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!

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 & 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 online 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 online networking you will:

1. Your goal at any networking event is TO BE MEMORABLE (not to meet 4 CEO’s).  Nothing else matters. 
2. If your follow up fails, your networking fails.
3. 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.  
4. Nobody cares about your message, they care about themeselves.
5. 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.

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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

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?

Inspirational quotes have their place (e.g. typically in a mall atrium, framed by a soaring eagle or dense forrest).  Nevertheless, here's one that really resonates: "have a point of view about where the world is going, and get there first.  Stand where the lightening should strike."  I must be channeling my inner-Charlie Eppes (Numb3rs resident data genius), because early this morning, that quotation left me wondering how to predict where lightning will strike next; albeit, on-line and in my favor.

As I began pouring over my twitter stats and Google analytics, I realized I had embarked on the proverbial fool's errand.  After all, regardless of how many tweets, followers, friends, or mentions I call my own, I know someone else will inevitably count more.  Fortunately, I am not addicted to these tools -- but I do know some people who are.  How, than, to ween yourself from over analyzing your on-line presence?  One place to start: a recent post ("Scoring with Social Media") that ran on Harvard Business publishing's blog.  Why did it -- and not something put out by, say, Mashable, catch my eye?  Simple: I liked the straightforward business truth used to introduced six tips for successfully using analytics: "numbers are meaningless unless you know what you want them to tell you."  Charlie Eppes couldn't have said it better himself.