies lower premiums are allowing banks the opportunity to grow more quickly when they do transact a deal and a greater willingness to pursue a merger of equals

*If you attended the conference, you can access all of Mark's slides using the "on demand" feature on BankDirector.com (under the past conference tab on the site).

Posted via email from DCSpring21

Point - Counterpoint at Bank Director's AOBA

2012-02-02T16:45:00.003-05:00

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to moderate a point/counterpoint panel discussion at our 18th annual Acquire or Be Acquired conference at the Arizona Biltmore. A fixture on the agenda*, we once again invited four panelists to join me on stage & respond to five "deal-or-grow" type statements by indicating their position (pro or con). Based on their perspectives, we subsequently polled an audience of 500+ bank CEOs, CFOs, Chairmen and board members to ascertain what these officers & directors think will happen in 2012.

Joining me on stage this year were Steve Hovde, the President & Chief Executive Officer @ the Hovde Group, Ron Janis, a partner at the law firm of Day Pitney, Doug McClintock a Partner at Alston & Bird and Michael Mayes, Managing Director, Raymond James. A tip of my cap to each of them; all four did a tremendous job sharing their thoughts within the 2 minute window with relevant stats, anecdotes and outlooks that benefited the audience.

Let me share the takeaways from this 50-minute session. While my first statement -- that the primary obstacle to increased M&A activity in 2012 will the unrealistic price expectations of sellers -- split the room vote, things started to get interesting with point #2. Yup, the vote trended towards a "disagree" position when I said "banks that are thinking about selling would be better off waiting until 2013 when valuations will be higher than they are likely to be in 2012."

By statement #3 -- "Increased bank and accounting regulation will be a driving factor in why many community banks consider selling" -- the vibe in the crowd began to trend toward more disagreement than agreement from the crowd. But nothing like the forth point -- one that had the crowd voting in mass against my statement that M&A will be the only way for to grow in 2012. Almost 90% took the side of the cons. So while we wait for the seemingly inevitable wave of consolidation, it seems to me that this year sets up nicely for all those companies looking to help banks explore organic means to grow their franchises.

(*Here's how this session works: two attorneys and two investment bankers have 2 minutes per statement to argue their position. After that, I open things up to the audience to decide if they agree or disagree with the statement, weighing in via an automated response device that tabulate 500+ votes in near-real time.)

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Point - Counterpoint at Bank Director's AOBA

2012-02-02T16:45:00.001-05:00

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You can find the optimist at the 23 sec mark

2012-01-25T19:45:00.001-05:00

Not a tremendously long post today. I guess you could say that I'm saving up for for our Acquire or Be Acquired conference (that you can follow using #AOBA12 and/or @bankdirector) that kicks off this Sunday.

Recently, I've had a lot to celebrate -- a new baby boy, the Patriots advancing to the Super Bowl and an unbelievably awesome experience of ringing the closing bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in NYC in December. As we did last year, we will again assemble a dynamic group of industry leaders to examine the board's role in lending. Yup, we are all set to do so again in Times Square in early December. So, as we spin up our marketing machine, I'll do my best to provide insight on how we decide to use different tools and techniques to promote our second go-round at the MarketSite. Want a sneak peek of the kinds of messaging we're putting together? Here's a 30-second video we will begin to share this weekend:

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Buy vs. Build -- a decision you'll have to make

2012-01-20T16:10:00.001-05:00

A fun Friday observation: where there is a strong bank & board, we regularly find a Chairman or a CEO determined to make his or her institution better. Anecdotal? Perhaps... but one gleaned from a number of conversations me and my colleagues have had over the past seventeen months. In fact, this executive interest in making a real commitment to the education of ones board prompted Bank Director to develop DirectorCorps. Here's a quick look (with yours truly providing the narrative) at this educational program:

Pop quiz: Did you watch this one minute video? I'm curious, as we find that people are more likely to watch a presentation such as this if it follows six lines or less of text. Now I know I've been playing a cheerleading role for Bank Director here on DCSpring21 for the past few posts. So let me put my pom poms down and tie the above video into today's post.

It will come as no surprise that a traditional publishing model has been eclipsed by a new, digital hybrid one. Consequently, as our business evolves, we are often confronted with the infamous build vs buy decision. Yes, the classic IT dilemma strikes home for even companies of 20 or so employees. Now, we believe our long-term success is tied to being at the center of where our "consumer" is. So that means providing information in multiple formats that can be quickly and easily reviewed and shared. Of course, providing information -- be it in print, online or even in person -- comes at real cost; hence, the decision(s) to outsource projects or add internal resources.

For the online videos we've begun to produce, we are lucky to have a great shop close to our Nashville headquarters -- Snapshot Interactive. With the help of Mark, Craig and Ben, we've boosted our capabilities without adding to overhead. Having initially pushed pushed to build our own in-house team, I'm not afraid to admit that our decision to buy rather than build has proven the better of the two options.

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A-O-Bah? See you soon

2012-01-13T09:07:00.001-05:00

With my last post focusing on the digital side of our business, a quick entry to highlight another big piece of our company.

For the past 21 years, we've been the leading information resource for officers and directors of financial institutions. Chairmen, CEOs, CFOs, General Counsel, Presidents and members of the boards at institutions of all sizes rely on us to keep pace with an ever-changing financial landscape. A more powerful & influential audience base simply does not exist at any other banking organization in the United States.

So yes, I'm pretty proud to write about this hugely influential organization of which I'm a part. Since re-joining the firm in September of '10, I've shared some behind-the-scenes information relative to ways we've improved the quality and frequency of the board-level information we share. From our digital channels to research reports to publications, I do my best to give an insider's look at how a small business like ours operates on a national scale. So its our conference groups turn for its day in the sun; specifically, the "granddaddy" of all our conferences, Acquire or Be Acquired, that kicks off in Arizona later this month.

Long recognized as the premier M&A and growth event, this 3-day conference addresses the most important trends in the merger and acquisition landscape and other growth options for financial institutions. Right now, we are at 639 attendees -- and expect to break 650. Easily our best turn out in the 18 years we've been hosting this particular event. I just saw the demographics and thought to share:

Who is coming (by title)

46% = CEO/President
13% = Chairman
11% = CFO
23% = Outside Directors
7% = Other senior executives of financial institutions

Are they public or private?

25% = Public
75% = Private

(*This is a pretty good ratio when you consider of the 7800+ banks in the U.S., approximately 500 are publicly held.)

Where are they (regionally) joining us from?

5% = West
61% = Central
18% = Northeast
16% = Southeast

If you're coming out to one of my all-time favorite hotels (the Arizona Biltmore) from January 29 - 31, please let me know. With many predicting a massive wave of consolidation in the coming years, this should be an interesting & spirited three days together!

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Video killed the magazine star?

2012-01-11T10:05:00.001-05:00

One of the fun responsibilities I have working for a company like ours is knowing when to challenge the status quo -- or take a sledgehammer to something that once worked but might need massive change. As a design thinker, I tend to think in terms of creating an "addictive" on-line, in-person or in-print customer experience. A challenge, to be sure... as in our massively networked day and age, how quickly we leap from story to story, new to newer in search of the next big client, conversation or company!

So how to engage one's attention long enough that they don't bounce from us to someone else? One of the areas I'm most bullish on has thrown our team for the biggest curveball: the monetization of online videos. Now, I know I'm not the only one who's trying to figure out how to create a sustainable business. In fact, TechCrunch shared a piece "The State of Online Video: Getting Paid for Content" that addresses many of the business challenges we have as we move to a more digital state of sharing. I'll let you hop over to read the piece in full. Just know the cynical line that caught my eye was this: Old media and video: Those who can won’t, those who want can’t.

Fortunately for us, we've been moving in this direction for almsot a year -- driven in large part by an entrepreneurial chairman and exceptionally talented VP of Digital Strategy. While we haven't figured it totally out, let me share a recent example of a video our team produced and just posted to BankDirector.com (it features John Duffy, the Vice Chairman of Keefe, Bruyette and Woods -- one of the most knowledgeable and plugged in investment bankers when it comes to financial services companies)

If you don't have time to view this, John shares his perspectives on the good, the bad and the ugly state of the financial services industry. In short order, he touches on bank profitability forecasts, improving bank valuations and jump starting M&A activity. Tremendously valuable and timely information that benefits the officers & directors we count as core to our business.

So as we continue to consider how companies that want to gain access to this group might sign on to sponsor video series (think TED) or produce for their own marketing purposes (to take advantage of significant cost savings), I'm excited to keep sharing great information like this. And yes, I very much welcome thoughts for how we might improve/enhance this experience for viewers and potential sponsors alike. Feel free to share an idea below.

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What does it really take to be great?

2012-01-01T10:43:00.001-05:00

If you've resisted the web's siren call this holiday season, you may have missed my last few posts on DCSpring21 (A Fearless Strategist & Banks, Look Both Ways). Like many authors, I'm taking a look back at the year-that-was by sharing some of my favorite stories that Bank Director covered in 2011. The hook? Each story relates to 2012 in some practical/specific way.

Today, I'm taking a different tack as I draft my next post about a performance scorecard we shared in our Q3 issue. While consistency, strong management, a deep understanding of one’s core market and careful risk characterized some of our most successful financial institutions, I can't miss this chance to post a more personal question:

What does it take to be great?

Both personally and as part of an organization, I know the answer differs from person-to-person. Still, what better time than New Year's Day to put that question out there as I formulate my next few posts. If you're game, drop me a line and let me know what you think it really takes to make one great.

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A Fearless Strategist (*but at what cost?)

2011-12-30T08:06:00.001-05:00

If you read yesterday's post (or want to pause, scroll down and think about the role of private equity funds in 2012), you know I'm sharing some of my favorite stories that Bank Director covered in 2011. The hook? Each story relates to 2012 in some practical/specific way. Today's is an M&A-play, with yes, a decidedly backward-looking theme.

During the real dogs days of summer here in D.C., I had the chance to cool off in a meeting with several attorneys from one of the country's leading corporate law firms. The guys I was sitting with run the firm's Banking & Financial Services group -- and combined expertise in capital markets, debt trading, derivatives and financial product structuring & restructuring. Walking in, I'll admit I started to second-guess my decision to get an MBA over a JD a few years ago.

Fortunately, the senior-most member of the team put me at ease right off the bat by complimenting our exceptionally talented editor, Jack Milligan. Jack had just written a piece about Capital One's announced acquisition of the U.S. credit card business of HSBC Holdings PLC for approximately $2.6 billion. This was one of the first "big" stories that ran on our just-launched BankDirector.com, and while we track impressions, visits, etc., I was thrilled to hear from folks in-the-know that his piece resonated.

Specific to today's post, several of the partners praised the juxtaposition of an article Jack wrote in 2006 about Capital One's strategy of diversification with his "What is Rick Fairbank’s Endgame?" piece. In their view, his ability to draw on such experience and perspective separates him from many other journalists offering quick judgements while appearing casually indifferent to the past.

To the story itself, the timing of the Capital One deal was, shall we say, interesting. Global equity markets were panicking over the combination of S&P’s historic downgrading of the United States’ credit rating, deep concerns about the wobbly financial state of major European countries like Italy and France and the distinct possibility that the U.S. economy might be slipping back into another recession. So placing a bet as big as this? Definitely a wow moment that Jack neatly summarized:

Capital One Corp. CEO Rich Fairbank is a smart guy, but I think he needs to work on his timing. I mean really, who announces a major credit card portfolio acquisition on the same day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 519.83 point – or 4.62 percent – for an 11-month low, particularly when big banks like Citigroup, Bank of America Corp. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. led the way down?...

...Of course, Capital One had been working on the HSBC deal for months – so the exact timing of the August 10 announcement wasn’t something that Fairbank had much control over. But if you know anything about Rich Fairbank you know he’s a fearless strategist who won’t hesitate to pull the trigger on an acquisition if he believes it’s the smart thing to do.

While the market responds to acquisitions like this early, time will tell if the deal returns sufficient value to Capital One's shareholders. Nonetheless, as I look back on 2011 -- and think ahead to 2012 -- it strikes me that we need more "fearless strategists" like this. Men and women who combine a strong vision with clear strategy, an appropriate appetite for risk and commitment to execution. While we've run a number of strategy-focused or deal-oriented stories on BankDirector.com since Jack's article, this one sticks out based on the happy combination of peer recognition, the launch of our new site and focus on growth strategies during some of the darkest days of consumer + investor confidence.

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Banks, Look Both Ways: Are you Ready for Private Equity?

2011-12-29T09:12:00.001-05:00

Is it just me, or is everyone tweeting about their "best of" list? I'm not throwing stones; far from it, I'm simply taking a different tact and sharing some of my favorite stories that Bank Director covered in 2011. The hook? Each story relates to 2012 in some practical/specific way.

When we re-open our offices next week, I'm going to put a motion in front of our team to designate 2011 as the "Year of the CEO's iPad." From our Acquire or Be Acquired conference last January --where maybe 15% of the audience were geeked out -- through our most recent Boardroom Forum on Lending -- with iPads and iPhones dueling for space in front of attendees -- CEOs, Chairmen and members of the boards of banks must have driven Apple's impressive sales numbers. For a so-called tech-wary bunch, I saw a whole heckuva lot of Apples at our events. Where laptops dominated the conference scene in 2010, 2011 wraps up with tablets galore.

This change in how our attendees consume and share information mirrors the quick changes that banks are facing with their customer base. For example, ever-less-loyal, mobilely-enabled customers are going online in droves to shop for the most favorable rates, highest returns and superior mobile banking experiences. This is putting additional stress on bank executives and their boards already under considerable pressures to grow a franchise, increase profitability and raise capital.

Against this bleak backdrop, private equity firms like TPG Capital, Sequoia Capital and General Atlantic have made their mark as banks seek capital for growth. With relatively few in a position to successfully tapping the equity markets, let me offer up a story from our 3rd quarter issue that looks at private equity’s elevated interest in the financial community (is it good news for banks?). The hook to 2012: private equity funds might play an increasingly important role in re-capitalizing the U.S. banking industry:

On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer: banks need capital to bolster loss-battered balance sheets, meet stiffer regulatory capital requirements or... take advantage of expansion opportunities.

Regardless of its motivations, PE has been there when more traditional forms have been absent. “The industry needs capital anyway it can get it,” says Ralph “Chip” McDonald III, a securities law partner at Jones Day in Atlanta. “For many banks—especially those that lack an active public following—private equity is often the best, if not only, solution.”

Beyond the money, PE firms often bring a little something extra to the party: Merger-and-acquisition prowess, mortgage servicing efficiencies or simply the wisdom of experienced bankers who have been through previous tough cycles or hold other investments, and understand what it takes to succeed.

However, the field of private equity funds focusing on banks has shrunk, creating a more competitive landscape. While private equity industry leaders have a brighter outlook for their year ahead (according to KPMG’s 2011 Private Equity Executive Survey), few have the same sunny optimism for the financial community. Financial institutions are getting hit with increased regulatory costs and rules that lower fee income -- at a time when interest rates are already low. Banks must keep higher levels of capital and better quality capital on their books in the midst of a low-growth environment, while earning less in fees for everything from debit cards to overdraft. Not exactly the recipe for attracting new investment.

Looking ahead, the pressure to raise capital will become even more intense and consolidation throughout the industry will happen (when merits its own column). To be sure, banks with proven business models and established brands will find fresh capital -- albeit at depressed prices. So what PE firms are willing to take a chance on banks -- and when they do, what do they want in return? Questions I expect we will discuss and address rather regularly in the new year.

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Bank Director's NASDAQ Closing Ceremony (video)

2011-12-09T15:14:00.001-05:00

(*Yes, that is me making a few remarks beginning at 3:21 point)

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Ringing the NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell

2011-12-07T16:47:00.001-05:00

Certainly a major highlight in my professional career to-date... closing the market yesterday afternoon. A few pictures courtesty of NASDAQ's team at their Times Square MarketSite.

