The 2013 FINRA Annual Conference just wrapped up yesterday and judging by the packed house at the two social media-related sessions, the topic is still a hot one.  Much like the last few years, the industry is grappling with what to do with social.  “To allow or not to allow?” was clearly on the minds of everyone in the room.

Somewhat surprisingly, there’s still a lot of folks who don’t allow any access to social media (I’d ballpark it at around 1/3 of the people).  Then, you’ve got another third that only allow limited or selective access (e.g., only business card-type info on LinkedIn).  But for even these guys, they admitted they’d have to “release the hounds” eventually, with “eventually” being sooner rather than later.

FINRA itself is becoming more educated on social networking trends and capabilities and responding accordingly.  Just a few months ago, Rule 2210 (Communications with the Public) went into effect.  Realizing that the power and allure of social relies on the dynamic, interactive nature of the medium, Rule 2210 specifically exempts from pre-approve things like Facebook posts and tweets that don’t make any financial or investment recommendation or otherwise promote a product or service of the firm.

Some may say the financial industry is moving too slowly, but hey, baby steps are better than no steps at all.  After watching the industry get annihilated five years ago, a little bit of caution and conservatism perhaps is not a bad thing.  The main point is that the industry realizes social media is not a flash in the pan and that it’s here to stay.  The industry is embracing it, just at its own pace.

Which means it’s a wonderful opportunity for vendors like Actiance to help these firms meet their regulatory obligations.  Actiance’s sweet spot is financial services and has been for over 12 years.  We relish the role of advising the “newbies” on how to leverage social and to do so compliantly.  We’ve been to a bunch of these FINRA events so we know what keeps compliance officers up at night and what it takes to allay those fears.

Sometimes you need that lil bit of hand-holding to cross the finish line.  No shame in that.  In this day and age of global interdependencies, going it alone is more difficult than ever before.  Maybe that’s why we friend, connect, and follow.  Social makes looking for new business opportunities (or that specialty bacon) much easier.

Ahhhh….

Sarah Carter

I’m excited to be in the last week before we get to Unleash 2013, Actiance’s inaugural User Summit, where we’ll be welcoming more than 150 clients, partners and friends from the industry to celebrate, discuss, and advance social business.    I’m especially excited about the social track.  (of course I would be with my focus on that particular area of our business!).

Now the full agenda can be found here and registration is open until Wednesday 14th May – so grab one of the few remaining seats while you still can.  Why should you do that?  Well you’ll love the social track that we’ve put together for starters.  Here’s a taste of what you can experience:

Join the Social Stakeholders in our panel discussion because enabling Social in a financial services firm involves many aspects.  Not least ensuring that all the stakeholders are involved – the earlier the involvement, the more successful the implementation of social tends to be.   From Social Media and Digital Marketing, to Information Technology, Risk and Security, Compliance and HR – the enablement of social requires the buy in, education and advocacy of each of these departments and more.    In this unique panel, we’ve brought together those stakeholders to guide you through the challenges – and give you key tips as to how you can safely and effectively navigate the successful implementation of social in YOUR organization.

Join panelists

• John Malone,  Director of Broker Dealer Compliance, Pioneer Funds Distributor, Inc.
• Joe Correiro, Head of Digital Marketing, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
• Mitch Slater, SVP Financial Advisor, UBS Financial Services

Join us for what will be a lively discussion between interested stakeholders, with strong, but often opposing views and requirements  and take away three key tips from each on effectively working with all the stakeholders involved in social enablement.

Then, take a deeper dive and join Carole Foster, Managing Director and First VP of CIBC Wood Gundy and hear how about “Building Social Media into a Wealth Management Practice”. 

CIBC Wood Gundy began their journey towards building social into their business practice some two years ago.  Hear from COO, Carole Foster, how the organization promoted the innovative use of technology to deliver social media to investment advisers as a key element in their communications tool kit.  Understand the challenges that the firm overcame, the business drivers for the project and where the firm goes from here.  Carole will share candid thoughts on how the stakeholders in her business came together to enable Wood Gundy to be the “first on the street” in Toronto to deliver social as a key element of the business and marketing mix for the wealth management community.

