BarCampBankBC 08 Day 2

I've just gotten home from the day 2 sessions and I must say that it was a great introduction to BarCamps being my first *camp ever.  My talk was shot down for a second day in a row... :)  but that's okay as the session I attended instead covered some interesting points.

First  we began with a discussion started by Andy LaFlamme from Main (http://theculoop.blogspot.com/) on the ways in which the information coming real world social networks  can be integrated into an organization to have a better understanding of what customers need, want or are complaining about.

Next up we had a brief description of Net Promoter Score from Denise Wymore.  I find the topics interesting because as a non-marketing person, they give me insights and ideas for creative marketing I might be able do for Pennyminder. 

And lastly (but not least!) We had a great discussion on the current financial crises.

I met some great people and was given lots to think about.  This experience was so great, I am thinking of maybe organizing a BarCampPersonalFinance at some point in the future.  

First day of BarCampBankBC 08

So far the first day has been great with some really great discussions.  I attended 3 sessions and had put forth my own call for discussion on 3rd party access to financial data, but everyone found the other suggestions for my time slot more interesting, so I had zero attendance. Ah well,  there's always tomorrow :).

William Azaroff of Vancity is live blogging here the sessions he attended (which happened to be the three that I attended)

I've also managed to do a bit of networking and meet some great people.  They've given me a lot to think about.  I look forward to tomorrows sessions.

See here for more information on BarCampBankBC

Almost there...

Please forgive the silence around here, but it's because I've been quite busy working on getting Pennyminder ready for launch.

I can say that it is almost ready for it's public unveiling! There just a couple of minor bugs and the not so minor process of obtaining a merchant account, which includes making sure Pennyminder is PCI compliant.

As a bit of a promotion (and because the merchant account is not live yet ;), anyone who signs up for an account before the launch will be able to create additional journals free of charge (up until the merchant account is hooked in of course), so send me an email or add your self to the waiting list.

Recent and Upcoming Events

In an effort to start getting the word out about Pennyminder, Last night I attended Launch Party V (my first) and it does my heart good to see such a vibrant and healthy startup scene here in Vancouver.

I spoke to a number of people, handing out cards and letting them know I exists :). One of the companies that was presenting was Clarity Accounting which is a web based accounting system (which Pennyminder is not nor claims to be) and from the brief look I've seen of it, it looks pretty decent.

I spent some time speaking with the technical director of Clarity and we have some common issues, namely easy, seamless and secure access to financial transactions straight from the financial institutions. This weekend I will be attending BarCampBankBC to start a dialog with some of the institutions about this very issue.

Hopefully, we'll see you all at Launch Party VI...