So how did this all happen? The closing bell ceremony capped our Boardroom Forum on Lending, a new conference we (ahem, Bank Director) hosted in partnership with NASDAQ OMX. With 90% of publicly listed banks trading on the exchange, we felt it was a natural partnership between our two companies. We designed the one-day forum to address many of those pressing questions that bankers and bank directors have about one of their most critical problems; specifically, how to grow lending, and thereby revenues, during tough times. In honor of the occasion Bill King, Chairman of our company, and me (as the Managing Director & Executive Vice President of Bank Director), were invited to ring The NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell yesterday afternoon. An invitation we quickly accepted!

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This is so cool (a look at Bank Director's recent growth)

2011-12-02T13:19:00.001-05:00

A lot has happened in the last year. In addition to adding a new family member (a healthy little boy), I've seen Bank Director grow by leaps and bounds. Already influential with members of the boards of financial institutions when I re-joined, our team has put into practice a number of ideas that bode well for the CEOs, CFOs, Chairmen and Directors that rely on us as their go-to information resource. Let me share some of my favorites:

We began to redesign the look and feel of the company's brand -- beginning with our efforts to prove one fish eating another really is a cool cover;
We've taken social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook and grown pretty impressive communities around each;
Released new apps for your iPad, iPhone and Android-powered mobile devices so you can read our quarterly magazine wherever and whenever you please;
Invested big time in our data sets to become a truly data-driven organization;
Moved into the cloud to manage client relationships and communications of our dispersed work force;
Put together new conferences for CEOs and their boards -- and had them sell out;
Established new business relationships with a number of prominent service and advisory firms keen to reach bank executives online, in-print and in-person;
Met with CEOs of banks whose asset size & market share make me shake my head in positive amazement;
Built BankBusiness.com -- the most extensive directory of qualified companies currently serving the financial community;
Produced three-to-five minute videos that feature some of the bigger banks in the U.S.; and
Created a new Analyst Forum to share macro-level trends with directors & officers of publicly-held banks.

Next week, we will introduce even more to our digital arsenal -- beginning with a live webcast from NASDAQ's MarketSite. We will quickly follow that up with something I'm personally excited to do: "ring" the NASDAQ Closing Bell on Tuesday, December 6th. I'll be doing so with our chairman, Bill King, to close our one-day conference. While that will be really cool, I do wish we could have the whole Bank Director team up with me... so many talented people are working really hard to make 2012, 2013 and beyond spectacular years!

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Oh so upwardly mobile we are today

2011-11-30T06:05:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure if you read yesterday's WSJ article about mobile banking ("Banks Stumble Along Tech Frontier"); the piece looks at the various technologies that banks have invested in -- and rolled out -- without success. One of my big takeaways? The lack of integrated marketing strategies to promote these new services and product offerings once they are available. For anyone who has worked in a technology company, you know how difficult it can be to translate tech jargon and silly acronyms into something consumer-friendly. But dong so is essential -- and banks haven't totally grasped this in recent years.

Ironically, I wrote a piece on mobile banking for BankDirector.com that went up yesterday morning too. In it, I talk with one of First Data's product development VPs to get his take on banks using mobile tecnologies to acquire new customers. He made the point that going mobile as simply an extension of a financial services company's Internet banking experience miss the bigger picture. Mobile is not necessarily risky, it’s almost a must-have. Now, this is the fifth time I've written about mobile banking as viewed by the CEO and board of a financial institution for BankDirector.com; if you have time and are curious to see my latest column, take a look. I'd be interested in your take. Oh, and unlike the WSJ, payment not required to read it.

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Ay-oh-bah: yeah, its almost that time for the bank merger + growth conference

2011-11-17T17:43:00.001-05:00

AOBA (ay-oh-bah): shorthand for the financial industry’s premier M&A and growth event since 1995.

Its hard for me to believe, but in less than three months, more than 700 leaders from the financial community will gather at the Arizona Biltmore for Bank Director’s annual Acquire or Be Acquired conference. Already, we are tracking more than 75 attendees ahead of last year’s record turnout. The agenda is set, speakers have been confirmed, and our conference team has already reached out to set up speaker calls. In addition to M&A, this event provides bank officers and directors with best practices and invaluable first-hand information on strategy, capital formation, deposit growth, dealing with criticized assets and alternatives for liquidity. Why the shameless plug for this event? How else to "justify" posting this new promotional video?

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Investor favor... and banks?

2011-11-10T11:42:00.001-05:00

I returned home to D.C. last night after spending three days at Bank Director's annual Executive & Board Compensation conference with comp committee chairmen, HR executives and members of the boards of banks < $15Bn. At the event (with more than 200 banks represented), discussions around critical issues and challenges ranged from structuring competitive CEO and board compensation plans to trends in employment contracts, evaluating management performance and rewarding CEOs while being fair to shareholders. A few takeaways c/o Stifel Nicholaus Weisel that relate to both compensation plans AND investor interests that caught my attention:

While the balance sheet crisis has passed for most banks, market valuations remain a challenge.
Although there have been recent signs of economic stability, analysts and investors alike continue to proceed with cautious optimism (and in some cases, skepticism) in relation to bank valuations.
Investors are beginning to look ahead to bank earnings and growth while remaining mindful of the continued importance of tangible common equity and tangible book value per share.

Of course, banks have underperformed the general market over the last 8 years. So what to look for in the coming months? According to Stifel's Executive Vice President & Vice Chairman, banks that have the ability to profit off of relatively low levels of growth while maintaining a clean balance sheet. Yup, the earnings and growth outlook will drive strategic outcomes as we enter the "new normal." For those of you that haven't read the latest issue of Bank Director, a cheat sheet of sorts with respect to a bank's characteristics in this new normal:

Low growth (e.g. weak consumer loan demand)
Increased revenue pressures (thanks a lot "operation twist")
Higher regulatory compliance costs
Decreases in credit costs / reserve releases
Higher capital ratios

Unfortunately, overcapacity in a slow growth environment increases the number of banks not earning their cost of capital. Of course, measuring this is proving a challenge, which is even more problematic in that you can't manage what you can't measure.

So some food for thought post-Chicago. If you're left scratching your head, take a look at Stifel's analyst reports and our Analyst Forum. Both offer strategic outlooks for banks in terms far clearer than I could hope to write!

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Normal, Normaler, Normalest?

2011-11-04T13:20:00.001-04:00

The most recent issue of our magazine mails out today (meaning its now up on BankDirector.com too). A very thorough look at the U.S. banking industry as it undergoes its greatest change in a generation. The underlying message throughout this issue? "Winners" will be those banks that accept the New Normal as the new reality. Charlie Sheen they ain't. So who might they be -- and what do they have to do? Take a look...

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Go big or go home?

2011-11-01T11:23:00.001-04:00

Last week, after I wrote about Bank of the West's storied history, a few people asked me how I can see the good in a big bank. Being that several invest in bank stocks, I paused before answering. Yes, there is an absence of optimism surrounding many institutions -- be it public or private, community-based, regional, or large. With this in mind, I just read through a review of Q3 bank earnings from Raymond James; in it, they share an opinion that I wish I had last week:

We are likely about two years away from normal profitability levels, and many banks trade at very attractive valuation levels with estimated double-digit growth rates for net income through 2013.

So if you're a Benjamin Graham-type investor -- who believes an investor's chief problem (and even his worst enemy) is likely to be himself -- than consider the following. Despite "Occupy Wall Street" protests and a general frustration with big banks, customers are rewarding those same banks with an increasing amount of deposits in the form of money in checking, saving and other products, while smaller banks have been losing out.

I find peer set analysis far more intersting to comment on than individual stocks these days. So consider a recent analysis by SNL Financial that found superregional and mega banks, or those with more than $50 billion in assets, have seen the largest annual compound growth rate in deposits during the last three years (at 15.2%). The top ranked for deposit growth are Bank of New York Mellon, Wells Fargo & Co., and BMO Financial Group. According to this research, reported in a Bank Director article (by our very talented Naomi Snyder), the fastest growing banks with $10 to $50 billion in assets are:

Institution	State	Deposits June 2011	3-year growth
FirstBank Holding Co.’s FirstBank	CO	$10 billion	129%
Synovus Financial Corp.’s Synovus Bank	GA	$23 billion	108%
Hancock Holding Co.’s Whitney Bank	LA	$11 billion	74%

A reason to invest in one of these banks? Not necessarily. But just another reminder that while things appear bleak for the financial community, success stories do remain. especially if you're a bank that has 9+ zeros following a positive integer.

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The real bear of the west

2011-10-26T17:07:00.001-04:00

One of the best parts of my job at Bank Director is the chance to hear how people wind up in the positions they do at the banks they lead. Case-in-point, a fellow CODASCO football player (who now runs Bank of the West), was gracious enough to spend part of his morning with me in San Francisco earlier today. The big takeaway for me when it comes to building a career? Its all about establishing -- and maintaing -- real relationships. Being connected to someone through Facebook or LinkedIn is fine; actually gaining the trust of others so they consider you for meaningful projects and opportunities? That takes time, effort and focus.

A bit of trivia for you west coasters...

Before taking the elevator up to see Michael, I spent some time getting to know the bank he oversees. From analyst reports to annual reports and financial statements, I read a lot about the bank. What randomly stuck? Did you know that in 1874, Bank of the West opened its doors "on the California frontier as Farmers National Gold Bank"? My brother, a real student of history, should delight in this detail: the bank was just 1 of 10 nationwide authorized to issue paper currency backed by gold reserves. Back than, it helped people build homes, finance farms, and grow their businesses. Sounds a lot like what they do today.

You know, I like this type of corporate history. With so many rallying against the banking industry, I think we'd be wise to take a deep, deep breath and remember all the good done by so many to make our country what it is. We should also celebrate the American spirit that allows an original community bank like this one to grow over the past 135+ years its customer base to all 50 states and operate in 19 Western and Midwestern states. Oh, and $62 billion in assets isn't too shabby.

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Get the toolbox out

2011-10-03T16:53:00.001-04:00

Over the last few months, I've found myself thinking about how + why certain companies are so much better at innovating new products and services. As technology flattens the field of competition, organizational revitalization and innovation are key to creating and maintaining a dominant position (and yes, I know that is a mouthful). So for all you intrapreneurs out there -- think entrepreneurs within a larger/established organization -- take a look at this "Business Model Toolbox" for your iPad. True, its pricier than most apps I've added ($40); nonetheless, as a systems and design thinker, a great tool to test new business ideas with. I've been using it for the last few weeks while on paternity leave from Bank Director; I've found it a handy app to sketch, test and forecast a number of ideas at any hour of the day. Worth a look if you're in the business of developing new ideas and relationships.

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A sales story

2011-06-28T12:56:00.001-04:00

A good friend -- and exceptional entrepeneur -- recently introduced his own blog: WInning Ideas (Tien Wong's blog). Authored by the Chairman & CEO of Lore Systems (lore.net) and Opus8 (opus8.com), its worth a read and a follow if you're looking to scale your business. I've mentioned Tien before... he's someone I met while working at Computech and studying at the Smith school. He regaled my classmates with the growth story of his former company, CyberRep, which he grew from $550,000 to over $80 million in annual revenue over a 9 year span. I've shared a number of interesting conversations with him over the years since (some focused on cloud computing; others, on the value of social media), and his forray into the blogosphere sparks today short post as I prepare to lead a few days of "sales stories" for nine of us at Bank Director.

If you are like me, you probably have a hard time accepting a meeting invitation that lacks a clearly stated purpose and realistic agenda. So before hopping a fligtht from Nantucket to Nashville for several days of sales meetings, let me paass along some of what I hope our team will cover. I thought to share, as I'm always curious how other businesses run their BD efforts. Without going into great detail today, let me offer the following (with a follow up planned for this Friday):

Purpose of our next 2 days: growing our business AND making sure we support & celebrate each other’s accomplishments.

A preview of what's on the agenda:

We have talked about our best clients... now, why are they the best? (*this goes beyond just what they pay us)
Who are our best prospects and how did we come to this realization?
How can we identify additional prospects... this is an open discussion for sales, marketing and data types alike.
“In your pocket” questions to ask in a conversation... this is an open discussion that should help us network better
Who are the decision makers + how can we approach them? Open discussion amongst our talented team
How do you learn who these people are -- and how do you establish a level of trust so you can develop a business relationship?
What is our "best story" that someone will remember us by?
Dealing with objections... this is an open discussion
What “Plug + Play” tools do we need to be better prepared to make sales calls... open for discussion

I share because, regardless of what you call it, business development / sales was grossly ignored by many of my professors both in undergrad and b-schooll. Sure, data analytics, marketing strategy, etc, is interesting and formed the basis of my academic experience. But cash flow is king -- and sales essential to any and all businesses. While some still wrestle with this, we are all salesmen in some way, shape or form. More to come later this week.

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Untitled

2011-05-16T13:11:00.001-04:00

(*I wrote this post this morning's Bank Director blog as part of my weekly look at how technical trends and tools are changing the banking experience. For more Bank Director posts, visit our blog)

In the mid-to-late ‘90s, when companies like InteliData were promoting online bill payment and presentment technologies, I was introduced to a wave of industry optimism that such technologies would dramatically improve our overall banking experience. While the adoption cycle for online banking proved far longer than many forecast, history may be repeating itself. Indeed, we are in another period of technological exuberance, albeit mobile in nature.

Given our growing love affairs with mobile devices of all shapes, sizes and underlying technologies, it’s really no surprise that mobile banking continues to transform the way people manage their finances. Now, I realize I’m just one of many sharing this perspective; indeed, far more experienced voices, such as Fiserv's CEO Jeff Yabuki, has been known to tweet out thoughts like this:[[posterous-content:FfrDkwkgEIofCHyIhlIr]]

(*April 30, 2011)

Much like the pre-IT bubble days of online banking, I’m inundated with promotional materials from tech vendors promising to enhance the experience of a bank’s customers while reducing an institution's costs.

Ah, the promise of mobile banking. All upside, right? Well, the Boston-based Aite Group offers an interesting counterpoint. Last month, the research and advisory firm published its analysis of the group's mobile banking consumer behavior survey. Its big takeaway: Banks will have to make significant investments to improve or develop their mobile marketing capabilities based on:

The lack of retention benefits from the mobile banking channel;
Potential losses of overdraft fees from balance monitoring; and
Shift in consumer attention towards mobile banking capabilities.

Juxtapose Aite's observation with a recent TowerGroup forecast. There will be 53 million mobile banking users by 2013, which represents an annual growth rate of more than 50 percent. Clearly, this is a huge opportunity for financial institutions to use mobile banking as a growth strategy. According to FIS, another leading technology firm in our industry, those institutions that are not waiting on the sidelines are benefitting in a number of ways:

Attracting new market segments;
Reducing operating costs;
Creating brand differentiation;
Deepening account relationships;
Increasing satisfaction and loyalty; and
Generating revenue.

Despite the promise of these benefits, far more financial institutions have yet to go mobile. For those who haven't, what are you waiting for? And no, this is not a rhetorical question. We'd like to know as we prepare to roll out our new digital platform for the financial community next month, so we might better help you understand the benefits and drawbacks of products and services.

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A look into mobile banking strategy

2011-04-15T07:48:00.001-04:00

(*I wrote this post for Bank Director earlier this week as part of my weekly look at how technical trends and tools are changing the banking experience. For more Bank Director posts, visit our blog)

It’s funny the things that cross your mind in an airport. I snapped this picture of a classic American plane docked in Chicago pre-flight to China this morning. Patiently waiting by the gate must have been 200+ people, 95% of whom appeared glued to their iPad, iPhone or Android-powered mobile device. To say I was impressed is an understatement. Users of mobile technology are known for being many things: patient is not one of them. They want new tools, new applications and they want them today. Maybe I should have photo'd the departure lounge...

