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:

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 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.

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 (shortened to AOBA which is pronounced A-O-Bah) 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.  Right now, we are at 639 attendees -- and I expect we will 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!

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 almost 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.  All 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.

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.

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.