mjhunter:

I’m down in Chatham, Kent, today for the Kent Reliance Building Society’s AGM. I’m not a member of the mutual, however, their Chief Executive, Mike Lazenby, invited Podcastmatters Ltd to attend and podcast from the proceedings.

KRBS have been on the go for over 100 years, this was their 120th AGM, and the unkind among us would wonder if some of their members have been with them since their inception. I’m not sure there was anyone in the room at the Commissioner’s House under the age of 50 who wasn’t a KRBS employee. Obviously, anyone under the age of 65 would probably have been at work and thus unable to attend.

What’s interesting is the split in opinion on technology among the membership. The 61 year old Vice Chairman confessed that he’s not that into computers but that his wife is on Facebook. Mike Lazenby related an experience of when he was on the phone to a customer who told him that they were just about to go online and do some banking. This customer was 83 years old. Conversely, one member stood up during the meeting proudly proclaimed that they get all their news from newspapers and do not own a single piece of electronic technology. They did, however, concede to owning a telephone.

So, while it’s clear their target audience - ie. the mutual’s membership - may not be in the normal new media consuming demographic, that hasn’t stopped KRBS looking ahead to the future and wishing to have some quality new media content to offer their membership, along with more traditional communication methods, such as brochures and printed news letters.

Lazenby was very bold in his assertion that much of the current financial crisis is being exacerbated by old media’s newspapers and TV/radio broadcasts. He’s passionate about the fact that new media - podcasts, YouTube channels etc - can significantly redress the balance and promote a much more healthier and positive spin on the state of the country’s finances.

The overall vibe I captured in the audio that will be edited and released as the KRBS podcast is that communication is king, being able to talk directly to your customers is essential and that being transparent and authentic is indispensable. New media for old people?