Soapbox Special Edition: The MAC Conference Recap

Jimmy Marks, DigitalMailer's Creative Media Director, attended the Marketing Association of Credit Unions' Annual Conference in San Francisco. We asked him to write up a recap of the events. Here's what he come up with (that is, what he could remember). 

Tuesday, Pre-Conference: 

I took a little walking tour around Market Street and over to O'Farrell. Took lots of pictures, they're included here: 

The city was buzzing with people, some from the MAC conference and some going to WWDC a few days later. There are really cool pictures of the Apple logo being applied to the building from my view at the hotel Westin. 

I had dinner with the always-awesome Jill Nowacki from MAPS and Chris Giles, the General Manager at CU Wireless. If you're ever in San Fran and you like Indian food, you HAVE to go to Amber. It's amazing. 

A fun first day/night after a long flight, but the real fun started the next morning...

What's Taking You So Long? A Sneak Preview "Build a Better Email"

Today, I read an article titled "20 Things Financial Institutions Should Do (But Don’t)". It's the kind of article that seems like it was written just for you. Specifically, because of this part: 

5. Email marketing

It's simply stunning how many financial institutions still don’t utilize email marketing tools. Even today, you still hear bankers say things like, “No, we don’t really collect people’s email addresses.”

It IS stunning. Especially given these statistics from Pew Research*:

• 94% of online adults use email
• 62% of online adults use email as part of a typical day
• Biggest online trend: “Certain key internet activities are becoming more uniformly popular across all ages.” This includes email.
• 38.5% of internet-supported mobile activity was on email among American mobile users
• 74% of online adults say email is preferred method of commercial communication.
• 63% of mobile email users check the account a minimum of once per day. 
• In 2010 30% of total email time was devoted to commercial emails, compared to 17% in 2005.

When are you going to get into email? More importantly, how are you going to be heard above the din? 

We're here to help with both of those questions. 

Recently,  DigitalMailer issued a whitepaper with helpful tips for email marketers. "Build a Better Email: Tips for Email Marketing Success" is free and available now over at DigitalMailer.com/Build. 

To give you a taste of the helpful hints in this free whitepaper, we've included a few of them here. Give them a read: 

#2 Divide your messages into numerous discreet programs

Rather than having a single all-or-nothing email list, create four or five sub-topics from which customers can select. Most users will select at least one, so you’ll have a way to reach most online consumers with service-related topics. As shown below, DigitalMailer clients offer up to ten different email topics to choose from.

#9  Don’t botch the FROM line

Although we see it less often now, the biggest email mistake is not including the financial institution’s name in the FROM line. It’s an absolute kiss of death for effectiveness, the equivalent of sending letters without postage. They just won’t get read.

#17 Think of mobile and tablets

How good does your email look on a Blackberry? How about on an iPhone? An iPad? Start looking into the display aspects of smaller, mobile screens. The Internet’s next evolution is, quite literally, in the palm of your hand.

#25 Explain why it was sent

Include a short statement as to why consumers are receiving the message, and how to opt-out or opt-in (for those receiving it from a forward). This typically works best in the footer of the email.

#30 Monitor message delivery

As the battle rages against spam, collateral damage to legitimate opt-in marketers is increasing. To make sure your messages get through, you should have two test accounts at each major ISP. One account set with filtering on, the other with filtering off. Even if your email vendor monitors delivery, we recommend test accounts as an added safeguard

Get the full list by downloading our FREE whitepaper! Click here!

 

*Editor's Note: The Pew Research Articles mentioned are:

 Pew Research Center, 9/2/10 – Cell Phones and American Adults 

“View From the Digital Inbox” 2011; data = primary research by Merkle and Pew 9/2/10

From Pew Research Center, 12/16/10 – Generations 2010

Tracking Dodd-Frank

by Ron Daly 

We're recovering from GAC 2011, a three-day frenzy of talk, regulation, talk, meetings, and more talk. The Crashers crashed, the Hill-hikers hiked, and the lawmakers got to see first-hand that credit union folks are dedicated, motivated, and united. 

The one thing EVERYONE was talking (and tweeting) about? Interchange. It's big, it's bad, it's going to hurt, according to this article from the ABA (yes, that ABA).