Finally – this conference is about you.  Our customers, our users, our partners – so join “For the People, By the People:  the Actiance Social UnConference”.  We’ll gather for 90 minutes on Friday morning, with the Social UnConference, we have created a space that helps YOU make connections, share knowledge, collaborate and create brainchildren.   This is your session – we encourage participants to give a presentation, create a discussion, or even chair a debate.   Bring your ideas, your intellect, your debating skills – because there’s an entire room full of social individuals who WANT to hear your opinion and who want to engage with you.

The Social Business Team is counting down the hours to our kick off on Thursday 16th May – and we do hope you’ll join us for two days of engagement, interaction, sharing – and challenging of ideas.  Hope to see you in New York!

As the preferred social network for Financial Professionals, optimizing your LinkedIn profile will go a long way in establishing your digital presence.   In addition to the favorable Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that a good LinkedIn profile provides, you’ll want to ensure that it reflects the breadth of your experience beyond the details you’d normally provide in a resume.  After all, first impressions still count.

Although the LinkedIn user interface has gone through a number of face lifts since its inception, the basic building blocks of what makes a profile standout remain the same.  The good news is that the content necessary to build out and optimize a profile is second nature- because it’s your own story.  As you establish your profile I recommend you focus on these 12 key areas to optimize your profile and position yourself as the professional you are- dynamic and approachable.

1. Profile Photo-
Select a professional image of yourself  that is clear and clean and inviting to those that visit your profile.  Look at camera, smile and click.  An ideal profile photo will show you as friendly and approachable and provide a lasting impression.  If possible, I recommend you invest by getting the photo done by a professional or at a local studio to maximize your backround options and choices.  According to LinkedIn “Profiles with photos receive a 40% higher InMail response rate because people like to see who they’re speaking to.”   I imagine the same applies to people willing to meet you.

2. Name/Headline-
Keep it simple.  Initials, acronyms, or titles to your name, may make it difficult for others to find you in search results.  Those credentials can be added to your current job description or to the headline.   The headline should be more than just your title. I recommend you use this space to provide a creative way to tell others what you do,  and the value you add.

3. Vanity URL-
Your vanity URL increases your chances to be found in search engine results and make a great addition to your email signatures and business cards.  The best format would include your first and last name.

4. Contact Information-
To increase opportunities for new connections online and offline, providing a number of options for contact are recommended.  Contact information can include e-mail, phone, website and social networking (Twitter).  The more the better.

5. Summary-
The summary section allows you to tell your own story.  Since LinkedIn is not a job board, it doesn’t have to read like a resume or bio, providing you with the freedom to get creative.  This field is the most underutilized section of a user profile, and yet provides the most opportunity for you to connect with visitors on an emotional level.  In telling your story, let people know what you are passionate about and how you can add value.  Be sure to use keywords that others would use to search for you or the services you provide.

6. Experience-
When adding information about your experience focus on what you’ve done and the value it’s added to the organization.  What did you learn, what did you teach, what impact did you make? People like to see career progression and that you are learning and leading every step of the way.  Providing only an employer name and job title tell us nothing about why you worked there in the first place, and what you were able to accomplish.

7. Honors & Awards-
Not everyone can be the #1 Dad in the World, that title belongs to me, but you can share the recognition of others via honors and awards. It could also prove to be a key differentiator in client selection. This is your time to shine, so go ahead and take a digital victory lap.

8. Volunteer Experience & Causes-
Your work experience and skill development goes beyond the jobs you’ve had in the past.  Sharing your volunteerism on LinkedIn allows you to build on the causes you care about and offer another glimpse of your experience.  This is especially true if you’ve held leadership positions on boards, groups and associations.  It will also help you connect with others that share similar interests.

9. Education-
It may seem trivial to share your education experience, especially if it’s been decades since you last cracked open a school book.  However, don’t overlook the value placed on alumni networks and the shared connectivity that comes from a common school experience.  Familiarity with the various football conferences in the U.S. goes a long way in being able to break the ice with new contacts.   It also provides an easy talking point, especially if the person’s education does not match their profession.

