Yesterday I was sitting in starbucks and met another musician. He had an iPhone and a laptop with him. We got talking about various bands we like and used the technology to listen to each others reccomondations at the same time.

Afterwards we connected on facebook and myspace. Now that’s social media!

I really don’t know what is so special about social media. It is nothing more than talking, albeit via new technologies that allows you to speak with a boatload (no airplane references here, thank you very much) of people all at one time.

The NAFCU Compliance blog now has 2,200 subscribers who read it each day. Is that a lot? I don’t know, and I really am not all that caught up with the numbers. But it works for us. Since we’ve started the blog, our direct phone calls from members have actually increased. (Then again, the Federal Reserve’s 27 new regulations may have had something to do with that.) People use the blog to stay on top of issues. But when they did down into the details, they’ll often need to contact us to clarify a finer point.

But back to my point. Social media is nothing more than a conversation. I’ve met many a person at a cocktail party who really liked to converse. But they were terrible. Which drove me to drink, which was OK, as I was at a cocktail party. But to be successful, you have to converse in a way that other people will like. A good conversation is a two-way street. But with social media, it is more of a 10,000 way street.

With that in mind, here are a few simple rules we use at the NAFCU Compliance Blog.

1. Know your audience For us, it is the compliance officer, or someone who has to keep abreast of compliance issues.
2. Give them what they need. For us, that’s easy – compliance information.
3. Don’t waste their time. We always blog on something related to compliance. I may talk about my twins, or a trip I’m planning. But that is always secondary to some compliance-related nugget. If you mix in too many topics, or try to cover everything, you’ll lose focus – and the usefulness of the blog/message will falter.
4. Make it as entertaining as possible.
5. Be consistent. If you want to grow the audience, you have to consistently deliver.

For credit unions, I would think the same rules would apply. They’d just find different answers. And there’s the rub. What information should a credit union blog/twitter feed deliver? Who is their audience? (Sure, their members – but there are a score of subsets.) And what information can they deliver that cannot be found somewhere else? Those aren’t easy questions to answer. But when you do find the answers, you’ll do well – regardless of the numbers.

(Personally, I’ve thought about this a ton. If I were a credit union, I’d run a daily blog/twitter feed of sound financial tips. There’d be a new tip. Every. Single. Day. I’d also include information about upcoming credit union meetings, area events, etc. But the driving force would be a steady stream of tips to help people manage their finances. You do that for a few years, and you’d make a difference. And people would look to your credit union as a trusted source of financial information who is there to help.)

OK, that’s enough rambling for today. Carry on!

After the week I just had, I have no desire whatsoever to be on another plane. Although it often is, influence is not always earned. Sometimes it just happens. Dan Mica didn’t know the first damn thing about credit unions when he became the CEO of CUNA. He had a skill set that the organization needed, and filled his role beautifully.

By the end of this decade, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tim McAlpine’s initiatives have added 500,000 new members to credit unions. If he’s not on the plane, the plane is meaningless.

There’s not a harder working professional in or around credit unions than Rob Rutkowski. He helps countless people, and then blesses us with his podcast/blog. Does that put him on your plane? Who cares if it does or it doesn’t?

My impact on credit unions has not, will not, and should not be judged by my blog or social media activities. Frankly, most of my participation in the online conversation is made in spare time I increasingly don’t have. That said, I could not possibly work harder for, be more focused on, and be more constructively critical of credit unions.

I don’t do any of this to get a seat on a plane.

To your Ghandi quote, I totally agree. I want to see radical change in the industry that will help us survive. I think a good amount of the content in the CU blogosphere doesn’t meet that requirement. And that’s fine. To each their own. I think we all agree Sarah’s posts are great. I wish they would generate more conversation on the CU Times site. You are also right on target CLiCU. It isn’t sexy or fun, (most lawyers aren’t, sorry Rob) but it serves it niche very well. 1500 people might not be alot of traffic to some, but Rob is filling that niche very well. And Rob’s group has the opportunity to be involved in fundamental change in the industry.

Words can’t describe the strife created if you or I weren’t around anymore for our children or wives. We are absolutely not replaceable to them. However, are we having a huge impact on the CU industry? If the cheesy and old “Who’s Who” for credit unions was around, who’d be on it? Who’d be those 250 on the proverbial plane? You and I wouldn’t be on there, although we might be eventually. People like Ed Filene, Dick Ensweiler, and Dan Mica would be. I want to see more people use social media to create for themselves opportunities to get on that “plane” and leave a lasting impression on the industry.