Everyone is now anxiously waiting for the results. Hopefully it won’t take too longer for Vancity to announce the election results.
In just two short days (April 30, 2011), it will be the last day to vote in the Vancity Board of Director election.
If you haven’t voted yet, please consider supporting James Yang (#14 on the ballot).
Embrace technology. Embrace change. Vote for James Yang.
Starting next week, in addition to online and mail-in voting, Vancity members will be able to vote in-branch.
According to the election guidelines, Board of Director candidates are permitted to campaign outside Vancity branches. Therefore, if you happen to see me campaigning outside your local branch during in-branch voting week, come and say hello!
April 30, 2011, will be the last day that Vancity members will be able to vote. So, if you haven’t voted yet, please consider supporting James Yang for the Board of Director in the election. I believe that I would be able to make a significant contribution to the Board with my Information Technology work experience and educational background.
Embrace technology. Embrace change. Vote for James Yang.
If you haven’t looked at your Vancity statement recently, you might have missed/forgotten that all Vancity members own shares in Vancity, under an account called “Membership Shares”. Each year, depending on how well the credit union performed, a dividend may be issued to membership shares. Based on a a quick look at Vancity’s Annual Report, I have created a quick summary of previous dividends issued:
Based on a recent announcement (link here), Vancity will be issuing a dividend of 6% this year.
As most of us Canadians know… We have a new Federal election on May 2, 2011, just after the Vancity Board of Director’s elections. We’re just starting to see the politicians with their photo-ops. I saw something on TV that made me shudder… Prime Minister Harper singing the John Lennon song “Imagine”.
So, for my second campaign promise… If I ever get on the campaign trail or camp out in front of a Vancity branch during in-branch voting week, I promise I will never belt out a song to get your vote!!
We’re about one week into the election campaign for the Vancity Board of Directors and I’ve noticed something that seems to bode well for the new election process. Many of my acquaintances have indicated that, because of convenience, they have either voted already or are going to vote online.
I have no idea whether they voted for me, or for the other candidates, but that is not the point of this ramble. The point is that if we have more participation, results of the election will be more democratic and will be a much better representation of the will of the membership.
I suspect we will likely have more members vote in the election this year than in the previous years. I wonder if we’ll get over 10% this year????
I am of the belief that everyone should understand their own credit profile. Did you know that Canadian citizens are entitled to ONE FREE CREDIT REPORT every year?
I have been getting my free credit reports from Equifax (link here). If you go to their website, Equifax will try to sell you access to your credit profile online, for a fee. However, you can also get the report for FREE. You just need to fill out a form (link here) and mail it in, along with the requested documentation. Then, within a couple of weeks… Presto!!! You get you own credit profile in the mail.
A few months ago, I read an article from Rob Carrick of the Globe and Mail (link here) that also provided a phone number for Equifax (1-800-465-7166). This is a much quicker way of getting the free credit report (no postage required). Within 10 minutes, I was able to order the report. How easy was that!!! I still needed to wait a couple of weeks to actually get a copy of the report. But it was a good deal for what I paid for.
Based on Rob Carrick’s article, I also tried to call the phone number for TransUnion. However, I was never successful in ordering the credit report. After a couple of tries and I gave up. You might have better luck than me.
Let me first start by saying that I am not a big fan of censorship. I enjoy feedback as well as open and honest discussions. However, I am also not a fan of offensive comments or having this website spammed with comments containing links to medicinal products promising you the moon.
Therefore, I have decided to set up this website so that comments have to be reviewed before they are published. It is my sincerest hope that my decision will result in a better experience for everyone.
Ads are a necessary “evil” in everyone’s web surfing experience. However, especially with the use of the latest web technologies, these ads can be incredibly annoying: move your mouse to the wrong spot and a monkey starts to swing across the web page.
Therefore, here is my first promise… I will not show any advertising on this website because I want to make your experience here as enjoyable as possible…. There will be no swinging monkeys, no dancing kangaroos, and definitely no videos selling the latest products that you probably won’t even need.
Vancity members will be able to vote online for the board of directors this year. Based on voting statistics from Vancity (link here), participating rate for the last five years are:
As of last year, Vancity has roughly over 417,000 members. Therefore, the numbers indicate that over 16,000 members casted a vote in the 2010 board of directors election. Hopefully, with implementation of online voting, the numbers of members who vote will increase. Let’s see if we can make 10% this year!!!
Vancity has changed the Board of Director’s Election process (link here) for this year. Based on the credit union’s desire to seek “candidates with skills in finance and technology renewal”, I decided to put my name in as a candidate last month.
I intend to use this website as a forum of communication with Vancity members. I will post more information in the coming days. If you wish to contact me directly, fell free to use the Contact Me page (link here).