10. Additional Info-
It would be easy to dismiss the minutia of this section; however it would be a mistake to overlook it.  Sharing your interests and personal details further humanize your profile and provide yet another set of data points that people can connect too.  I often look at people’s interests to get a better understanding of who they are and what they value.  I also recommend you provide advice on how to be contacted, especially if that contact needs to be done outside of the LinkedIn InMail network.

11. Groups-
One of the easiest ways to build connections with common interests is to belong to groups within LinkedIn.  Groups can vary from recognized professional organizations to industry focused niches.  If available, I recommend you join groups that make up your target audience to see what challenges they face and the discussions they are having.  If you can, participate in the discussions and add value to the conversations.   Another added bonus of being in a group is that it provides an additional avenue to make new connections.  People are more receptive to receive a connection request if you share common interests- group participation provide this opportunity.

12. Companies-
Companies can have a corporate presence on LinkedIn and following them subscribes you to the content they share and activity within the organization.  If you are targeting a specific industry or company for new opportunities, this is an easy way to stay abreast of their online activity.

There you have it, 12 areas to focus on when optimizing your LinkedIn profile.  Depending on your social media policy, not all of them may be available to you, so I recommend your leverage those that you can.  If you have any questions, be sure to add them to the comments section below or contact us @Actiance on Twitter.

This Thursday’s Thought Leader Actiance (#TLTActiance) guest blog is by Elizabeth Lumley, special projects editor at financial services newswire Finextra, based in London. Follow her on Twitter @LizLum

According to research from the Boston Consulting Group, revenues from global transaction banking are expected to grow from $189 billion in 2011 to $509 billion in 2021 – an increase of 170%.

This renewed focus on the transaction bank has brought up several key trends. To highlight these I’m going to look at two trends from Finextra’s Global Banking Transaction Survey.

Most banks are combining cash management, payments, trade finance (and sometimes securities services) into one business unit.

Almost 90% of the banks surveyed in 2012 have created a transaction banking group, combining these business, or plan to in the near future. That number has grown exponentially. In 2010, 57% of those surveyed had merged, or were planning to merge, their trade finance and cash management business. That rose to 77% in 2011.

Now, there are a few issues I have with these statistics. And it’s from a technical, rather than a business strategy standpoint.  

The client-facing sides of the bank are now concerned with this idea of ‘customer-centricity’. Banks need a ‘customer view’ of their services, not a product-view of their services. Why?

So that banks can enable a stronger strategic focus on customer service, channel and product innovation. So that banks can ‘cross-sell’ their services. It is not a giant leap to suggest to a cash management client, that ‘oh by the way…we also offer supply chain.’

However, saying that a bank is now ‘customer-focused’ rather than product-focused, is very different from re-engineering decade’s old, legacy-heavy, enterprise-wide infrastructure that has been aligned along product lines.

Piecing together your old ‘product’ systems with some dodgy middleware, sticky tape and chewing gum, or moving your cash management guys to the same floor of the building as your trade finance gals – does not mean you are now operating in a serene, holistic, IT paradise (complete with angels and cotton candy.)

In 2013, most banks ‘want’ to combine their business under the neatly packaged ‘transaction banking’ umbrella – because of all the reasons cited including ‘better press’. (I mean who will admit, to the media, that their business is struggling to cope with changes in customer behaviour; with ageing systems that were probably built when people thought having a phone in your car was the height of innovation?)

But many banks are still struggling with real issues concerning complexity their IT environments. In fact 57 per cent of respondents, to the survey, said IT and system complexity is a hindrance. Any business within the bank, can offer cool, smart, innovative products – but if the infrastructure supporting them is, for lack of a better word…creaky, then the whole house of cards will fall apart.

Mobile channel development is a growing trend, with 45 per cent of banks ranking this a priority in the coming year, while 63 per cent said expanding self-service channels such as mobile would be part of their strategy over the next three years.

Conservative IT people – and let’s face it most bank IT people aren’t your young guns in hipster jeans and retro glasses (not that I’m saying that’s a bad thing) – tend to deal with innovation in terms of ‘products’. The digital revolution that has been going on around us, in the consumer world, is often seen in banking as a mobile revolution.