From the board room to a branch office, it’s no state secret that today's mobile banking customers expect access whenever and wherever they are. With so many banks investing in new technologies that allow customers to complete transactions, manage accounts, and perform banking research via their mobile devices, one can see why. Mobile banking services -- think remote deposit capture, two-way text banking, apps for locating branches and ATMs using GPS and bill payment -- have become the norm. So how to differentiate your bank from your competitors?

In my next few posts, I’ll take a look at this question. With banks (both big and small) riding the mobile wave to strengthen relationships and add to their bottom lines, I thought to set the table with insight gleaned from our friends at PwC. Last month, the Banking & Capital Markets group published "How Retail Banks Can Thrive in a Disruptive, Mobile, Regulated World" to assess the implications and opportunities created by mobile phones and social media. My cliff's notes:

Social media continues to provide banks with new ways to improve brand recognition, expand customer reach, enhance a customer's experience and introduce new products (for more, see these posts we ran in January about how to benefit from social media and social networking platforms);
While most large national banks have slowed their pace of retail bank acquisitions because of regulatory limits, banks with access to capital continue to view acquisitions as a growth opportunity. Such acquisitions benefit banks by enabling them to (a) reduce combined operational costs by eliminating redundant back-office functions, (b) spread technology investments and regulatory compliance costs across a larger base, (c) gain access to new markets and customers for cross-selling, (d) increase the ability to invest in state-of-the-art technologies; and
Leading institutions are adopting a new customer-centric model to replace outdated product- centric models.

A few big takeaways for me? Bank execs need to quickly and decisively adopt new approaches or risk being left behind. Moreover, by tailoring channels to a specific customer segment or purpose, banks are capitalizing on the distinct and complementary roles of distribution channel, all while managing costs. Yes, this is the land of opportunity, and the applications of new mobile technologies and strategies bears close watching. More to come next week.

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Job One

2011-03-30T08:41:00.001-04:00

Maybe it’s all the traveling I am doing these days, but customer loyalty is top of mind. From American Airlines' advantage program to Hyatt's guest rewards, sometimes the littlest of things add up to something big (e.g. 1,099,622 miles flown on AA as of this morning). So yes, customer loyalty and me have a special bond, one worth exploring in the context of today's financial community.

Case-in-point, I had the chance to watch PNC's president (and head of Retail Banking) Joe Guyaux share his hows and whys of focusing on customer loyalty for one of the nation's largest diversified financial services organizations. A keynoter at American Banker's recent Best Practices in Retail Financial Services Symposium, he talked about PNC focusing on customer loyalty as a means to build a differentiated brand and grow customers while increasing (but not always maximizing) revenues.

As a loyal PNC customer, I made a point of introducing myself to Joe after his talk concluded. You see, from slides on PNC's definition of customer loyalty ("an enduring emotional connection and bond beyond our customers, employees and the PNC brand") to the bank's approach to creating brand ambassadors through social media, I was impressed to hear "the message from the top." Indeed, what he shared with bank execs in Miami translated to the branches I regularly visit in Washington, D.C.

Truth be told, one slide really stood out: PNC's framework for winning loyal customers. Sure, we all know that loyal customers are integral to any business model. Still, interesting to note the elements that PNC defines to build and maintain that loyalty. Naturally, it starts with (and requires) engaged and empowered employees -- and extends to:

A drive to deliver exceptional customer service;
The challenge to protect and grow its payments business;
A focus on earning a "share of a customer's wallet;"
The discipline to maintain positive operating leverage;
Managing risks; and
Encouraging real and ongoing community involvement among staff.

While a number of banks espouse similar approaches to customer loyalty, PNC's rise to its current position in the marketplace reminds us all that customer service really is job one. Seeing a message like Joe's distributed and embraced across a national franchise? Impressive, to say the least.

*This post first ran on Bank Director's blog on 3/29

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A cross-promotional President's Day post

2011-02-21T12:54:00.001-05:00

Earlier today, Bank Director posted my weekly column for officers + directors of financial services companies. I thought to post as one example of how industries (banking, publishing, media) continue to change course. Whereas information like this once "got locked" behind proprietary walls, videos, blogs, etc. take this info. and put it into a new light. For a sense of how I write at work, take a look and let me know what you think.

Last summer, Keefe Bruyette & Wood's released an interesting bank takeover list. It had the usual suspects -- potential buyers and potential sellers -- and a "surprising" third: potential buyers who could become sellers. I thought back to this report while watching a handful of videos from our annual Acquire or Be Acquired conference over the weekend. With so much discussion at AOBA centering on FDIC-assisted transactions (which we will explore in greater detail in Chicago this May), this survey came back to me as it focused on so-called open-bank consolidation, comprising potential deals that wouldn't involve a shutdown by the FDIC first.

To read more, check out Bank Director's blog.

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Where's my surfboard

2011-02-15T07:44:00.001-05:00

A quick post from Washington National airport for all interested in content creation & "the future" of publishing. A tip of my cap this morning to my colleague Mika Moser for sending this my way.

Content Is Everywhere - The Changing Tide Of The Internet

Six Pixels of Separation - Marketing and Communications Insights - By Mitch Joel at Twist Image

It's no longer about sending people to your website. It's about being at the center of where your consumer is.

There have been a couple of major indicators that the world of publishing and content is shifting away from the traditionally held value that you have to drive traffic to one, specific destination. That world has not only changed, but it's gone.

Need some proof?

The smart producers of content link out to the best content. The New York Times has not mastered this, but they started experimenting with this technique a few years back, and many considered this revolutionary when it first occurred for a newspaper website.

Prior to major newspaper websites letting visitors leave their destination for other sites, Buzzmachine and best-selling author of What Would Google Do?, Jeff Jarvis, hailed this concept as "cover what you do best and link to the rest" (February 2007).

Facebook begins distribution of their "like" button, so that consumers can "like" anything on any site (not just within the walls of Facebook). You can read more about this here: Facebook Isn't (Just) A Destination.

Even though the iPad has a near-seamless Web experience, publishers still create native apps for the device.

It was just announced that AOL has acquired The Huffington Post for $315 million (more on that here: Reuters - AOL to buy The Huffington Post for $315 million) and that Arianna Huffington will now become "president editor-in-chief of all of AOL's content," according to the Mashable news item, AOL Acquires Huffington Post for $315 Million.

Don't focus on The Huffington Post part of the equation... put your focus and attention on AOL.

The minute Tim Armstrong left his very comfortable position leading sales and advertising at Google to become the CEO of AOL in March 2009, I knew things were about to change online (and I knew it would take some time). Too many people counted AOL (and him) out. I've had the pleasure of meeting Armstrong on many occasions and knew that when he took on the helm at AOL, things would change. This acquisition of Huffington Post isn't the entire picture, but just another spot on a leopard that continues to change its spots.

Ditch the destination.

If you own media and if you publish content, you need to understand that pushing people where you want them to go in a world where anyone and everyone can publish content in text, images, audio and video is an impossible task. The most strategic move you can make is to now be everywhere you consumers are. Here's what Arianna Huffington had to say about the acquisition of her company to AOL:

"AOL's Patch.com covers 800 towns across America, providing an incredible infrastructure for citizen journalism in time for the 2012 election, and a focus on community and local solutions that have been an integral part of HuffPost's DNA. Check. Original video? AOL's just finished building a pair of state-of-the-art video studios in New York and LA, and video views on AOL have gone up 400 percent over the last year. Check. More sections? AutoBlog, Music, AOL Latino, Black Voices, etc, etc, etc. fill gaps in HuffPost's coverage. Add all that to what HuffPost is doing with social, community, mobile, as well as our commitment to innovative original reporting and beyond-left-and-right commentary, and the blending will have a multiplier effect. Or, as Tim and I have been saying over the last couple of weeks: 1 + 1 = 11."

The new publisher.

You can see by AOL's performance and some of the media punditry that this is a company in transition. It's no longer just about the ISP, the portal destination (aka "the walled garden") and building AOL as the primary brand (regardless of what the current revenue model looks like). AOL is quickly becoming the new publisher. The publisher of the future. AOL owns properties like Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone and many, many more. In fact, many laughed when Tim Armstrong first arrived at AOL and said it would take a few months to better understand all of the properties that AOL owned, and where they fit in the grand scheme of things.

What AOL knows... that others are missing.

There is a sense of both innovation happening at AOL when it comes to publishing and no fear of killing their sacred cows. While many of us have all but ignored AOL, the past few years have been spent shedding the old/non-performing sites and turning the Internet into a world of AOL content sites through acquisition and creation. It's something that companies like News Corp, The New York Times and even Google and Facebook could learn from. Is the model perfect? No. Is the model providing astounding revenues? No... not yet. Like everything else, we need to give this transition time.

This isn't about AOL. It's about the new way content flows in a digital world.

Many people will comment (below and elsewhere) about whether or not this is a good deal for The Huffington Post and/or AOL. I don't see that as relevant to the story as much as what this continues to mean for the dramatic changes in content and marketing:

It's no longer about a destination. The content is everywhere. You don't just have to read this Blog post and comment here. You can read it on Facebook, on a Blog aggregator and you can comment anywhere you wish (on Twitter, YouTube... you name it).

If you're a publisher, you can acquire the content sites that you are missing and leave them be to perform as they are. You don't have to assimilate them into a global brand (traditional magazine publishers do this quite well).

If the content doesn't exist, the platform does exist for you to create it in an original and compelling way. Arianna Huffington and team didn't wait for The Los Angeles Times to have a vision for the newspaper of the future. They created it - using cheap, easy and existing tools.

Local and niche content continues to become more and more relevant in the digital space. Read between the lines about this acquisition and it becomes obvious that the content masters of the near-future will be those who grasp deep niches and hyper-local spaces.

It's about the platforms too. This isn't a Web-based world, a mobile world and a tablet world. It's about how connected the consumer now is through their one-line of connectivity.

In the end, whether AOL becomes the next big thing (again) is less relevant to me than the business model that they are creating for Publishers and Advertisers. As it acquires more and more properties across all of the technological platforms, AOL makes itself very attractive to these advertisers by helping them to become more findable (and shareable) in every nook and cranny of the consumer's appetite for content.

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I wink, you nod

2011-02-08T08:38:00.001-05:00

What is it that people say about best laid plans?

With a wink and a nod towards last week, let me explain my over-eager, overly-ambitious plans to write daily from our #AOBA11 conference last week. With well over 700 in attendance, I found myself dancing from one interesting conversation to the next. The sun came up, the sun went down, and I talked, talked, talked. Tweets? You bet. Posts? Not so much. A classic case of over-promising and under-delivering. Sorry.

So all I can do is set better expectations for myself before flying out to our next conference (our annual Chairman/CEO Peer Exchange conference). Now, I do like checking in from events like these, as I typically come away fired up with ideas for our business, our industry and my friends + colleagues. And this latest one, focused on mergers & acquisitions along with growth strategies, certainly had me thinking in a number of new ways.

So I set aside some time this morning to write. Admittedly, I'm rolling up to NYC in one of Accela's quiet cars, so distractions are far less frequent than when I'm home in D.C. But on the heels of a great three days of presentations and networking, a few thoughts and observations:

1. Content remains king, just the shape of things has morphed.

While some describe Bank Director as "just a magazine," the truth is we're a true information resource. We blend on-line content, in-person events with in-print research, white papers and our quarterly magazine. Social media, videos, web casts, webinars... yup, we're there. Analyst Forums, quarterly research projects... the list goes on and on.

Now, depending on your experience with us, you might look at us as a conference provider first, magazine second, and marketing partner third. I look at things differently. Let's say you're a the CEO of a bank with $5 Bn in assets. Our "core" constituent if you will. You might be thinking about the changing regulatory environment and how it impacts compensation, buying the guy down the street from you, increasing deposits, or getting lending back on-track. These are bank and board-specific thoughts. To find one provider that is focused squarely on your needs appreciates in value over broader focused companies. So the economics of our business continue to rest with the content that is created by the community, and bound together by Bank Director's 20 years of brand and service.

2. Behold, the power of cheese.

Can you guess we're I'm going with this? Here's a hint: it goes to the value of your network, and the chance to make a real positive first impression. The corollary: if you're tacky, you're a goner. Period. That applies for online behavior as well as in-person presentations and conversations. Cheesy might be memorable... its also forms a lasting impression. Admittedly, we're in a period of massive investment in a lot of things that people will not see until mid-year, so you might cast stones at our online aesthetic. But for what people can and did see at our "Acquire or Be Acquired" conference? A 1st class conference and dynamic Bank Director team. (For anyone that has seen a team come together in a few months will know what I'm talking about... I am so proud of our entire team for bringing their A games to the desert. They rocked the conference -- gracious, professional and enthusiastic. What a great group to work with).

3. Take it to the bank: know what you're good at -- and than do it over and over and over again.

Some of our best relationships involve major investment banks, consulting firms, law firms and accounting firms. They know what they do best, and rather than stray from their area of expertise, they work like crazy to make sure what they present matches up to what they deliver. While we continue to add to our portfolio of online resources (check out the beta version of BanBusiness.com and our blog.bankdirector.com), we're ruthlessly focused on serving the needs of CEOs, CFOs, key management and board members of financial services companies. We are not going to dip too far down in the information we provide, conferences we host or research we conduct. For example, while the heads of retail banking benefit from the information we provide, they do so because our focus centers on what their boss -- and his board -- need to know.

##

I mentioned in this post that we're growing our business in a number of ways. As we design and develop Bank Director "2.0" we're looking for some sharp, ambitious and fun people to join our team. In the spirit of today's post, let me share two openings: one for our conference team, the other, for sales in the Southeast.

For the conference position, we're looking for someone to work in our Brentwood, TN office (just outside of Nashville). I can see an extrovert thriving in this role, as he/she will be traveling to all of our conferences throughout the year, working with sponsors and speakers throughout the year, and helping develop and market agendas and conference materials. Detail oriented folks with a creative/marketing inclination will have a lot of fun here.

For the sales role, we're keen to find someone that can call on the service providers and product companies that support the financial community. We're going to carve out a nice territory -- I'm thinking south of D.C. and as far west as all of Texas. I'm happy to talk with folks about either spot. Drop me a line below or shoot me a note on LinkedIn or Twitter.

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Oh, the places we go

2011-01-29T11:28:00.001-05:00

Sitting in an Admirals Club always brings out the grown-up in me. I don't know what it is, but my many years of flying haven't dulled my appreciation for a comfortable chair, cup of coffee and warm receptions from the staff. Now, I'm posting this not from my favorite airport resting spot (that would be DCA's club), but one of the more spacious -- terminal C's in DFW.

All dressed up and somewhere to go -- that's the way to get out of bed on an early Saturday morning, right?

Kissing my wife goodbye this morning, I couldn't help but think about the funny twists and turns life throws at you. Heading out to Scottsdale, AZ for Bank Director's 17th annual Acquire or Be Acquired conference is nothing new for me; in fact, this is my 7th trip for this growth-focused three day event. But it is a wee bit different returning in my current capacity -- where I'll have the chance to thank the 700+ attendees, introduce some of our best clients, etc. -- than back in the late 90s when I was fresh out of W&L and so poor I consistently found myself borrowing banker-appropriate Brooks Brothers ties from my Dad (as if he was the store and I its best customer).

While a golden fleece did not make the trip this year, memories of past conferences did. I distinctly remember this being an event brimming with optimism, with deals being made (or discussed) by the various CEOs and Chairmen of financia services companies in attendance. Year after year, I was fascinated by the quality of presentations and discussions that addressed some of the most critical and timely issues facing banks. In fact, being a part of an event like this one convinced me to get my MBA (to keep pace / advance with a degree in Politics just wasn't cutting it).

