First on my list was the Leeds Media morning devoted to “Financial Services and the Online Surge”. I missed out on the pre-speech mingling as I’d underestimated the traffic, but luckily turned up in time for the kick off to see the following talk their talk:

  • John Willman, UK business editor at the Financial Times
  • Mike Stewart, Head of Digital at The Black Hole
  • Jenny Southwell, Head of eMarketing at First Direct

I won’t provide a complete spoiler of everything that was discussed but it was striking to hear Jenny and Mike’s differing views on whether or not internet technologies are revolutionising financial products.

According to Jenny, First Direct embrace technology that helps them connect with their customers and build trust, which in turn ensures their communications are anticipated, relevant and timely. Essentially, First Direct build their marketing into their product using technology; this is revolutionary.

Thinking about First Direct’s approach and “web 2.0” offerings such as Zopa, it’s clear to me internet technologies are definitely revolutionising financial products, and in ways that haven’t been possible until now.

So, all in all an interesting event to start the day with. Next on the agenda (with a sprinkling of work in between) was the Leeds GeekUp event, hosted at The Lounge.

As promised on the GeekUp web site, the format was two short talks followed by beer and “good ole geeky chat”. The short talks were:

  • From 10 to 10,000 listeners, in a year and a half - The power of podcasting! by Dominic Hodgson
  • An Introduction to Django (the Rails heads in the room would have been reminded of the Rails Envy video!)

Everyone was very friendly (notably Deb, Ryan and Paul) and it’s a great forum to find a range of technical perspectives. It’s a long drive from Hampshire, but I’ll definitely go again if I’m in the area - maybe next time TheWebFellas will give a short talk!