The questions that are being asked in innovation and development teams right now are:

• How do you get payments on the phone? 
• How do you engineer a ‘Wallet’ on the phone?
• How do you allow a corporate treasurer to authorise a payment on the phone?

This is the ‘mobile as a channel’ view of the world – which has led many banks to make the mistake of trying to shove the online banking experience into the mobile. (Or to shove the card onto the phone via NFC)

You should not think of mobile as a channel, but think of it as the channel. Whether you’re a retail customer or a corporate customer – you’re not looking for banking services ‘on a mobile’ you are looking for ‘mobile banking services.’ There’s a difference.

The cell phone, tablet or smart phone is merely the device of today.

According to last year’s Capgemini World Payments Report only two percent of mobile phone users have ever made a payment using their phone. Customers are not crying out for more apps – where they are moving towards is being able to access banking and payments services wherever they are.

It is people who are mobile. If your innovation strategy is bogged down with the device – it will move in the wrong direction.

That revolution in consumer banking is having an immediate impact on what corporate customers are demanding from their banks and how banks plan on focusing their investment in innovation.

Elizabeth Lumley is a global specialist commentator on services, regulations, risk, data and technology in investment, retail, and global transactional banking. She is an internationally recognised reporter, tweeter, blogger and broadcast journalist. Elizabeth Lumley is currently special projects editor at financial services newswire Finextra, based in London, where she is responsible for all the multi-media output.

The buzz in the enterprise is Big Data. Pick up any publication covering technology or business these days and you will see articles about the proliferation of Big Data; how it happens and how it will impact our lives. Certainly, there is a ton of data flooding in, offering tremendous opportunity to predict new trends that can drive our business in exciting ways. But there are two important steps in the harnessing of Big Data to achieve its potential. First you have capture and store the data; second you need to analyze the data. Once you have visibility you can ‘listen’ to trends generated by your customers and marketplace.

But, while most companies are listening to what customers are saying, they’re often not listening to what their employees are saying.

The old adage “the CEO is the last to know” no longer has to hold true. Big Data can help you learn about your employees’ experiences as much as the customer experience. If we can leverage Big Data to create an experience for the customer that exceeds their expectations and results in higher satisfaction, can we not use Big Data to achieve the same with our employees?

With Big Data we can change how we engage our employees. We can understand the trending themes, the sentiment, who the key “connectors” and subject matter experts are, and even the high risk areas. We can safely project that this will result in:

• Higher job satisfaction
• A more engaged, enthusiastic workforce
• Longer employee retention
• Better productivity

Not unlike the customer experience we can create with insights from Big Data, we can create a better employee experience that results in a positive, transparent and more productive work environment. All of which gives us a competitive edge.

Isn’t that really the potential of Big Data for the enterprise?

WHAT DOES THE SEC SAY?

Here’s what the SEC actually says “companies can use social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to announce key information in compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure (Regulation FD) so long as investors have been alerted about which social media will be used to disseminate such information”.

The exact text is on the SEC website:   http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-51.htm   We’re pleased to see that the content was tweeted as well.  Interestingly, it was in 2008 that the SEC actually cleared the use of websites for the dissemination of key information.  It feels like its been a long five years to get the same clearance for social media.  But perhaps not.   On August 6th 1991, some 17 years earlier the first website was born, at CERN – the first URL for that website was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html in case you want to check it out.  So, it appears progress is being made.  Our world is speeding up.

WHAT DOES THAT ACTUALLY MEAN?

• It means that, so long as a public company announces in advance, what social outlets they will use, that they are able to disseminate key information through these channels.
• In general, key information is usually mailed out or put on a wire service like Marketwire or PR Newswire and also onto the company website.

DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY WILL NOW ALL BE ON SOCIAL?