Of course, when I left for the tech world in 2005, our country's financial institutions appeared on solid ground. Well, we all know what's transpired between than and now. That said, the enthusiasm I had for this conference still exists -- and it appears that perspective is returning to industry too. The U.S. economy seems to be on a more solid footing -- the industry’s asset quality has finally stabilized, buyers and seller alike are more confident about doing deals, and lo-an-behold, failed banks like BankUnited are going public. According to our editor, the normal demand from potential sellers who were bottled up in 2007 and 2008 – when the recession acted like a cork – should help drive deal volume in 2011. So yes, I'm keen to get out to the Hyatt Regency and get down to business. And as I roll up my sleeves, I'll be sure to post thoughts to DCSpring21 and tweet about things using #AOBA11 as the hashtag.

For those keeping track at home, I'm adding to my 1,078,059 miles flown on AA this weekend. A sickness I attribute to my dear-old-dad, who has banked a mere 6.5 million. Oh, the places we go (w/ today's title a nod to the children's book that adorns many a nightstand)...

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Mangia

2011-01-26T11:56:00.001-05:00

These days, a lot of what I write on DCSpring21 centers on the media + publishing industry. While tempted to throw a few screenshots of the in-development BankDirector.com up today (to juxtapose where we are with where we're going), let me instead share the latest digital issue of Bank Director magazine and a "programming note" for the next week to ten days.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Starting on Saturday, I'll be in Scottsdale, Arizona for our 17th annual Acquire or Be Acquired conference. Long recognized as the premier M&A and growth event for Chairman and CEOs of financial services companies, I'll be sharing thoughts from our 3 day conference via Twitter, LinkedIn and on this site. Corresponding to what I write? Our team of writers and bloggers will be posting to our official blog too.

Now, with so much time and attention being placed on the digital nature of our business, I think this is an ideal time to remember that information resources like ours, thrive, in part, on the quality of content that is both created and shared at events like this one. So if you're interested in growth strategies, merger and acquisition ideas or what the leading investment banks, consulting firms and legal advisors believe is on tap for 2011, be sure to check back regularly.

Need more? Here's the plan:

On Saturday morning, I fly into the desert from Washington. At some point that day, I'll set the table for the coming discussions with a post on what I'm expecting + looking forward to learning;

During the day on Sunday, I'll check in with some observations (and possibly a video) from the conference. We have well over 700 attending -- a record number for this event -- so I'm excited to think about the idea sharing and Q+A;

On Monday, I'll be introducing various speakers. Over the last few months, a number of investment bankers have shared with me their sense of a coming "wave of deals." As I'll be introducing a number of them, I'll try to share some of their quantitative data as part of my post;

Tuesday sees the curtain come down on the conference. Before heading out to our golf tournament, I'm going to put some info. up from a few of the morning presentations;

Finally, on Wednesday, I'll test American's WiFi capabilities and put into words the trends I think readers of this blog would be interested in.

So at the very least, you have a framework for the next five Bank Director-inspired posts. If you're attending the conference and want to talk -- or have a few ideas about what might make it onto this site -- drop me a comment below and I'll make sure that we connect.

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Stop treating people like prospects

2011-01-23T07:57:00.001-05:00

Recently, I've found myself talking with a number of friends and colleagues about the value of networking (both in the classic, look-you-in-the-eye sense + the digitally-inspired, tweet-driven one) vis-a-vis branding. Take a step with me and acknowledge that in some ways, we are all marketers. This doesn't necessarily box you into a creative world; it does, however, put your online activities and networking quests into a more appropriate light.

I'm thinking a lot about branding, networking and the customer experience these days. Maybe its not surprising given my job -- or the fact that I'll be packing my bags for an M&A conference we will host for more than 700 executives from the financial services community next weekend. And yes, I'll admit that preparing to head to Arizona as a host + speaker requires a few more "connecting of the dots" before I'm ready to start shaking hands or walking the stage.

So let me share a few thoughts on social networking vs. traditional meet and greets. The two aren't as dissimilar as you might want to make them. Now, Bank Director recently ran a five part series on social media authored by yours-truly. Sharing where I see value for today's financial services executive was fun and rewarding -- and ties nicely into today's post. Over the course of a month, I had a chance to think about the fundamentals and offer why some need to care about newer trends and social media technologies. With so many just now getting into the social media game, I also took a look at how some banks successfully incorporated social media into their institutions way of doing business. And I wrapped things up by reminding of the need to be both authentic and transparent -- and what might be ahead in 2011.

So against that work, let me pay forward five points on in-person networking that my executive coach recently shared with me. Draw all the parallels to social networking you will:

Your goal at any networking event is TO BE MEMORABLE (not to meet 4 CEO’s). Nothing else matters.
If your follow up fails, your networking fails.
Walk into a room filled with people and see it as islands…groups of people, not a sea of people. This makes it more bite size.
Nobody cares about your message, they care about themeselves.
Fight your instincts to talk too much.

See the connections? Its the quality of the conversations, not quantity of business cards you take home or names you count as friend, followers. When I think of networking in general, I don't see it as selling. Branding? Yes. Relationship building? Absolutely.

Here's a question I posed via Quora earlier today: what is the most thought-provoking question that you have been asked while networking at a conference? As I get myself ready for my trip west, I'd appreciate what's made someone else memorable to you. Feel free to comment below -- on answer on Quora at http://qr.ae/FWG7

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Quriouser and Curiouser

2011-01-20T10:04:00.001-05:00

With Bloomberg typically running on my iPad throughout the day, I’ll admit to being something of an information junky. In fact, one of the true joys of my job is learning about what's new and now -- the convergence of content creation with technology trends and tools being a current area of focus + interest. I've also been working with an exceptional executive coach for 2+ years (R.B., take a bow) and have become a fan of Q-storming as a method to tackling big, sometimes ambiguous, challenges.

So, as I sit in Amtrak's quiet car noticing a glut of mobile toys (an iPad in seemingly everyone's hand) the thought for today's post came to mind. Are you on Quora?

Described by some as a cross between LinkedIn and Twitter, I believe you can find me at quora.com/Al-Dominick. Yes, I have the same preliminary feelings for this site that I had for Twitter a few years ago. Namely, isn't this just a platform for PR professionals and out of work web designers? (No offense to either group; simply noticing a fair amount of UX/UI types looking to get on a yCombinator team.) But if it blooms as a resource to those of us in the media and financial communities, what better time that now to see how it might be put to practical use. If you feel passionately one way or the other, I'd be interested to hear before suggesting it to some of the editorial folks that work with me.

I can't pass up the opportunity to wish a long-lost (but never forgotten) friend congratulations on her engagement and upcoming wedding. Nicole Baxter, if you're reading this, Aimee and I are so happy for you! Seems like many, many years ago that we were taking the Back Bay by winter storm. Congratulations!!

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Let's Go Pats!

2011-01-16T13:34:00.001-05:00

As I get set for this afternoon's Patriots/Jets game (breaking out my lucky Nomar tee shirt), ESPN.com shared a tidbit worth passing on. Instead of X's and O's or bombastic statements by overweight head coaches, it shares one of three simple words that welcome all New England players to Gillette Stadium. It reads "stay hungry, stay humble." It's been the team's mantra this entire season.

Appropriate for businesses of any size, I will admit its also provides a convenient excuse to fly the colors of my favorite NFL team today and close as I opened. Say it with me: Let's Go Pats!

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Chomping at the bit

2011-01-02T18:50:00.001-05:00

A new year, new style, new attitude...

In my first entry, I shared an observation and posed a philosophical question:

...many people simply parrot the perspectives and opinions of their peers, colleagues, or elders. Why is this? We are fortunate to have access to a wealth of ideas and information. By defining, articulating, and sharing our own points of view, I believe we can help each other sift through the superfluous and capitalize on the relevant and interesting.

271 posts and 200,546 views later, I continue to delight in sharing my own ideas with people via this site, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. But like all things in life, change is a constant. So what better time than New Year's weekend to share a "new" direction for DCSpring21.

While proud of what I've written, the spirit that guided my early posts convinced me that the time is now to shift my focus from new business opportunities and emerging technologies to the convergence of media, entertainment and technology. Yes, some is professionally driven (one of my major accomplishments in 2010 was making the move to join one of the country's leading information resources in the financial services community). Some is personality-driven (an appetite to be a part of maturing social media technologies and platforms that are creating significant shifts in online social + commercial activity). All told, I'm excited to explore the ways that people are keeping their organizations flexible, nimble, relevant and responsive to the new economic environment that is taking shape.

When the data is the social graph of 500 million people, there are a lot of lenses through which you can view it. One that piqued my curiosity was the locality of friendship (c/o Facebook). I wonder if any of my Kiwi-family, London-based sisters and South African friends might be reading today's column?

Since that first post, I’ve aspired to write this with a clarity, economy, and element of humor; rest assured, that will not change. What will concerns the underlying focus of this site. By providing an insider's look at the applications, technologies and business models behind the media/publishing revolution that is transforming the ways people interact and how business is being conducted, I believe I can honor my initial vision for creating this site.

So my sincere thanks for following DCSpring21; I believe the best is yet to come.

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New year (almost), new #DCSpring21 logo

2010-12-24T14:31:00.001-05:00

One of the benefits of spending the last week in southern California? The record-breaking rainfall allowed me the chance to catch up on a few design-minded stories. Feeling inspired, I've made a pretty radical change of DCSpring21's logo (yup, the one right above this post). While I gave real thought to changing the name of the blog, I ultimately decided to blend the District of Columbia's flag with my lucky number to render this new logo for the site. So out with the old, and in with the new. Hope you like it!

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Taking my talents to California

2010-12-17T22:36:00.001-05:00

With the east coast snuggling into winter's cold embrace, what better time to pack my bags and take my family west for a couple of weeks? While I do plan on tinkering with DCSpring21 to improve the look, feel and content for 2011, I'm not sure I'll have the opportunity to post again before Santa makes his annul appearance. So before boarding yet another American Airlines flight, a simple note to wish one + all a very merry Christmas and a very happy New Year.

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Taking a Time Out on social media?

2010-12-13T10:28:00.001-05:00

The current issue of Time Out New York's cover poses the unthinkable! Is social media bad for NYC? From Facebook to Twitter, Foursquare and on, the magazine looks at how these tools are changing the way people go out. Why? Wel...

New Yorkers have an ingrained need to be early trend-spotters and loud flag-wavers, whether we’re extolling bacon as a dessert ingredient or proclaiming the surprising style and comfort of skinny jeans. It’s this collective personality trait that has made us social-media obsessives. Not only do we want to be more culturally advanced than anyone, anywhere, we want everyone else to know it. And we can now broadcast this like never before.

So I thought to share the link before Bank Director posts the first of five columns I'm writing on social media as a communication channel that many/most banks have failed to leverage. The focus of those posts look at why today’s financial executives and directors should care about social media -- and how can they make it work for their institutions. This one on DCSpring21? A chance to ask if social media is "saving or ruining" NYC. Thoughts?

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Awakening the imagination

2010-12-06T07:15:00.001-05:00

Good Boy (Little Orphan at the Train) | Good Housekeeping, May 1951

In our massively connected day and age, how quickly we leap from story to story, new to newer in search of the next big thing. And no I'm not throwing stones -- nor channeling Michael Lewis; I'm as guilt as the next when it comes to focusing my writing on sophisticated design and technology services that people use to translate ideas into engaging, intelligent and innovate assets and experiences. So it was remarkably refreshing to stand under the three words that make up today's title and appreciate the brilliance of Norman Rockwell.

With 57 of his paintings and drawings lining the walls at the American Art Museum here in D.C., quite an exhibition of Rockwell's idealized view of America. Evoking "love of country, small town values, children growing up, unlikely heroes, acts of imagination and life’s ironies," this master storyteller proves that a picture is worth far more than 1,000 words. Need proof? Take a second or even third look at the picture I posted with today's entry.

Boy on High Dive | The Saturday Evening Post, August 16, 1947

If you're in D.C. for the holidays, check out Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum. A free exhibit, the curtain comes down on January 2, 2011.

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Awakening the Imagination

2010-12-05T19:31:00.001-05:00

In our massively connected day and age, how quickly we leap from story to story, new to newer in search of the next big thing. And no I'm not throwing stones -- nor deliberately citing Michael Lewis; I'm as guilt as the next when it comes to focusing my writing on sophisticated design and technology services that people use to translate ideas into engaging, intelligent and innovate assets and experiences. So it was remarkably refreshing to stand under the three words that make up today's title and appreciate the brilliance of Norman Rockwell.

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Sample post for @adominickevents

2010-12-03T20:06:00.001-05:00

The best event firm in D.C. -- soon to be a posterous convert? TBD...

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Virgin's groovy new Project

2010-12-03T09:45:00.001-05:00

If a post-Thanksgiving turkey hangover robbed you of your appetite for all things digital, let me share a quick video from Virgin re: their new, hugely hyped interactive magazine for the iPad: Project. The FT, among others, offers its two cents on the introduction of this new app. I know a lot of digital ink has already been spilled in the last week about this new "game-changer;" who am I not to pile on something this cool and design-minded?

<p>PROJECT magazine demo - issue 1 from PROJECT on Vimeo.</p>

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Creativity killer?

2010-11-30T09:07:00.001-05:00

If a picture > 1,000 words, what is your immediate reaction to this one?

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Sights + Sounds from King Arthur's Court

2010-11-13T11:00:00.001-05:00

Wrapping up 3 days in Chicago... a whirlwind of activity, some of which I'll recap below as I wait to board my flight home to Washington and try not to leave anything in the Admirals Club.

Deep dish pizza at Gino's East, the Cubs 100+ year curse, magnificent summers but freezing cold winters. Regardless of what you think of when someone says Chicago, few can argue it isn't one of the country's top cities to live and visit. Sure, my taxi from O'Hare to the city at 7:15 AM on Wednesday took longer than the 6 AM flight I took in from D.C. Still, a small price to pay to find the city basking in high 60s/low 70s temperatures (*here's a quick pix of Lake Michigan and Millennium Park from the 50th floor of Stifel Nicolaus & Co to give you a sense of how clear and sunny it was earlier this week).

I was in town for two reasons: to visit with some of our great investment banking, auditing and law partners -- and to participate in Bank Director's sixth annual Bank Executive & Board Compensation Conference at the InterContinental Chicago. Now, for anyone who's been to a conference there, I'll bet $5 that you can immediately picture the castle-like feel of the conference space. Yes, the place has character: truly a "unique" choice of venues at which to hold this event on CEO and director compensation issues.

In conjunction with the NASDAQ OMX Group, we hosted the largest attendance of banking executives and outside directors we've had to-date. I guess a thank you is due to the Treasury department and Senator Chris Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank? Clearly, today's regulatory environment has officers and directors seeking first hand information on a range of compensation challenges thanks to TARP restrictions and the Dodd/Frank Act. With the room full of officers and dirctors from public and private institutions of various asset sizes, the discussions were lively around questions/topics like these:

With performance compensation plans are under the microscope, how boards might align performance measures + goals with business objectives in such a way that does not encourage excessive risk-taking;

As the fall-out from the bailout continues, the likely effect of government intervention on bank compensation programs;

Setting short-term performance metrics that stand up to both internal and external scrutiny; and

Developing meaningful incentives that support growth plans & align senior management’s interests with those of shareholders;

Even with increasing oversight and restrictions attached to stimulus programs, it was good to hear people looking for ways to balance reasonable risks with potential rewards as a means to allow for innovation, business improvement and the ability to achieve "outstanding" shareholder returns.

Interested to see what was tweeted out during this event? Hop over to twitter and do a quick #bebc10 search. I'd write more, but just saw its time to board my flight home. Gotta go!

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In vino veritas

2010-11-03T19:16:00.001-04:00

I'm not a collector of wines; rather, someone who simply enjoys buying a beautiful bottle and trying as soon as possible. So in the spirit of sharing (yes, that spirit that inspired the creation of DCSpring21), here are a few I've recently had + highly recommend. Feel free to add/comment on this list. Regardless of price or region, I'm only listing the bottles that I've thought were special + ones my friends and family would enjoy.

Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir 2008 [Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County, California]: Just had this out in Palm Desert with my mom (9/30/10). I picked it up at Jensen's, where the wine selection is out of this world. I was thinking about a Paul Hobbs or Merry Edwards (two favorites) when Randy, their "wine guru," suggested I try the Pisoni. He shared the story of this "prodigious California Pinot Noir" and was right on the money. One of the best pinots I've had in a long, long time.

I wrote about the spectacular Chateau Clinet a while back; for those who know me, I'm a big Bordeaux fan (Château Cos d'Estournel, a Grand cru classé de Saint Estèphe being one of my absolute favorites)... On those rare times when I really splurge -- think anniversary or birthday -- I'm partial to this exquisite Pomerol.

Now, I have friends and family that can go a lot deeper than tonight's post aims. But as the Latin phrase that anchors this post reminds us, “in wine [there is the] truth." Care to share your current favorites?

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On the road again

2010-10-28T08:15:00.001-04:00

As an infrequent poster to DCSpring21 these days, a quick check-in from the Accela Express' quiet car as I roll up towards New York City. A busy few weeks of travel has kept my blogging to a Bank Director minimum; Chicago, Nashville, New York (x2) with a quick trip out to California for good measure. But I did not post this to complain or solicit sympathy. Quite the contrary! I simply wanted to give the heads up that for anyone involved in conceptualizing, developing and/or delivering online information products, I'll be tweeting later today from the Plaza Hotel and MarkLogic's Digital Publishing Summit.

As I see it, my trip up to the city for the day is time well spent. In addition to seeing a few of Bank Director's clients, I'm really interested to hear Dave Kellogg (the CEO of MarkLogic) talk about transformation in the media industry and how a company like ours might leverage content assets. I'm also keen to hear his views on what media companies might do with community and social applications. (*As a side note, I spent yesterday morning talking with Nxtbook about how we might better incorporate mobile delivery of content via applications for smart phones and the iPad for our publication, so the timing of this event lines up nicely with my week so far.)

So if you're interested, you'll know where to find me online later today. P.S. -- the hash tag for this event is #DPS10.

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New blog, same Al

2010-10-19T19:28:00.001-04:00

If you like what you've read here on DCSpring21 over the last few years, some shameless self promotion that I just started blogging for Bank Director. As the company's name implies, I'll focus my efforts around the interests, trends and topics near + dear to the hearts of executives within financial institutions. Now, instead of taking a stance on asset quality issues, the absence of earnings or speculate about when lending will start again, my plan is to post something interesting I've recently learned that relates to growth every Monday. So think technology and M+A.

This goes hand-in-hand with my writing approach to DCSpring21, so I hope you'll check us out. Whether sharing what I’ve learned in my travels, providing an opinion or two, or generally contributing to our company's regular dialog around driving bottom line performance and enhancing shareholder value, I'd love to hear feedback on how I might better communicate through this medium.

For a sneak peek, click here. And if you'd prefer to stay safely on DCSpring21, let me share the one "truism" I've learned since re-joining Bank Director last month. Its the notion that while capital is king, and liquidity, queen. Want to learn more? You know where to find me.

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Tech, Tech, and more Tech

2010-10-07T17:07:00.001-04:00

I'm a sucker for content creation + distribution stories, so let me pay it forward with one of my own...

One of the cool "new" things we've recently introduced is an electronic version of Bank Director. As a number of you know, digital magazines offer companies like ours an interesting opportunity to optimize a publication with video, audio and hyperlinks while saving money traditionally spent on printing costs. More than just impressions and click throughs, I'm keen to explore the promise of creating interactive experiences that benefit a reader and an advertiser. Take a look at our digital version -- I'd love to hear your thoughts, please feel free to comment below.

On the subject of engagement, I've been doing a ton of reading about the various technologies that officers + directors of financial institutions have asked us about. Whereas technology was once the bane of most executives day, online banking is standard, check imaging has become nearly universal and electronic bill pay the norm (*to this last point, I have to give a nod to my dad + all the smart and talented folks at InteliData who were just a bit too far out in front of this trend in the late 90s/early parts of 00's). What I'm finding is more and more banks are offering advanced services such as merchant remote deposit capture while using sophisticated business analytics tools to retain customers, detect fraud, or build loyalty programs. Clearly, these are not the old days of using an ATM with one hand while reconciling your check book with the other.

So, at a time when consumers are “more skeptical” of their bank’s brand and apt to move away from banks with poor service (according to a report put out by Accenture this July), a large majority of bankers see customer-retention efforts tied strongly to technology like customer analytics, integrated service channels and personalized offerings as imperative to growth. Some good food for thought -- again, c/o Accenture -- and inspiration for future posts here on DCSpring21.

While I'm thinking tech, let me suggest a few new twitter follows. Yes, jumping the gun on the #followfriday; still, from a banking perspective, @kelsey8762, @bankdirector and @GrantThorntonUS are just a few worth following.

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Getting smart on Financial Institutions (comp)

2010-09-29T14:53:00.001-04:00

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of introducing Susan O'Donnell at the Bank Director/American Banker Bank Board Symposium in Dallas, Texas. Susan, the Managing Director at the executive compensation consulting firm Pearl Myer & Partners and a fellow New Englander, spoke to a diverse group of bank CEOs, CFOs, Presidents and directors from both public and privately held institutions about the ever-evolving world of executive comp. As I did post-KBW presentation yesterday, a recap of her presentation follows below.

Since Lehman and Bear Stearns' failures in 2008, quite a number of external forces have influenced executive pay and governance within the financial community. From a surge in bank failures to the public perception of bonus excess, Susan shared what leaders of financial institutions have dealt with over the last two years alone:

Treasury's CPP/TARP program places new restrictions + compliance requirements on executive compensation;
The Obama administration introduces broad principles on risk, pay for performance and non-binding shareholder votes;
The SEC announces new disclosure rules (e.g. risk discussions, CEO/Chair role, the proxy solicitation process, etc.);
Shareholder activism increases, with increased proposals related to executive pay and board governance;
Shareholder advisory firms publish new guidelines that enable them to exert greater influence on shareholder votes;
Bank regulators jointly issue guidance for risk management of incentive compensation that effects everyone; and
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act is signed into law.

With increased scrutiny, disclosure and regulation requirements cascading upon the industry, it might come as no surprise that the three major themes impacting compensation plans today are risk management and assessment of pay programs, a focus on long-term performance, and the alignment of pay for performance incentives. So what advice did Susan give the audience of officers and directors?

Stay informed by attending conferences like this one;
Develop processes + define roles of management, the compensation committee and the board;
Review compensation programs and incentive plans; and
Prepare for future disclosure + regulatory reviews.

Susan did a great job answering specific questions from the crowd; during the Q+A, I made a note to link to a client report that her firm recently issued regarding the Dodd-Frank Reform Act. Signed into law in late July, it provides insight on new requirements for "Say on Pay, Executive Pay Disclosure and Director Independence May Eventually Affect All Companies." If you're like me and thinking about how the public companies that comprise the financial industry might claw their way out of the last few year's turmoil, understanding the incentive plans available to key officers and directors is a must read.

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Getting smart on Financial Institutions (part 1 of many)

2010-09-28T18:37:00.001-04:00

I'm in Dallas -- a few miles from my old home, in fact -- for our company's annual Bank Board Symposium. Held in conjunction with American Banker, pretty cool to put my Bank Director hat back on and re-connect with a handful of people I first met 11+ years ago. Let me share some observations from this afternoon's event...

As the two leading education and content providers for the financial services industry, Bank Director and SourceMedia’s American Banker put together today + tomorrow's conference. At a time when banks and bank boards are experiencing unprecedented scrutiny to rebuild capital and restore shareholder value, I've been doing my best to get smart about the past eighteen months (described to me as having produced the most dramatic changes in banking since the great depression). So yes, I'm excited to listen, learn and engage with a great group of bank CEOs, CFOs, chairman and outside directors.

I mentioned running into familiar faces here in Dallas. One of them is Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' CEO, John Duffy. Always quick with a smile, he kicked things off today like he has so many of Bank Director's conferences: with some telling data points and statistics. While economist declared the market hit rock bottom in March of 2009, John put it in context of the market favoring large-cap banks since the subsequent rally began. Intuitively, this makes sense: investors place a premium on liquidity -- and small and mid cap bank stocks simply aren't as attractive today as those large institutions that investors can get into and out of. While I will not try to repeat his industry update, I did want to share a few notes I took during his presentation:

For the 2006 - 2009 financial crises, bank stocks lagged the S&P 500 by 26% per year.
In terms of earning trends, pre-tax/pre-provision earnings face "headwinds" of increased regulatory costs, shrinking balance sheets and increased carrying costs.
There were 25 fewer bank M&A transactions in 2009 than 2008, representing a 17% decline in terms of transactions during the year (following a 50% drop in 2008). In real numbers, 119 deals in '09 vs. 144 in '08, 288 in '07 and 296 in '06. To-date, there have been 118 deals in 2010.
Think those numbers are startling? Consider that bank M& activity in terms of deal value fell off the cliff in 2009, decreasing by $34 billion (94%)!

Back to an investor's perspective: he cited a number of important considerations. For example, liquidity of common stock, institutional ownership, whether sufficient capital is being raised and the use of proceeds. All interesting stuff as I get back into the swing of things here. With a number of exceptional services providers supporting the event, I hope to post more later tonight relative to FDIC-assisted transactions and views from the FDIC, OCC and OTS (all speakers here). At the very least, post #1 relative to my efforts to "get smart" ASAP.

FYI: John referenced KBW's bank indices -- the BKX for large cap and the regional KRX -- throughout his presentation. Worth taking a look to get a sense of the information he shared...

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Which "I" are U?

2010-09-23T19:57:00.001-04:00

Getting back to New York City has definitely unleashed my creative side. Drawing inspiration from a number of thought-provoking conversations yesterday and interesting presentations made at a conference earlier today, a solid 48 hours of drafting, designing + dreaming about what's possible at my new firm.

On our first day together, I shared with my colleagues at Bank Director a proverb that I've taken to heart: if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. So as I let a few new thoughts marinate in my mind, a short post relative to my excitement as we build our team.

As I gain greater insight into how services and product companies of all sizes operate, its become very clear that an organization of any size can significantly benefit from a diversity of opinions, experiences and aspirations (provided there are champions to break away from the status-quo). At the conference I alluded to -- hosted in Deutsche Bank's magnificent 47th floor conference center for senior marketing executives from numerous financial services providers -- I jotted down what one speaker called the "four I's" of their employees' skill sets.

Being that the event was off-the-record, I'm not sure if/how to cite the speaker; hopefully, this abstract word of thanks will suffice. In the context of building a company's relationships with its customers, he opined that companies need the following employees based on skill sets:

Instigators of ideas
Innovators
Integrators of the two previous
Implementors to help the "rubber meet the sky"

Now I wonder two things: can 1 person embody all four skill set... and to you, the reader of this post: where do you fall in this arrangement?

I didn't take a picture of the city from DB's 47th floor; but this one from Bryant Park? Yup, snapped that yesterday afternoon during a glorious Sept' afternoon in the city.

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Spot on = Acquire or Be Acquired

2010-09-20T17:28:00.001-04:00

When the Wall Street Journal blasted the news that IBM acquired Netezza earlier today for $1.78 billion, I immediately dropped a note to my brother + soon-to-be brother-in-law to give them a heads up. You see, the three of us have been talking about the "Big Data" space for a while now (thanks in part to my connections with some great folks at Aster Data). Both family members are in the world of finance -- James in NYC, Nick in London -- and like to engage in pre- and post-deal talk at crazy times. Like during a football game or at a wedding. While I'm not on their level, I certainly appreciate that they include me in their discussions!

Professionally, I'm fascinated by companies like Aster, Netezza, etc. that allow media companies to perform real-time, in-depth analyses of year-over-year data to optimize digital media "solutions." But to James + Nick's interest, IBM's acquisition, preceded by EMC's purchase of Greenplum this July, suggests that other tech companies might soon be fielding new calls from potential acquirers. While I could fill the rest of today's post with my own ideas of who might be next, I'd like to take it in a different direction that ties in with my new role at Bank Director.

As I see it, the deal reinforces the value of enterprise-wide analytics in and among companies and government agencies. In the past, I've written about how tools -- like those offered by a Netezza -- continue to gain mainstream support in companies and government agencies. One such agency interested in the potential power of data analytics is the Comptroller of the Currency, a self-funded agency within the Treasury department (*if you're not familiar with the organization, OCC charters, regulates and supervises all national banks). Before I left my old tech firm for Bank Director, I'd called on OCC's CIO to explore the promise of agile data management (which ties deep analytics with Big Data tools and data-driven dashboards). So as I read this morning's press release, I couldn't help but reflect on what I'd learned about OCC's needs -- and the types of companies that might be well positioned to meet them.

Ironically, I switched from the WSJ article to a conference call with my new colleagues who themselves are going through a culture change (having been acquired by the NYSE). Guess what I heard? Nothing more than the former head of the OCC agreeing over the weekend to speak at Bank Director's flagship conference: Acquire or Be Acquired in Arizona in early 2011. So too much of a coincidence not to share the overlap on DCSpring21. Yes, it will be interesting to hear how he fields growth-oriented questions from sponsors + attendees, especially as government and financial institutions continue to converge around areas and opportunities designed to fuel expansion or acquisition. But for the purposes of this post, how appropriate that the day starts with an M&A story and ends on the same note? Albeit, one is about what's already happened, the other, what will be.

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Evidently, you can go home

2010-09-17T09:25:00.001-04:00

I smile as I write today's title; with a beautiful wife + little girl at home in Washington DC, a bit of hyperbole to suggest my return to Nashville earlier this week was a true homecoming. However, to ignore the welcome + warmth extended by former/current Board Member Inc. colleagues wouldn't be fair either. As I wrote earlier this week, my professional career has come full circle as I move full-time into a new role as Managing Director and Executive Vice President of Bank Director (forgive the website for a few weeks... it will change!)

For those of you not familiar with the company, the officers and directors that lead this country’s financial institutions have relied on the company's publications, research and conferences to keep pace with their ever-evolving industry since its start in 1991. Personally, I got hooked into the Nashville-based company in the spring of 1999 thanks to an indirect introduction by the former chairman of the FDIC (Bill Seidman).

At the time, Bill served on a number of public company boards. One of them, a NASDAQ-listed technology company called InteliData, was led by my father (himself a long-time banking executive). My long-time mentor + current boss Joan was introduced to their CEO, Al Jr. (hint: I'm the III) and at some point while exchanging pleasantries, the fact I was graduating from W&L and looking for a job came up. The rest, as has so often been said, is history.

I interviewed with Joan in DC several times (Kramer books being our first meeting spot) and met folks in NYC too. I know I made a favorable impression, because three days after graduation, I moved to New York City to take an entry-level sales position with Bank Director's parent company, Board Member Inc. Over the course of the next 5 1/2 years, I advanced through the company as new publications, conferences, research and relationships were formed. So returning to the company where I first cut my teeth is a somewhat surreal, albeit exciting, challenge.

Today, I join a company that delivers information through a range of formats: a quarterly magazine and issue-specific supplements to executive-level research, conferences and electronic services. Hugely influential, Bank Director’s reach to the officers and directors of the institutions that comprise America’s $11 trillion banking industry is unparalleled. So for me, coming back to help build on 20 years of brand equity, a loyal customer base and strong market position is pretty cool.

Personally, I'm excited to play a part redesigning the company from a traditional publishing house to a more media-inspired business model. While we are focusing on making sure our core business is totally taken care of today, I'm keen to explore new ways to keep the organization flexible, nimble, relevant and responsive to the new financial environment that is taking shape. While I'm adjusting to life on the road (hello again, NYC, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles airports...) I plan on sharing my personal/professional experiences as we re-build the company. I'd love to hear what might be of interest.

