My new role at the Filene Research Institute is to help credit unions put ideas into action. Interestingly, about the same time I started in this role I had an idea of my own.
I talked to Brent Dixon a couple of weeks ago about how much I miss the early days of OpenSourceCU; how when any of us wanted to learn what was going on in the world of social media, we knew exactly where to go. "What if we could build a site that would get that back?" I wondered. We brainstormed over adult beverages, and I got excited.
I called Mark McSpadden, who is always up for a technology brainstorm session. He was excited.
I called Morriss Partee, who has always been kind of like my social media big brother. He was excited, and pledged his support. I was giddy.
I bought the domain name cuwatercooler.com, and started brainstorming with Brent about themes, design, and a bunch of other things I'm a complete novice in.
I called Tim McAlpine, and told him my idea. His response? Silence. It may have only been four seconds, but it was definitely silence. "I think it could work," he finally said. We brainstormed a little, he agreed to create the logo and do the design work, and we marched forward.
I pitched the idea to George Hofheimer at the Filene Research Institute. He was excited (maybe more in response to my excitement than the idea itself), but saw the project as being outside the scope of my role at Filene. But he didn't tell me "no". So, I proceeded.
I contacted William Azaroff, Gene Blishen, Steve Delfin, Kelley Parks, Denise Wymore, Christopher Morris, Christopher Stevenson, and Doug True. They all said they were in.
Today, we launch www.cuwatercooler.com. I spared you the details about the site because I want you to see and experience it for yourself. (Also, I wrote more about the concept here). The idea is less than three weeks old. It's not perfect, and will most certainly change. But it's live, and can start making an impact now.
I hope you enjoy the site, and realize the power of putting ideas into action.
4 comments:
Warrior -
You know what's so cool about this? By next week we'll all be able to show stats of how social media works. People with a common bond talking with people with a common bond. It's simple virtual networking
It is a web of wonder, not manipulation.
Word-of-mouth can't be bought - it has to be earned - you've earned it my friend!
Congratulations on a good idea. I look forward to learning and sharing with my banking brethren.
I found you guys because of an RT, and being in a similar industry with similar interests.
The raw enthusiasm is geek chic too ;)
Matt - so glad to be a part of this and already it's been interesting to read through everyone's daily reading.
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