• Not necessarily, it doesn’t meant that individuals in companies will necessary be all now posting content through their individual network updates.
• It does mean that firms will need to open up access to social media so that Financial Advisers, Relationship Managers and those assisting clients with investment information can access this information – it really IMO opens the floodgates for firms now saying, that if you have financial professionals who need to keep up to date with key publicly traded companies, then they need to see this information.  If you don’t, then it would be like forbidding a professional to read the newspaper or watch TV.
• Usually when public companies distribute key information like this, they distribute it through a “corporate property” – in social terms this would be the company Facebook page, or the company Twitter account, or the company page on LinkedIn.
• Record retention requirements means that companies will have retain records of what they posted.  i.e. LinkedIn company updates.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THE DISTRIBUTED TEAM?

• It means that they will require access to social in order to conduct their work effectively.
• As a result of the SEC’s ruling, anyone that needs to keep an eye on key information from public companies will NEED to have access to social in order to remain competitive.
• The socially savvy public company will use individuals to push this content out, along with corporate brands. Take Reed Hastings of Netflix for instance – this whole thing started because it was HIS Facebook page, not the company page.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRMS and PUBLIC COMPANIES?

1)      Archiving company updates for public companies will become a must have.  Public companies will need to archive the company updates and any other updates that are related to Regulation FD.

2)      Ensuring that the right person / people approved this content is key.  They will need to prove that it was approved by the relevant individuals/groups in the organization.

3)      Companies may choose to share content to a “Shareholders Group” on LinkedIn, a group on Facebook, or a private feed on Twitter, thus requiring that content is approved and archived, is again key.

4)      Some companies might select individuals to share this key information – so ensuring that the content is again approved and archived is key.  However, the SEC points out, that “The report of investigation explains that although every case must be evaluated on its own facts, disclosure of material, nonpublic information on the personal social media site of an individual corporate officer — without advance notice to investors that the site may be used for this purpose — is unlikely to qualify as an acceptable method of disclosure under the securities laws. Personal social media sites of individuals employed by a public company would not ordinarily be assumed to be channels through which the company would disclose material corporate information.”  So ensure prior notification has been made – and that it is clear, which channels and which accounts will be used to disseminate this information.

5)      Those firms that block social access for the wider team will not be evaluating their policies, in order to provide open access to at least view for instance LinkedIn news and company updates while on corporate machines.

6)   Social networks outside of Facebook and Twitter should be lobbying the SEC – who referenced only Facebook and Twitter – but not LinkedIn as social channels.    LinkedIn is the network that most business professionals feel comfortable with and with whom they connect with business colleagues on much more than Facebook and Twitter.  It’s clear that the SEC needs to understand the company area of LinkedIn, but also the value of the personal network – using the Reed Hasting’s example – if he had used his LinkedIn network update to push this out, it would have had the same effect as he did with Facebook.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

1) Review your social policies, both for listening, and for distributing content.  This great move by the SEC has opened the way for “no business reason for social” to be removed.  Ensure that you’re including all the stakeholders into this review.

2) Ensure, if you are a public company, that any content you are sharing on social – goes through the same approvals that content for other mediums does.  Archive it and retain it.

3) Embrace this new communications modality approval by the SEC.  Those who disseminate key information in compliance with Regulation FD, through social channels, will certainly be in the forefront of the press and generate those softer elements of ROI, that we all strive for.  So make sure you take this into consideration when you’re looking at the benefits of social.

Let me wrap up by asking a question.  If you were to choose one social channel to share key information.. what would it be?

The reality is that when a member of staff becomes exposed in the light of historic tweets or other online activities in public networks, it does cast a shadow on the individual – but ultimately it is the employer that is at fault for failing to properly assess and support the candidate.

There are three fundamental methods of ensuring your organisation does not suffer a painful media disclosure such as the one recently experienced by the Police Service.

1. Introduce social media review policies

Ensure that you have internal HR processes and tools for identifying and vetting new candidates across social media networks. A candidate may have a number of different public profiles using a variation of social media channels – all of which will help paint a complementary image of the personality, attitudes and moral standpoints of the person. As part of your employment strategy, the organisation should have a set of clear definitions in place which outline behaviour or attitudes which are not acceptable; be they online or offline. We have published two papers that will help you create the right policies: The Legal Issues of Social Media, UK edition and The Six Essential Principles for Social Media Success.