Thanks to all for the well wishes + support. This will be fun!

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Life's one constant

2010-09-13T10:34:00.001-04:00

There's a saying I favor that seems particularly appropriate this morning. It goes:

"If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, that all you’ll ever get is all you’ve ever got."

That line, brought into the mainstream thanks to its inclusion in one of Tom Friedman's books, supposedly originates in Texas. Now, I can't claim to have heard it when I lived in Dallas (*yes Bryce and those of you from Houston, I was, for a time, from Dallas), it has been in my mind for quite some time.

The reason I'm leading with it is simple: for the first time since July 1, 2005, I will not be leading the business development efforts at Computech. Five years and two and a half months later, I'm taking the next step in my professional career and re-joining some of my former colleagues in the publishing world to help grow a company. This morning, absent my formerly-routine rush from the shower to the red line to the office in Bethesda, my "new day" has indeed dawned.

Before I board a flight this afternoon and turn my attention from the technology arena to the publishing/media industry, I wanted to publicly express a heartfelt thank you to so many colleagues that I have had the distinct pleasure to work with and learn from. While I know our paths will continue to cross in D.C., it will be tough not sharing laughs, stories and ideas on a regular basis with so many that I’ve developed close relationships: J.D., Julia, Fran, Selom, Kris, Katie, Hari, Paul, Oanh, Jennifer, Brian, Stuart, Larry, Lauren, Ivan, Steve... the list goes on + on.

And so, while I expect my writing focus on DCSpring21 to naturally evolve as I transition into a new role, a simple note of thanks to so many as I continue to appreciate that the only real constant in life is change.

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LE GRAND FOODING - NEW YORK vs. SAN FRANCISCO

2010-09-08T20:07:00.001-04:00

via legrandfooding.com

ah... to live in NY (again) or San Francisco.

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12 + 12

2010-08-30T21:03:00.001-04:00

Until last week, I'd never heard the term evidence-based management. Thanks to ever expanding social networks like Twitter, Dave Kellogg (the CEO of MarkLogic) indirectly sent me to Wikipedia for the background. Now, I've been enjoying his thoughts on next-generation information management and content management technologies for a while -- and find his insight on enterprise search interesting, especially when compared to what I've learned from my boss + Computech's president (Larry Fitzpatrick is himself an expert in this space...)

Nonetheless, what has me citing Dave's blog isn't technology-inspired; rather, leadership oriented. Indeed, today's entry highlights the power of twelve: first by sharing Twelve Things Good Bosses Believe (c/o Stanford professor Robert Sutton via MarkLogic's Kellblog); than, Marilee Adams' Top 12 Questions for Success from her book Change Your Questions, Change Your Life (thanks to the "Communicologist").

I thought to share both as I consider the potential path(s) I might find myself on as my career evolves. Let's start with the good boss-inspired top 12 list:

I have a flawed and incomplete understanding of what it feels like to work for me.
My success — and that of my people — depends largely on being the master of obvious and mundane things, not on magical, obscure, or breakthrough ideas or methods.
Having ambitious and well-defined goals is important, but it is useless to think about them much. My job is to focus on the small wins that enable my people to make a little progress every day.
One of the most important, and most difficult, parts of my job is to strike the delicate balance between being too assertive and not assertive enough.
My job is to serve as a human shield, to protect my people from external intrusions, distractions, and idiocy of every stripe — and to avoid imposing my own idiocy on them as well.
I strive to be confident enough to convince people that I am in charge, but humble enough to realize that I am often going to be wrong.
I aim to fight as if I am right, and listen as if I am wrong — and to teach my people to do the same thing.
One of the best tests of my leadership — and my organization — is “what happens after people make a mistake?”
Innovation is crucial to every team and organization. So my job is to encourage my people to generate and test all kinds of new ideas. But it is also my job to help them kill off all the bad ideas we generate, and most of the good ideas, too.
Bad is stronger than good. It is more important to eliminate the negative than to accentuate the positive.
How I do things is as important as what I do.
Because I wield power over others, I am at great risk of acting like an insensitive jerk — and not realizing it.

After reading this list, I couldn't help but juxtapose it with Ms. Adams'. In her words, "The goal is to integrate these questions into your everyday thinking. Then, when a challenge arises, you’ll be able to easily recall some of them. Not every question applies to every situation. That’s why you’ll want to develop a collection of your favorites and work with them on a regular basis." Here’s the list:

What do I want?
What are my choices?
What assumptions am I making?
What am I responsible for?
How else can I think about this?
What is the other person thinking, feeling, needing, and wanting?
What am I missing or avoiding?
What can I learn? ...from this person or situation? ...from this mistake or failure? ...from this success?
What questions should I ask (myself or others?)
What action steps make the most sense?
How can I turn this into a win-win?
What is possible?

Hope these 24 points resonate in some way with you...

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Consider my mind blown

2010-08-26T13:10:00.001-04:00

It isn't every day that someone walks into my office + totally blows me away with a design-inspired conversation. Thanks to my colleague Ivan Djordjevic (@ivandj) for steering me to firstborn, a ridiculously awesome mulit-media agency that has me falling out of my seat. Just browsing through their "evolution of flash" inspired portfolio of projects leaves me feeling like the food critic in the closing scenes of Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille. That is, nothing short of amazed.

Upon launching firstborn's Lincoln Financial site, Ivan encouraged me to Google "Favorite Website Awards" - a site that recognizes the latest and best cutting edge creativity. He warned me it will blow my mind... and than left with these parting words hanging in the air "there is so much creativity here, its out of this world." Um... Ivan, how do you expect me to focus the rest of today?

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Tech trends + Inspiration

2010-08-25T17:06:00.001-04:00

I've been talking about (and referencing) this McKinsey report for so many weeks... and I'm just now posting it to DCSpring21? Sorry, I'm a little off my game...

Download now or preview on posterous

PDFDownload.aspx.pdf (612 KB)

The basic premise of this whole report -- that advancing technologies and their swift adoption are upending traditional business models -- doesn't shake the earth. But learning about the ones that might challenge your company, client base or core industry? Consider me curious. Now if you're not to keen on reading the whole report, here's a primer on the ten trends McKinsey cites as game-changers:

Trend 1: Distributed co-creation moves into the mainstream
Trend 2: Making the network the organization
Trend 3: Collaboration at scale
Trend 4: The growing ‘Internet of Things’
Trend 5: Experimentation and big data
Trend 6: Wiring for a sustainable world
Trend 7: Imagining anything as a service
Trend 8: The age of the multisided business model
Trend 9: Innovating from the bottom of the pyramid
Trend 10: Producing public good on the grid

Several of these trends really excite/interest me. For example, I've written quite a bit about the "Big Data" space over the last six months (sometimes filed under "agile data management"). While this isn't an emerging space per-se, the introduction of new tools and technologies has made it easier and cheaper for companies of all sizes to collect vast amounts of data. Nonetheless, these sames organizations continue to wrestle with a fundamental challenge: making sense of what they’ve collected given the speed with which new types of data are generated. A lot to think about - and for people to write about too (*for instance, check out Dave Kellogg's Kellblog, Greenplum's blog, Aster Data's blog and/or the featured blogs that SAS shares).

In addition to my Big Data interests, I'm lucky to have had a great teacher/mentor explain the various layers of cloud computing to me a while back. Since scratching the surface of my understanding, its been a fascinating trip to see how the promise of an "on-demand" world continues to change the way the IT industry looks at user and vendor relationships.

Of the other ten trends, I'm most intrigued by "the age of the multisided business model." As it relates to bringing two or more interdependent customer groups together, I believe the premise is this: there is value to one group of customers if and only if the other groups is present. Thoughts on this line of thinking or anything else McKinsey shared?

And if this type of reading gets you fired up, there is a really interesting macro-view of where we're heading, c/o McKinsey. Its focus: the "global forces" of change restructuring the world economy for the foreseeable future.

Enjoy!

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8 billion pesos strong

2010-08-23T13:58:00.001-04:00

This month, I've worked on a really cool project with some fabulous people: sharing Computech's story about our IT firm's support of Mexico's recently concluded spectrum auctions.

Using an auction platform Computech built last year, the Mexican regulator COFETEL went to market with a cutting-edge system that successfully encouraged new competition for scarce, valuable spectrum licenses (*for more, check out Ken Carter's paper on Spectrum Licenses as Long-lived Assets). After running two auctions (#20 and #21), we're on the verge of seeing a shift in consumer options in an industry long dominated by one major player. This alone appears to be a huge win for the regulator. For the Mexican public, increased competition between carriers promises better access and availability to telecom services like the ones we sometimes take for granted in the U.S.

For you data-lovers out there, the numbers from the two auctions themselves are interesting:

Auction 20 closed in Round 77 (28 days worth of bidding) with all 24 licenses selling, generating nearly $3 Billion pesos ($2,977,265,000 pesos ≈ $230 Million USD).
COFETEL subsequently closed Auction 21 after 86 rounds and 30 days of bidding, with 28 of 29 licenses selling. One of two nationwide licenses sold, and the winning bid was one that lived from Round 1 for $180,300,000 pesos.
Auction 21 alone generated over $5 Billion pesos ($5,248,049,000 pesos ≈ $413 Million USD).

Auctions 20 & 21 revenues tallied $8.2 Billion pesos for the Mexican government; for each, three companies emerged as the major winners. (Did someone mention the winner's curse? Let's save the debate for another day. Although I will concede that there really isn't a "winner" as much as there is a high bidder at the end of an auction... but I digress). So there you have it. Sophisticated online auctions for something that can't be seen or felt, but commands a premium price. Neat, right?

*Here are the twitter handles for a handful of the people involved with this PR/marketing push: @exilauren, @fitzpatl, @susanejacobsen. And a special thanks to Computech's Concomitantly blog authors for the data cited in this recap.

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Behold, the power of a marketing message

2010-08-21T17:53:00.001-04:00

via nytimes.com

A nice nod from the New York Times to a competitor -- The Economist. One of my long-time favorite reads (ok, I'm a bit biased having spend several years in a working relationship with the parent company -- The Economist Group); behold, the power of old-school branding + creativity in today's hyper online world.

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A design story (wine not included) c/o IDEO

2010-08-20T17:03:00.001-04:00

via ideo.com

As a design/system's thinker, I'm constantly drawn to the talented work + writing of the good folks over at IDEO like David Kelley, Tim Brown and Diego Rodriguez. If you haven't read Tim's "Change by Design," I strongly recommend you buy/download a copy.

The collaborative nature of design work lends itself to stories like this one. Spend some time gathering inspiration from IDEO's work. They have a ton of cool stories and projects (admittedly, I've referenced a few throughout the years on DCSpring21). And when you're full of creative thoughts, hop on over to other global innovation firms like Frog Design and/or Jump Associates for additional creative/innovative stimulation.

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Computech, Inc. - A professional services firm in Bethesda, MD

2010-08-20T16:25:00.001-04:00

via computechinc.com

Tons of new info on Computech's role running Mexico's spectrum auctions now up; check out the videos we posted, blog posts written and new sections (in English and Spanish) recently added.

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Posterous-ized

2010-08-20T15:33:00.000-04:00

If you're looking for new content on DCSpring21, hop on over to our new posterous site.

A dizzying pace of change

2010-08-10T11:56:00.015-04:00

The technology landscape has rapidly evolved since I moved to D.C. in the summer of 2005. For many in the industry, such a statement might evoke an image of me crashing through an open door... still, this reality smacked me in the face just a few minutes ago. With a bunch of boxes scattered around my office, I stumbled upon some aged notes I took on a company called InfoEther during my first few months here at Computech. I had to pause, as I recalled my introduction to something called Ruby on Rails (at the time, a relatively new open source web framework) and the promise of distributed collaboration and co-creation.

Flash forward to today, and past discussions relative to the pros/cons of open source technologies and frameworks seem quaint, if not obsolete. Building websites using Ruby on Rails? The guys at Inkling built their predictive marketing platform using it (just as Hulu, Basecamp and other "must-have-bookmarked" sites on my laptop did). In organizations of all sizes, crowd sourcing is in. And so too the rise of web-based communities. McKinsey recently noted in its "Clouds, big data, and smart assets: Ten tech-enabled business trends to watch:"

In just over two short years, Facebook has quintupled in size to a network that touches more than 500 million users.... More than 4 billion people around the world now use cell phones, and for 450 million of those people, the Web is a fully mobile experience."

This fast evolving digital world of ours sees data rates doubling every 18 months. Conversely, the cost for performing coherent analysis on consumer transactions, interactions and preferences continues to fall. The intersection of this supply & demand-like curve? Opportunities for people in marketing roles like mine to turn ideas into assets by capturing, analyzing and experimenting with data generated with, for and by an organization (be it formal or social).

From a researcher's perspective, anchoring new initiatives upon a "test + learn" mind-set like the one McKinsey espoused means gauging the effectiveness of a plan or campaign by mining data from social networks. Forecasting demand, modeling interest, running clickstream analysis... and the list goes on + on. While a company like our 200 person IT firm pales in size and complexity when stacked up against the Zara's, ComScores and NASAs of the universe, that doesn't dampen my personal and/or professional interest in the Big Data space. So if you're interested, here are a handful of articles/blogs to check out:

Aster Data's The Data Blog
SAS's blog "Closing the Intelligence Gap"
The Promise + Peril of Big Data, a piece published by The Aspen Institute
Tech Crunch's post "Big Data Is Less About Size, And More About Freedom"
The Data Deluge from the Economist (*registration required)

Please share others that might you find of interest + value. After all, the wisdom of the crowd > the wisdom of 1.

For the students of Kalaniana'ole

2010-08-03T14:08:00.005-04:00

I had the pleasure of meeting a number of wonderful people on the Big Island last week. With views like this (a great local surf spot outside of Hilo), you can see why so many awesome people love calling this Hawaiian island home.

I posted the above picture as an attention grabber; my real intention? To ask for some help as I storyboard a new website for the elementary school -- Kalaniana'ole Elementary & Intermediate School -- where my mother-in-law taught. I'm putting together their first website, Facebook page, etc. and thought to ask for suggestions/directions towards any sites you like that might be appropriate for this exceptional elementary school:

I'm leaning towards WordPress as the platform upon which I'll build the site. As I think about the amount of information that needs to be shared with teachers + students, it seems a logical choice. Perhaps there are other ways/tools/services I might consider? The "solution" doesn't need to be free (Aimee + I will cover the costs... but let's keep it within reason, ok?), and the driver behind the decision is a clean and simple user experience + intuitive administrative features that allow for easy use + posting. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? All are welcome!

Mahalo!!

wrapping up A Couple of weeKs

2010-07-18T09:42:00.003-04:00

Nope, not a typo in today's title (A-C-K); rather, an introduction to this morning's wrap up from our family's favorite island. In the spirit of the Washingtonian's "Best Of" event this weekend [*shameless plug: Aimee's company is once again producing this special, special event] -- a few week's worths of observations:

Still going strong:

The pathway to Peter Beaton

Just because Peter Beaton's shop moved out of Straight Wharf doesn't mean one of Nantucket's better shops isn't still going strong, especially for women looking for hats + totes for the beach.
Right next store (on Federal Street) = Henley + Sloane. A cross between Thomas Pink + Turnbull & Asser, I think every guy between 25 and 55 that went shopping with their girlfriend or wife wound up with either a blue check or pink check shirt (*I bought both). In fact, at 21 Federal on Thursday night, Aimee and I had a conversation with 4 different couples that all started with a "hey, nice shirt" type intro.
Sorry Bean, my new coffee shop of choice = Espresso to Go. You probably pass this inauspicious little coffee hut on your way out of the airport (they're about .2 miles from the roundabout towards town/Surfside/'Sconset). Much like I wrote about East Coast Fish Company earlier in the week, mercifully devoid of the Lily Pulitzer crowd. And from Polpis, easier to get to than finding a parking spot on Center street after 8 AM.
Provisions for sandwhiches continues to be my way to go; Aimee again cast her vote for Something Natural. And a tie-breaker doesn't necessarily work: the latter has Google's CEO living across the street, and Provision's looks out on the Gazeebo and Straight Wharf. Actually, that seals it for me. Provision's is this year's winner. First timers: get the Turkey Terrific.

