Comments for Wojtek Materka

Comment on Big Business Blues by rj

rj — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:26:25 +0000

Could not have been said better.

Comment on 7 insights on social media in banking by AdaMM

AdaMM — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:26:24 +0000

thanks Wojtek, I will use this one a bit if you do not mind

Comment on Consumer collaboration in financial services? by Läsvärt – 21 January 2010 | bryggare.nu

Läsvärt – 21 January 2010 | bryggare.nu — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:33:32 +0000

[...] Consumer collaboration in financial services? « Light Mind- Öppna API:er (och ett öppet sinne) för att låta andra ta hand om utvecklingen av nya produkter så kan banerna fokusera på riskhantering. Vore riktigt spännande att se och jag är rätt övertygad om att det kommer i någon form (men inte i morgon). [...]

Comment on My Vipassana experience by Wojtek

Wojtek — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:54:04 +0000

Hi Yulia!
Yes indeed, we are quite busy with our child. She was born just last Sunday, 10/01. Although our lives have changed, I try to maintain my meditation practice. Both me and my partner find it extremely helpful to spend some time meditating everyday, and the Vipassana experience helped me to be more diligent about it.
I can only speak from my experience about being ready for a 10 day Vipassana retreat. In my case it wasn’t as much the physical challenge of sitting 11 hours per day, but the mental preparation to face a lot of issues and attachments that I had. And the timing for my retreat was good: I had no other obligations around those dates, and could wholeheartedly engage in it every single day taking as much out of it as it offers.
If you have 7 months to go, than you have a great amount of time to prepare for this to be able to not only be physically fit, but also build up your commitment. You may consider making time to meditate more regularly now: mainly to work on your dedication. In my opinion it’s the mental dedication to practice that at the end is more important than anything else.
If you have more questions feel free to email me at w.materka@gmail.com and we can also have a chat.
Good luck, but from what you write I’d say that you are as ready as you can be, and very fortunate to have this opportunity, so I wouldn’t think more about it

Comment on My Vipassana experience by Yulia

Yulia — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:52:36 +0000

hi Wojtek,

i am taking up the offer on your blog to answer any questions about the Vipassana retreat you recently attended. you are probably too snowed under with the new baby on your hands, but hope will eventually have a moment to reply.

i have read a number of people’s reflections on their 10-day retreat experiences to help me make my own decision to attend. i will be calling the retreat with this question as well, but would also greatly appreciate some ‘peer’ advice.

i can see that most people attending have had some significant meditation experience, like 10 years or so, and still find the retreat a great challenge. i am a beginner meditator and never actually meditated for over an hour (and even that was at a meditation course). i usually do 25 mins and not even every day…

while i am keen to give this a go; more than anything to give me a serious crash course in deeper meditation technique and give me the space of 10 days to do this, which is the luxury i cannot afford while at home.

in your personal opinion having attending this yourself, do you need to be more experienced to attend? is it realistic to do this after about 7 months of much lighter practice (it will be 7 months by the time i attend in april).

i understand that this will be the opinion of one person only, but still would appreciate any advice.

thanks a lot in advance!

Comment on Big Business Blues by rj

rj — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:24:16 +0000

Could not have been said better.

Comment on Letters to a Young Artist by teleskopy astronomiczne

teleskopy astronomiczne — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:06:53 +0000

Very nice blog, your article is interesting, i have bookmarked it for future referrence

Comment on Want to be more creative? Move abroad. by Want to be more creative? Move abroad. | Special Topics Today

Want to be more creative? Move abroad. | Special Topics Today — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:27:33 +0000

[...] post: Want to be more creative? Move abroad. Related Posts:Arts festival a creative outlet for veteransTwitter asks for help [...]

Comment on 7 insights on social media in banking by Wojtek

Wojtek — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:44:05 +0000

Thanks Jesse for the comment and these resources. Nice blog by the way.

You are right about regulatory challenges. One way to tackle them, is maybe to actually discuss it online with your community of clients (not necessarily to voice and push your opinions but more to make those regulations easier to understand and approachable). Today there’s a need for increased accountability on the side of banks, and customers are requiring a more transparent approach. Talking about regulations can help to a) explain them to your community (and yourself) b) show that you recognize it not only as a barrier, but as a tool that protects both sides of the relationship.

Comment on 7 insights on social media in banking by Jesse Torres

Jesse Torres — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:22:56 +0000

Great post. One thing that I see missing from many discussions on social media and banking is the regulatory perspective. Here in the U.S. (as in most every country) banking is one of the most highly regulated industries. And unfortunately social media falls into several areas of regulation. For that reason, bankers and their social media consultants need to keep the regulatory aspect in mind from the very beginning.

I’ve addressed some of the issues in the Social Media and Banking blog at http://socialmediabanking.blogspot.com. I add new posts as questions come up.

Another good resource, which ties in directly to this post is the Community Banker’s Guide to Social Network Marketing. It’s a 70 page free ebook that educates “management” on social media. It’s a great resource for prepping management and boards on social media before making a pitch for resources. It is available for free download at http://www.tinyurl.com/cbgsnm.

Thanks again.