2. Have a contingency plan

When faced with inconsistencies or questionable public online activities, you may still decide to proceed with the employment based on the core skills and experience of the candidate. However, any uncovered issues need to be openly discussed as part of the employment process. There should be a clear understanding of how the employee is expected to behave as a representative of the business and you should make decisions on whether any unsuitable tweets, blogs or profiles should be deleted. By critically reviewing content you can pre-empt a media backlash at a later stage.

3. Enable future compliance

Guidelines for online behaviour are no longer an agenda item just for public service institutions. All organisations need to be aware of the risks of employees being active on public online networks, but also embrace the power of the “social employee”. Today more than ever, we have access to the communication platforms and knowledge to truly influence the world around us. Just as the decision behind recruiting the youth PCC was very much based on her ability to represent and speak to her peers, businesses must recognise that employees can impact the business environment through their presence within their social media circles – so they should be encouraged and supported to do so in a compliant fashion.

Ultimately, whilst anyone’s behaviour on social platforms is their own responsibility, it is beholden to the organisation to warrant that the author is educated, supported and managed to ensure that the reputational risk is minimised. As the Romans would have said – Caveo Utor (Employer beware!)

Today’s blog is from Joanna Belbey, Social Media and Compliance Specialist at Actiance.

This month, the Division of Investment Management of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued the first in a series of “IM Guidance Updates” to clarify its positions on emerging legal issues. The first topic was social media.

Financial services firms are cautious by nature, and its both our experience and no surprise, that firms are taking a very conservative approach and are filing a huge amount of social media content with FINRA. The SEC is calling out that this may be unnecessary in a number of cases.

First some background. To ensure that communications from financial institutions are suitable, fair and balanced, the FINRA Advertising Regulation Department reviews the content of more than 100,000 communications every year. Some communications are submitted as required by FINRA rules, others are submitted voluntarily. Some are filed in advance, others within 10 days of publication. However in FINRA Rule 2210(c)(7)(M), effective February 2013, retail communications posted on an “online interactive electronic forum that is contained on a social media website” are specifically excluded from these filing requirements.

However, as firms have other filing requirements aside from FINRA, such as Section 24(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”) or Rule 497 under the Securities Act of 1933 (“1933 Act”), SEC has seen fit to provide guidance on what should and should not be filed.

As the SEC states “Whether a communication need be filed depends on the content, context, and presentation of the particular communication”. So nothing changes there. This is simply reiteration. But now the SEC goes a little further. The more specific, the more likely it needs to be filed. And as an aside, whether the communications are filed or not, they still need to captured, supervised, archived, made e-discoverable like any other written communication for “business as such”.

The SEC provided some examples for clarity:

Do Not File

• Simple mention of a specific investment company or family of funds without discussion of merits
• Mention of word “performance” in connection with a specific investment company or family of funds without mention of returns
• Factual introductory statement / hyperlink to fund prospectus (ie, report available here)
• An introductory statement not related to investment merits of a fund that includes hyperlink to general information
• Response to an inquiry via social media that provides factual information and does not include merits of the fund

File (to meet requirements of Section 24(b) or Rule 482):

• Discussion of fund performance that provides specific mention of fund’s returns
• Issuer communications that discuss merits of an investment fund

The regulators continue to reinforce what we know to be best practices of social media. Pitching financial products, and discussing specific performance and returns is unwelcome on social media and may require pre-approval by a registered principal of the firm as well as filing requirements.

A better approach?

Provide compelling content, not sales pitches. Offer information that is informative, entertaining, and worth sharing. In a compliance-constrained industry like financial services, delivering compelling content can be challenging, but it’s by no means impossible.

The first step is to inventory your existing content to see what can be leveraged for social media. Start with pre-approved content that has been reviewed by the company’s compliance team for both corporate governance and regulatory compliance. Use this content to develop a library of interesting insights on investment strategies, wealth management, saving for college or retirement, and similar topics. These articles can provide a foundation for social media newcomers who are looking to start building their online networks.

This Spring is a great time to get started!