Disappointments:

The Dunes -- overpriced + over-salted, not worth wasting money at this stylish spot on Broad Street.
Black Eyed Susan's BELT sandwich. Usually the best breakfast you can get, substituting an English Muffin for the Portugese roll suprisingly -- and totally -- compromised the quality of the sandwich. Tucked away on India Street, good thing they still have the best blueberry pancakes and a BYOB policy for dinner.
Rope Walk: I wish the food would catch up to the ambiance/bar. The calamari we ordered had no flavor; in fact, we're still debating if it was actually calamari. But this Straight Wharf standout continues to attract my family thanks to views like this:

The food is nothing to write home about, but Rope Walk's bar/view is still top notch

Best slogan (non-Whale's Tale promotional division): Welcome to Nantucket. Now go back to the Hamptons.

Best bar (food): 21 Federal. Worth every penny (and you will need to bring every penny... but trust me, well worth it)
Best bar (drinks): Bananicals. This seasonal, "exclusive" watering hole proudly serves up a range of brews from Cisco Brewery, delicious G+Ts and some of the tastiest Dark + Stormy's around.

Get your fish on

2010-07-15T07:13:00.010-04:00

I grew up in New England; consequently, I spent a good deal of time swimming in some pretty cold water. Like many, I've always been attracted to the sea -- and remember with great fondness deep sea fishing up in New Hampshire with my brother, cousins and family. It hasn't always been cold water and creatures from the deep I've gone out for. Take the time that Dad and I went out of Miami looking for marlin -- only to catch monster-sized barracudas. Now that's one ugly (and toothy) fish.

So with fish on my mind, I've done a little reading about where to go around Nantucket. A diversity of fish swim in the waters surrounding the island. From the beach or a boat, blues, striped bass, fluke, sea bass, bonita and albacore can be taken here. This year, I found the aggressive blues quick to strike the plugs we cast; the bass, far less so (*rest assured, our little brotherhood did practice catch + release... no sense endangering our amazing and fragile natural resources). If you're interested in fishing these waters, here are a few places you might want to angle your boat towards:

South Shore: by the airport, I always see a small armada of fisherman going after blues mid-day.
The Old Man: packed with blues / a bit further off the Southern Shore.
Great Point: my personal favorite for blues, bass and fluke.
Sankaty Light: inspired one of Cisco brewery's beer, so it has to be good.

We had a great charter arranged through Westmoor so I can't say that I vetted any of the various charter operations here. But I will give two thumbs up to Corey at Bill Fischer Tacklet Shop; ironically, we have shared connections back in St. Louis. A great guy, and definitely someone to call if you're not interested in running your own boat.

Casting for blues out at Great Point

Passing the fish

Worried about going home empty-handeded? Corey shared the following tip: look for birds, breaking or surfing fish, or simply run your bait in the eastern rips of the island. Regardless of what you catch, heckuva way to spend a summer's afternoon.

Nantucket Beaches

2010-07-12T16:12:00.004-04:00

Originally, I planned this as a "guest blogger" spot for my brother James. He'd taken up summer residence on Nantucket (thanks in large part to some great family generosity); unfortunately, he was made an job offer he couldn't refuse, and instead of writing today's entry, he's spending his first day in a suit in quite some time. James, wishing you were here on Polpis road rather than down in Bryant Park.

Heading back into Madaket on Saturday night

Rather than hedge on the "top beaches" to visit here on the island + list all of them, I'm running down my top 3. Hope this helps you decide where to spread your blanket(s) when you're here:

Surfside: Our family favorite... easy to bike to, great for small children (even though the surf can get heavy). It takes the top spot this year thanks to its great waves + some of the most delicious burgers around. Having a public bathroom also helps -- especially with a one year old!
Cisco: a close second, the waves consistently beat Surfside's. And while its closer to the brewery, the lack of food or bathrooms relegates it to silver medal status.
Madaket: as far west as you get on the rock, the bike path out is super scenic. James + I realized how much we love this part of the island earlier this week when we took our brother-in-law to be out fishing from there (see the picture above). Swing into Millie's for an apres-beach fish taco. Heavy surf, just like Cisco -- with a huge beach that is far from town (and day-trippers)

Honorable mention: Nobadeer beach. By the airport, 4 wheel drive vehicles are allowed with a beach sticker... great in the late afternoon.

Now I know some people are fond of 'Sconset. Yes, the Summer House's Beachside Bistro is a fun place to stop and grab a lobster roll while overlooking the beach. But I find the beach a bit too rocky for my taste -- and the currents cause seaweed to be a regular problem.

Any way, hope this helps. Feel free to drop me a line if you prefer some of the other great places on Nantucket (e.g. Dionis on the North Shore, Miacomet on the West Shore, etc.)

ACK, ACK, ACK

2010-07-10T10:19:00.000-04:00

So I'm a bit behind schedule posting to DCSpring21. My excuse? I'm on island time (so, this is actually early). Quite a few great places to share for anyone visiting Nantucket this summer. If you're in the market to cook your own seafood -- and/or boil your own lobsters -- take a drive over to East Coast Provisions & Seafood Co. You can find them at 167 Hummock Pond Road, a stone's throw from Cisco Brewery. Rather have someone cook your meal? If you find yourself in Madaket, Millie's is the way to go (here's what you should be looking for):

Breakfast in town? Black Eyed Susan's is my personal favorite; Fog Island, my sister Suzanne's. Ready to work off your morning blueberry pancakes or that afternoon home made ice cream that you devoured at the Juice Bar? If you're without wheels, think about heading straight in to Young's bike shop (*if you're ferrying over, you'll practically walk into the place when you arrive here). Rentals are cheap, bikes are plentiful, and the free map of the island they provide? Invaluable...

So, with the thought of exercise in mind, it is too bad we're leaving next Saturday morning. At the same time we'll be flying out of ACK, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation hosts its annual 5K "Race for Open Space." Starting at the Westmoor Club on Cliff Road, proceeds from the race go to the Foundation’s Land Fund -- which helps preserve and protect the Island’s invaluable open spaces.

Going on the Whale

2010-07-04T09:33:00.006-04:00

Starting later this week? DCSpring21 goes on the whale in Nantucket for 10 days. Quite a lot to write about from my favorite summer retreat; rather than rely on out-of-date reviews on Travel + Leisure to somewhat suspicious Trip Adviser and Lonely Planet posts, I'll be sharing some on-the-ground, tried + true family intel for anyone coming to the island this summer.

First up: Friend the Farm.

If you're spending more than a long weekend here, head over to Bartlett Farms, the island's oldest family-owned farm. Conveniently located right up the road from Cisco Brewery, I suggest grabbing some super-fresh produce (both the corn + tomatoes look tremendous) & a protein and than head over to the brewery to pick up a growler (or two, or three...) of the Gray Lady. Fire up the grill, kick back with a fresh beer, and enjoy a cool July evening. Oh yes, pack a sweater. While the rest of the east coast bakes in high 90s'/low 100's, night's on "the rock" drop down to the 60s. A great local way to start your stay.

Feeding my infographic habit

2010-07-01T10:01:00.002-04:00

Stumbled upon this infographic on my way to work... c/o Fast Company, a wonderfully visual piece entitled "How Does Google Search Work?" I've pulled the image into DCSpring21; for those SEO-ites out there, hop over to the publication's site + see what they're writing about Google's "bread + butter."

Summer style

2010-06-26T13:22:00.005-04:00

For the third consecutive summer, Bananicals will open its doors (albeit in much fancier digs than previous years). To celebrate the island's most exclusive watering hole, I've designed this year's tee shirt to build off the last two. Take a look + let me know what you think.

Haute design

2010-06-24T17:37:00.002-04:00

In my last post, I shared a picture of Pierre Marcolini's chocolate shop on Avenue Louise here in Bruxelles. While those of you who know me appreciate my affection for all things sweet (especially when the words dark + chocolate are paired together), what struck + stuck with me about the shop is its clean, elegant design. So much so that I asked the clerk for a copy of the store's full catalog. As an aspiring photographer, the pictures stopped me dead in the street... well, until an oncoming Jaguar snapped me out of the clouds. At the risk of repeating yesterday's post, permit me to share a few pictures from their catalog. If you're design-oriented like me, I'm sure you'll appreciate the artistry captured in these pages.

Our man in... Bruxelles

2010-06-23T11:14:00.002-04:00

I tweeted it last night + will repeat again today. If delicacies from this chocolatier aren't on the menu in heaven, I can't imagine what is:

So while I snapped this late in the afternoon, Computech's President (Larry Fitzpatrick) and I explored the city last night with the help of two gracious guides from Industry Canada. I met them both in Ottawa a few months ago and happily ran into them prior to today's conference formalities. Obligatory mussels, frittes and a delicious beer ensued -- and set the table for today's fun.

Admittedly, I'm writing this between the spectrum conference afternoon workshop and the 2nd half of this must-win U.S. soccer match. So I don't have much time! Still, quite funny to be in this spot, especially as our game runs simultaneous to the England match (let's just say there are a lot of stressed out Brits in our midst. Sadly, they are up 1-0 and we're even at 0-0. If this holds up, I'm not looking forward to the networking reception that starts in an hour.) Hopefully, more to come later on tonight, as it has been a full day of connecting with people at the conference. Beautiful weather again today, and with the sun setting so late, I'm hopping I'll have new pictures to post to facebook + share here soon.

Our man in... London?

2010-06-22T12:52:00.003-04:00

If you read my last post, I hope the subtle clue about Sunday Morning television answered the question about the title. In case it didn't, please let me explain: pretty much every Sunday, Aimee, Evvie and I wind up watching CBS's Sunday Morning together + we're always excited to see David Turecamo reporting in. Who? You might know him best as "Our Man in Paris." So, in the spirit of sharing observations about the interesting and not quite main-stream, comes my writing inspiration for the week. OK, on to today's entry...

London's calling, for now
So a longer than expected travel day(s) is behind me. Cab to DCA, cab home. Cab to DCA, flight to ORD -- followed by a mad dash from terminal H to terminal K to barely catch my flight to LHR. What was meant to be an 11:30 AM arrival turned into a 1:00 AM ring of my sister’s bell. But my travel adventure was well worth it. Already, I've enjoyed a morning with my sister at her flat in Sloane Square, enjoyed a fruit-filled breakfast at Roast while overlooking Borough Market and gazed upon the river Thames while discussing spectrum auctions. Now, I'm rolling towards Brussels after a brief respite at St. Pancras (EuroStar's home in London). A few thoughts/ observations:

Hospitality isn’t confined to the American south

Starting with the Admiral’s Club staff at DCA + extending to the crew on my ORD to LHR flight, AA made me once again feel like family;
CMS McKenna’s Joanne Wheeler + Gary Chu were very kind to meet with Larry Fitzpatrick + me early this morning at Roast. Who knew Borough market had such a swank breakfast spot? ; and
Ofcom’s Brice Le Cannu graciously took an hour from his schedule to talk spectrum auctions with Fitz & me before we made our way towards Brussels -- and in doing so, welcomed us to the coolest office space of any telecommunication’s regulator I’ve been to.

Summer rocks

For a city known for its weather, the first day of summer in London could raise housing rates by 20%
The sun came up at, oh, 4:00 AM. Quite a surprise considering I went to bed at 1:30 London time
72 degrees and no humidity? Can I bottle this + bring it home to D.C. as a gift?

Infoporn on the train!

As a systems/design thinker, I LOVE infographics; still, who would expect to find this picture in EuroStar’s in-train magazine?

So a great start to the week. And yes, I’m very nervous about feeding my chocolate addiction in Brussels. But when in Belgium...

Our man in... D.C.?

2010-06-21T06:03:00.000-04:00

So I'm writing this in the Admirals Club in D.C. as I wait to take a flight to Chicago to connect to London. Originally, I was on the red eye to Heathrow from JFK last night and hoped to post from there. And while Queens would never make my "must travel to" summer list, I was pretty bummed to learn my flight was cancelled when I went to check-in for the 8:40 PM to NY.

That said, it feels good to be back flying American. Sitting amongst fellow early morning frequent fliers, I'm reminded of my old days at Board Member; specifically, 2002 - 2005. Those were the years I racked up a ton of miles flying back-and-forth from New York City to London as part of a joint venture with The Economist Group. In fact, it was that type of business travel that put my miles flown at 1,000,000+ on this airlines... so cheers to Joan + the rest of the great crew I worked with (most of whom are still there) for giving me the chance to make those trips and represent our interests!

While I should start thinking about finding a bite for breakfast, I hatched a writing plan in the cab to DCA last night that I'm committing to. As it stands, I'm going to make time to check in from the following locations:

Tuesday = London (or the EuroStar up to Brussels)
Wednesday = Brussels
Thursday = Brussels
Friday = JFK/New York

As always, I'll try to post design, technology or innovatione-insired content. Of course, I reserve the right to go off the reservation + share something that inspires my good, fun and/or creative side!

To provide a bit of context as to why I'm sitting here + not taking the metro over to Bethesda this morning, I'm heading over to a conference in Brussels that draws a global audience of regulators, economists and technologists -- all keen to manage scarce spectrum resources. Computech is one of the big sponsors of the conference, and we have one of our practice leads speaking on market and technology developments. So the middle part of the week, I'll will be busy promoting our firm's expertise + connecting with peers and telecom regulators from around the world. (*If you're interested to learn more about the subject, I'll be blogging + tweeting for Computech while I'm there learning and networking).

Prior to that fun, I'm in London tomorrow to meet with a handful of potential partners as well as with Ofcom (a peer to the FCC here in the U.S.). Sadly, I'm missing the meeting I had scheduled for this afternoon at Botanist in Sloane Square. Some of you know it as the restaurant that inspired my brother + my summer bar in Nantucket. Guess I'll have to wait until my next trip over to stop in.

Alright, flight boards in a few minutes and I'm hungry -- so I'll sign off. But before I do, a request. If you've been to Brussels + have any suggestions for places to go, things to see between work obligations, I'd love to hear. Drop me a comment below. And bonus points if you can ID the inspiration for today's title. Here's a hint: think Sunday morning television.

Amping up Computech's online appeal

2010-06-16T14:38:00.004-04:00

In the five years I've been at Computech, we've totally refashioned the way we market + position the firm. For example, when I joined the company from New York City in July of 2005, we had a rudimentary site that essentially offered a phone number and a few project descriptions. Don't believe me? Check out the Way Back Machine.

Since than, we've established a pretty healthy pace for refreshing content -- while amping up our online aesthetic. If you've been on the site recently, you'll find a beta version of our most recent creation. While more content-rich than our previous sites, I'm excited to share that our new homepage design goes live later this week. Here's a sneak peak at what it will look like:

In case you're interested in our online evolution, here's something of a story board of the previous three designs. The top left version went live in late '05, the "paper tree" in '07 and the panoramic in the fall of '08.

While just one piece of our overall marketing program, computechinc.com is our most visible + widely available way that we engage with customers, employees, prospective clients and future staff. Take a look at what we're working on; I'd certainly appreciate feedback on what works for you -- and what might be improved.

Going mobile

2010-06-08T19:45:00.004-04:00

So I had a great conversation last night with two tremendously talented women. No, I will not give away their identities; rather, point you to their respective blogs: Fresh Ideas and Next Stop, Happiness. Somehow -- and I wish I could remember why -- I found the three of us discussing the convergence of mobile applications and broadcast television. Ok, it might be that one of them works for Showtime and we'd been talking about mobile consumption habits + SEO and SEM strategies at places like ESPN. But I digress.

Any way, yesterday's conversation -- coupled with Apple's iPhone announcement -- got me thinking today about the various mobile platforms that people are building apps for. Off the top of my head: RIM/Blackberry, Apple/Phone + iPad, Microsoft/Windows Mobile, Google/Android (*What am I missing?). While I work with developers at Computech that I'm sure salivate over the prospect of building to one of these standards, I'm keen to learn about new apps being developed for:

Customer use / engagement;
Business intelligence;
Field service automation; and
Merchandising.

Yes, I know there are a number of cool apps for these and other areas (e.g. supply chain management, sales force automation, etc.) But I wanted to post this to begin a conversation about "what's next." Drop me a line + let me know your thoughts!

Spectrum, with a QR code to boot

2010-06-01T13:30:00.009-04:00

I'll be the first to admit that spectrum management is a bit of an interesting topic to post on DCSpring21. After all, I'm neither an academician nor a regulator. And it doesn't necessarily build off my last post about the way people think about changing the world. Maybe its recent conversations with outstanding auction theorists like Stanford's Paul Milgrom or the prep work I'm deep in for a spectrum conference over in Brussels in a few weeks... Regardless, as a systems/design thinker with experience communicating the technology implications for managing spectrum resources in business (not geek) speak, I'm inspired to write a few sentences today.

Hey, that's cool!

So you might pick up on the fact that I'm rather enjoying myself as I construct Computech's message around one of our firm's key technical competencies. In fact, the messaging + presentation around this area parallels what I found myself reading and thinking about over the weekend (e.g. the "Boom of Big Infographics" c/o Flowing Data, Ted Leonsis's The Business Of Happiness, etc). I'll also acknowledge that I'm in full learner's mode right now, so I wanted to throw out to the crowd a request/challenge: from a design/casual user perspective, what presentations, white papers, blogs, ads, tweets, etc. have made you stop and think, hmmm. That's pretty cool!

Crafting the message

I'm curious for your inspiration, especially as I go down the list of things that still need completing before hopping across the pond: a white paper on Technology + the Spectrum Lifecycle, a feature list of potential enhancements to Computech's auction platform, an exhibit hall video, enhanced case studies that address European spectrum management issues, a SEO/SEM plan to complement our trip to Brussels, and blog ideas for when we're there.

Free advertising

So while a lot has already been finalized (for example, here's the advert we're running in the conference brochure), I'd love feedback + ideas relative to positioning Computech in a new + creative manner.
.

We're talking about the wrong Tea Party

2010-05-20T11:03:00.008-04:00

I know I'm way late to the Three Cups of Tea party... still, I couldn't help but write as I read about the extraordinary story of one man's crusade to promote peace in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. If you haven't heard about Greg Mortenson or his Central Asia Institute (I foolishly ignored my wife's suggestions to read the book several years ago), I strongly encourage you to get educated to his journey. To understand the genesis of the non-profit's efforts to empower people living in the shadows of the second highest mountain on earth (K2) through community-based education initiatives... amazing + inspiring.

Gilting the lily? Me thinks not.

2010-05-06T15:13:00.022-04:00

Pulling together some thoughts from this morning's Big Data summit, hosted by Aster Data at the St. Regis in Washington, D.C...
In previous posts on Big Data and deep analytics, I've touched on my interest in this space. Simply put, with the explosion of data ingestion in most companies (both in terms of volume and complexity), sales and marketing executives need a better and faster way to identify complex customer trends, purchasing patterns and market segments. This morning's presentations -- jump started by Curt Monash, the author of the very informative DBMS2 blog -- focused on what companies are trying to do to enable deep analytics. While the brand recognition of BI heavyweights MicroStrategy and SAS's trumps that of Aster's, the Silicon Valley-based company's CTO + co-founder, Tasso Argyos, really rekindled my appetite for "agile data management"-focused ideas and discussions.

Case-in-point: Tasso shared four common use cases for Aster's software, optimized for advanced analytics running on commodity hardware:

Forecasting;
Modeling;
Customer segmentation; and
Clickstream analysis

While he talked about fraud detection, network intelligence and cyber defense, my pen could barely keep up with his presentation as he talked about leveraging significant volumes of complex data to identify new sales and marketing opportunities. Framing the business value of deep data analytics in terms of providing executives a truer understanding of current and potential consumer preference + behavior? Music to my ears.

As I tweeted from the conference room, I am curious about a newer Aster relationship with Gilt.com. As a long-time fan of the online purveyor of luxury designers and fashion brands (at prices up to 70% off retail, hello John Varvatos, Seize sur Vingt, Duncan Quinn...), I have to assume that Gilt relies on Aster to drive its recommendation engine. Or, in plain English, its "you might also like" window that appears when you add an item to your shopping cart. I'm also assuming the company makes use of information like "shopping cart abandonment" to price certain goods, and behavior analysis for targeting and price optimization. Data rich, but information poor? Gilt, from what I gather, certainly isn't. Interesting to think about how companies like Aster play in role in making it so.

What can't be seen or felt but commands big $$$?

2010-04-18T10:14:00.013-04:00

Over the last few weeks, I've had my hands full with a number of spectrum-related opportunities at Computech. Be it interest from the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries (Ofcom) to a new supply agreement to provide spectrum auction services to Industry Canada, an RFP from Ireland's Commission for Communications Regulation to a handful of our auction team working in Mexico City with COFETEL, it seems like my days have been filled to capacity with talk of managing, allocating and regulating this scarce, valuable resource that cannot be seen or felt.

Spectrum Holdings in the 700MHz band range (c/o the FCC's Spectrum Dashboard)

Heeding the advice of my good friend Tien Wong, I've focused more of my personal time on better understanding telecommunication-related issues that are impacted by such governmental interests. Tien, the CEO of the VC firm Opus8, suggested that my last five years running business development at our firm, coupled with Computech's 16 years of IT-related support at the FCC, affords me a rather interesting perspective on how technology + the telecommunications "industry"intersect (*by which I mean regulators & industry alike). As my recent posts show, my technical interests trend towards deep data analytics; conceptually, this matches up nicely with our firm's expertise with spectrum management. Indeed, the balancing act that so many countries' regulatory bodies need to strike continues to play out on the global stage (and yes, we're happy to play a supporting role). Just as with agile data management, the key for most telecommunication authorities centers around real-time knowledge of spectrum demand, use and oversight.

So, over the next few weeks, I'm going to shift my writing focus from Big Data, data-driven dashboards and data analytics to the technical implications of managing a spectrum lifecycle. Being that I'm heading up to Ottawa on Tuesday for their annual 20/20 Spectrum conference -- and to Brussels in June for the annual European Spectrum Management conference -- what better time (or place) to start sharing my observations than now on DCSpring21. While I can't promise specific topics, my travel schedule does provide some general direction. Due up this week: my observations from Canada based on perspectives shared by senior spectrum, radio and telecommunications officials from around the world.

Poverty

2010-03-30T20:13:00.001-04:00

As Lent concludes with Easter this Sunday, I foolishly spent the day thinking about how nice it will be to enjoy sweets and bagels again (yes, I gave up both for 40 days). Silly, really, based on someone I just saw, something I felt and a question I can't totally shake/answer.

Like so many cities, Washington, D.C. has a serious problem with the homeless. I'm not going to pretend that I stop for everyone asking for a handout -- or that I haven't wondered why the city doesn't do more to "fix" the problem. But what stopped me dead in my tracks tonight was catching a haggard old bag lady try to pick a parking meter open. For what? Maybe a quarter?? A QUARTER! Unsuccessful, I watched her mutter something unintelligible and shuffle away empty-handed. I couldn't help but stare at her badly torn jeans and dilapidated jacket before offering, unsolicited, what money I had in my pocket.

Surprisingly, when she acknowledged my offer, she glared at me with an incredulous look -- not of thanks, but of unmasked loathing and contempt. After accepting the well worn bills, she defiantly turned her back and sulked away. Standing outside of Chop't on 12th and F, I wondered how someone's lot in life became so bleak. Yes, the person I saw was poor. In fact, she was destitute. But worse, she was hopelessness.

Draw whatever moral you'd like from this story. I'm certainly not writing this to gain anyone's applause. I guess I just wanted to put into words what I saw, and the sadness that consumed me almost immediately. Seeing someone so dejected, so forlorn... it puts so much into perspective. At least it has for me.

Using Credit Limits to Constrain “Development on Margin” « The Agile Executive

2010-03-29T10:09:00.001-04:00

Buying (stocks) on margin is broadly recognized as a risky investment strategy. Funding long-term investments with short-term debt exposes the investor to margin calls as he/she might not be able to secure more financing when needed. The resultant margin call is never pleasant.

The accrual of technical debt in the course of aggressively developing functions and features is quite a similar phenomenon. The CTO is betting the functionality he/she is developing will pay off before the need to “pay back” the technical debt becomes imperative. The temptation to do so is particularly strong due to the lack of credit limits on technical debt. For all practical purposes the CTO is “developing on margin.”

In his comprehensive studies of the economics of software, Capers Jones has actually put a 3-5 year ceiling on the economical viability of developing on margin:

Indeed, the economic value of lagging applications is questionable after about three to five years. The degradation of initial structure and the increasing difficulty of making updates without “bad fixes” tends towards negative returns on investment (ROI) within a few years.

As the CEO leading a company, or the venture capitalist funding it, you can restrain development on margin by establishing credit limits. Use a combination of static code analysis with dynamic program analysis to calculate the amount of accrued technical debt in $$ terms. (An illustration of such calculation as well as a breakdown of the technical debt is given in the Sonar chart above). Set a limit (say $0.25 per line of code) on the amount of permitted technical debt. Once the limit is reached, developers are not allowed to continue developing new functionality – they have to first reduce (and hopefully eliminate) their technical debt.

A very simple ”Lacmus test” is available to the CEO/VC until the code is instrumented and the analytics illustrated above generated. Ask your CTO about unit test coverage. If the coverage is low (say <30%), chances are the technical debt is high. Whether the CTO realizes it or not, low unit test coverage is a good indicator of technical debt of all kinds. Moreover, the investment required to develop a full-fledged suite of unit tests is often the largest component of the technical debt to be paid back.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Technical Debt on Your Balance Sheet
Should You Invest in This Software?!
A Quip That Says It All
Debt Consolidation

via theagileexecutive.com

Posted via web from adominick21's posterous

Stacking up Data Management

2010-03-24T14:46:00.002-04:00

Plenty of businesses invest money and resources trying to integrate, organize and manage data. Yet too often, it seems they become overwhelmed by it. Gartner Research says it best: such "efforts result in fragmented views, siloed information and missed opportunities. This incoherent vision can ultimately damage competitiveness and increase IT and business costs. In today’s economic climate is that a risk worth taking?" So in the spirit of yesterday's post on Big Data, a "simple" rendering of a data management technology stack (at least as we think about it @Computech):

While some might find this diagram abstract, the goals of agile data management are becoming clearer to me:

Make data in an organization's databases available in an understandable + explorable format;
Provide easy access & navigation from one subject area to another (e.g. combine data from one application with another application's data); and
Ensure data flows within an organization become transparent -- regardless of which operational system generates/maintains the data.

Ultimately, what I see companies and government agencies driving towards is providing new/easy ways for non-technical users to explore, visualize and interpret data to reveal patterns, anomalies, key variables and potential relationships. Feel free to let me know if I'm off base -- or how I might build on this understanding -- by commenting below.

Big Data color

2010-03-23T09:33:00.000-04:00

Periodically, I look back on what I've written here -- and also on Computech's Concomitantly. Last night, as I read Full 360's blog on the Agile Data Warehouse Story, I realized I'd jumped headfirst into the agile data management space without really defining an important concept: Big Data. Used to describe the massive quantities of raw and processed data that are being generated today in applications such as retail operations, let me add some color to the Big Data concept by pasting a sentence from the afore mentioned blog:

"Think of all the McBurgers sold every minute of every the day in a dozen different combinations. That purchasing information is valuable - but only if it can be made manageable, and accessible."

True, it’s become relatively easy (and cheap) to collect data. However, organizations of all sizes continue to wrestle with a fundamental challenge: making sense of what they’ve collected given the speed with which new types of data are generated. So as business leaders begin to execute new strategies based on better analytics and information, organizations with individualized, distributed computing and storage environments may soon require a more flexible, agile, and service- oriented solution to improve their proficiency in handling Big Data. Make sense? Drop me a line + let me know your thoughts.

Clusters & Massive Data

2010-03-22T13:30:00.000-04:00

And here I thought clusters were the tagline for a popular cereal. As I continue to get my arms around agile data management, deep analytics and the "dashboarding" of information, I had a chance to learn a bit more on the origins and product offerings of Aster Data, a leader in big data management + big data analysis for data-driven applications. If you're like me and curious about the next wave of software companies that can help improve customer loyalty, inventory management and revenue optimization, take a look at one that enables ultra-fast, deep analysis of massive data sets for clients like MySpace, Akamai and ShareThis.

Fully focused on data management (even on St. Patrick's Day)

2010-03-17T14:42:00.002-04:00

After posting my last entry, I had a spirited (and educational) back-and-forth with a colleague here at Computech. Our resident data expert, Hari Donthi warned me that when many think about business intelligence, most think about buying BusinessObjects or implementing a bunch of reports. So, let me try and clarify my interest in Big Data + deep/exploratory/quantitative analysis.

Within our IT firm, I've heard us talk about ways to minimize the time between when data is generated and the time when data is available for analytics. Questions like "how do we do this as data volumes get big, and the sources of data generation become disparate and uncoordinated" are the rule, not the exception. A few others further piqued my curiosity:

Why is it so difficult to just get all the data you can possibly get your hands on and make it available for Analysts immediately?

Why is reducing "analytic latency" important, especially to government agencies?

What exactly is "Analytics?" Do the terms "Statistical Inference" and "Data Mining" completely and accurately describe this field?

So, against Hari's backdrop that "Business Intelligence means the ability to do deep, exploratory, quantitative, ad-hoc analysis to understand what's going on with your business" I continue on my agile data management journey.

Oh yes, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Agile (adj): quick and well-coordinated in movement

2010-03-16T13:10:00.001-04:00

Three seemingly innocent words have taken my imagination captive: agile, data and management. Thanks to the patience of a few colleagues at Computech, I've started down a road of Big Data, business intelligence and analytics. (*Large, complex data sets, regression analyses, quant forecasts, optimization models, simulations... I must be crazy.)

At the proverbial risk of crashing through an open door, technology makes it possible to collect huge amounts of data. What's cool about where we are today relates to new solutions and innovative trends in managing + analyzing this influx. Sure, it's become relatively easy to collect data. However, organizations of all sizes continue to wrestle with a fundamental challenge: making sense of what they've collected given the speed with which new types of data are generated (and the sheer volume of that data).

While most of my family members happily wear the "quant jock" label, I've historically been on the outside looking in. Not so any more. While many peers complain of swimming in a vast sea of data, I see this expansion of information as a source of competitive advantage. The promise of agile data management -- a topic I plan on writing more about on DCSpring21 -- goes to this point. In fact, when I hear people talking about companies analyzing data and making decisions, it takes a bit of patience not to yell out: companies don't really do this -- people do. After all, can a company access, change and manipulate data in new ways?

O.K., I'm off my soapbox... for now.

Talent is not a thing; it's a process

2010-03-14T11:17:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, I mentioned four books I'm reading. Well, credit for today's title goes to a fifth that I just added Friday night: The Genius in All of Us by David Shenk. If you're looking for a book that will make you stop + think every few pages, his look at "what science and super-achievers teach us about human potential" might be right up your alley.