Other information you may find helpful:

Belbey Blogs: New FINRA Communications Rule 2210

http://blog.actiance.com/2013/02/13/belbey-blogs-new-finra-communications-rule-2210/

Division of Investment Management of the Securities and Exchange Commission Issues Guidance Update on Social Media Filings by Investment Companies

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-40.htm

IM Guidance Update March 2013

http://www.sec.gov/divisions/investment/guidance/im-guidance-update-filing-requirements-for-certain-electronic-communications.pdf

FINRA Rule 2210

http://finra.complinet.com/en/display/display_main.html?rbid=2403&element_id=10648

Regulatory Notice 12-29 Communications with the Public

http://www.finra.org/web/groups/industry/@ip/@reg/@notice/documents/notices/p127014.pdf

Regulatory Notice 10-06, Social Media Web Sites: Guidance on Blogs and Social Networking Web Sites (January 2010)

http://www.finra.org/web/groups/industry/@ip/@reg/@notice/documents/notices/p120779.pdf

Guide to the Web for Registered Repre­sentatives

http://www.finra.org/Industry/Issues/Advertising/p006118

FINRA: RCA – March 1999 – Ask the Analust – Electronic Communications

https://www.finra.org/Industry/Regulation/Guidance/RCA/p015326

Traditional Broads Yachts

I started my life as a sailor by booking a holiday in the Norfolk Broads, renting an original Broads yacht, with a mast that lowered to go under the bridges and a retro fitted outboard that kicked something rotten against the rudder.  I also started my life as a sailor by reading a book on how to sail, while being driven to said Norfolk Broads.  Skip forward some 12 years and an idea that had been growing with my sailing experience became a reality.

I decided I wanted to sail across the Atlantic.  Belay that order, I wanted to RACE across the Atlantic.

The idea was to join the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, (the ARC) by buying a berth on a 40.7 metre Beneteau, along with 4 other paying crew, her skipper and first mate.  The ARC runs from Europe to the Caribbean.  That’s at the shortest point, about 2,000 miles. Add in that, I’d only met half my crew, and only for 36 hours.  And oh yes,  the longest stretch I’d sailed before was 300 miles – and this was over the course of a week, in a bikini, light winds and with a cold beer in my hand!.

Arc Route (ish, weather dependent)

It’s hard to pinpoint what I was expecting.  Or expecting it to be like, because the whole experience was like nothing I’ve ever done before. It feels surreal, even now, years after the fact, It felt as though I lived a different life in the month I was away, but it also seems to have been over in a flash, I still remember the bruises on my legs, the tide mark on my wrist left by the watch, how my hair bleached almost white by the sun and how anything more than at most shorts and t shirt seemed restrictive.

I also have a series of snapshots in my head, which still have me smiling wryly, grinning inanely and almost shuddering as I flick through them.  Some are silent memories, others come with bursts of music and there’s a disjointed nature to the memories, to the random reminders of conversations and the way that they jumble together, which rather reflects the emotions of the trip.

We were a strange crew,  four IT people (although why I think four IT people is strange now is beyond me), a chap with his own sign business and our skipper and first mate and we were to spend more than 3 weeks in a confined space in a potentially stressful situation with people that we’d never met could not be one of our better decisions!

The Crew: As we crossed the finish line: Phil, Matt, Neil, Mary, Sarah

Our race started, 2nd across the start line, we rounded the Island and Venus (our Yacht was Spirit of Venus) – those Brits in the audience can summon up all the “good ship Venus” songs you want, believe me, after 19 days at sea, we’d done them all..  – so, we heeled over, Venus went on her side with the wind, as 30 knots of wind and full sails didn’t go that well.  And so began our adventure, and the two days of seasickness for most of the crew..

We began our watch system at 1800 on 20^th November.  3 hour watches during the day and 4 hours at night.  Skipper Bonnie, Neil and I took the first watch, making our first day a long one.   When you’re on watch, its like every watch becomes a day.  I didn’t have 19 days at sea, I had 3 watches x 19 days at sea.  No wonder if felt like a lifetime in itself.

It’s hard to sum up 3,200 miles, and 57 watches into one blog entry, so if you’d like to track more of the trip that I took, then head on over to my personal blog where I’m serializing it, but before you do that, here’s a few thoughts.

WATER on a DRY BOAT

There is very little fresh water on board.  We have a water maker, but it takes somewhat MEH.   We drink orange squash by the gallon.  We wah our hair with wet wipes, or sea water, or not at all.  Crew members who smell, are told in no uncertain terms.  We are a dry boat.  Until we hit half way across.  Then we share a bottle of fizz between the 7 of us, to celebrate half way, Neil’s birthday and my wedding anniversary.  I get to send an email to Nigel via sat phone connection.

NIGHT SAILING

Moonrise

I know the earth spins around, but I’ve never seen it before.  The long nights of two four hour watches, seeing the stars in different positions as the night progresses made it all real.  The Plough and the planet Venus become my lifeline at night, my drift off time.  Shooting stars are everywhere; we puzzle for hours over those with green flashes and settle on space debris.   Yet we’re alone.   On still nights, where we ghost long, or barely move, we plankton spot, leaning over the side, torches in hand, and childlike fascination with glowing dots that go down infinitely.

Dark nights with cloud cover are miserable and last longer.  The sensation of spinning or constantly turning left is overwhelming.

Watching the moonrise is more spectacular than the sunrise or the sunset and sailing by it’s light when it’s full is like having a torch on the sails.  Squalls coming in black and thunderous is scary in a heart racing way, wondering whether they’re going to “get us”, or if we’ll escape with just a little windy nudge on our way.  Waves rush by, in a hiss, fizz and effervescent bubble as they slide by the hull.  White horses chase the stern, faster and faster, almost overtaking, I swear some nights you hear them snort as you see them pull up short out of the corner of your eye.

DOLPHINS, FLYING FISH and WHALES

Dolphins!  Swimming alongside, and jumping up at the bow.  Wow.  Then a pod of killer whales swim across the bow, a momentary panic and they’re gone.  Another whale days later, it seems our constant companion are the flying fish, fleeing prey, flying for what seems like forever, we dread them landing on Venus.  Stinky little things.  We “catch” five in our trip, one lies dead on the foredeck for a day or so, until we smell it’s there, tangled in the sail.  Another lands in the cockpit, while we’re on an all girl watch.  We shriek.  No rescue; and brave Mary has to throw him overboard

Flying fish

(Never have I needed to sheet in so much in my life to avoid it!).  Our worst encounter is the one that lands in the wheel well at the darkest point of night and dies shuddering while Neil helms, talking us through its death throes.  As the sun rises, Monkey spears it with the bread knife and the boys examine it (it has real wings!!), photo it, video it for posterity and use it as bait on the fishing line.

And then almost as soon as it began, it’s over.  We sight St Lucia, it’s dark as we sail into Rodney Bay.   Racing to the end.

We’ve run our engine every watch to charge the batteries yet not engaged forward gear for 3200 miles.  But now, it won’t start.  It won’t engage forward gear.  We’ll have to anchor off in the bay.  No beer for us tonight!  A frantic effort goes into fixing it.  Victorious.  We motor through the narrow gap into Rodney Bay Marina, wide eyed at all the people, the bars.  As we motor through, applause rings out and we look excitedly at each other.  For us?  And then it hits me, that yes it is, we’ve done it!  Made it across the Atlantic.  Blimey.  It’s a stunning thought.

Skipper Bonnie brings us into the marina, slipping Venus into reverse to slow us down, the revs go up and we head towards the concrete pontoon at 4.5 knots.  A crowd is gathered to welcome us, music plays, the rum punch is chilling, our screams and waves of “no reverse” go un heard.   Needless to say we stop.  Suddenly.  After 3,200 miles, we slam into the concrete pontoon and we made it.*

#TravelTuesday from Actiance is just one of the ways in which we get our extended team involved in social.  Our team are passionate about what they do, whether that’s sailing, attending the Grammy’s, Turkey or just plain traveling to the office.  What are YOU and YOUR team passionate about?  What makes your team tick?

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