• During the first two years, the proposed rules will eliminate $33.4-$38.6 billion of debit card interchange fee revenues for banks and credit unions. As a result, consumers and small business will face higher retail banking fees and lose valuable services as banks and credit unions seek to offset the loss of debit card interchange revenue.

• As a result of the anticipated increase in banking fees, the number of unbanked individuals will increase. As a result, many low-income individuals will have to use higher-priced alternative financial service providers, such as check-cashers.

Is this what we want? Obviously not. We need to get ahead of this thing and think about what we're going to lose as a result of these changes. We need information. We need action. 

I encourage you and your senior management team to subscribe to the "Dodd-Frank Tracker" on the ABA website. It DOES cover issues that impact credit union, it's pulling in resources from all over the web and condensing them for YOU. The more you know, the more you can fight against interchange regulation - or react to the fallout. 

Click here to go to their blog directly, or click here to go to their FeedBurner Feed where you can subscribe to their email updates. Read the articles, act on the information. 

"Cool" and the Gang: What I Learned at the CU Water Cooler Symposium 2010

Special Guest Author: Jimmy Marks, Creative Media Director

Jimmy was in attendance at one of the most talked-about, blogged-about conferences of the year, the CU Water Cooler Symposium in Fishers, IN. We asked Jimmy to recap some of the bigger takeaways from the conference and to share them with you, our readers. Here's what he discovered. 

You can always read more about Jimmy on our company blog or the sister blog, Click.Connect.Communicate. 

The CU Water Cooler Symposium first came to my attention early this year. Organizer/Editor/All-Around CU booster Matt Davis called me up to talk about it. Months later, it was a reality, and tickets were really for sale. I got my ticket, I booked my plane, I packed a bag and I headed for beautiful Fishers, Indiana and Forum Credit Union. 

When I got there, I expected people to behave a certain way. Anecdotally, it seemed the crowd had an average age younger than that of most CUs, but that's not difficult seeing as most credit unions have an average age of around 48 (fact check me, Internet). As a young person working in and around and for this industry, I assumed our topics wouldn't drift too far away from marketing and creative discussions and the discussion of social media. 

I was only correct for about two hours. 

After that, the conversation turned to sales, credit cards, business analysis and planning, banking (yes, the word "bank" did get uttered and no one had a freakout about it), advocacy and the future of the credit union. 

A few things about the conference itself I really liked: 

True Dedication - Everyone that was at the CU Water Cooler Symposium ( or CUWCS, as it was abbreviated for Twitter) wanted to be there. It wasn't some shlubby marketing conference or biz. dev. conference that someone got forced into attending...everyone wanted to go. Some so desperately that they paid their own way and bought their own hotel room. That's dedication. And while some folks had to sneak away to catch an early plane home (it happens), I'd wager a good 70 - 80% of attendees stuck it out to the very end. Again, that's anecdotal, but it seemed that many stuck around. 

Make-Your-Own Name Tag - Because you might be the person that hates name tags and doesn't want people knowing who you are. On the other hand, you might be the person who wants everyone to be your friend (guilty). It saved the conference from having to print name tags and let people get creative. 

Talkback Sessions (and, at times, talk DURING sessions) - Crowd participation was a big deal. Many people wanted to air their feelings at the conference and they did. Some waited patiently to say their peace, some jumped up and shouted. All were welcomed to talk and encouraged to share. 

Open Laptops, Open Minds - Everyone was blogging and writing and tweeting and emailing throughout the conference. You couldn't stop us (or me, for that matter) from chiming in and writing in and commenting online. As the editors pointed out, we blew up Twitter. 

Canadians! - Yes, we got cross-cultural at the CUWCS. Lots of our neighbors to the North came down to share their experiences and concerns. Vancity's Bill Corbett gave an AMAZING talk about culture creation and nurturing, one that left me hoping for that same fire to spread down here in the states. By the way, I'm an honorary member at Mt. Lehman CU in the mystical, far away land of British Columbia. Thanks, Gene Blishen (who's everyone's favorite guy in CUs - a great guy with a true passion for what a credit union does and is. He's like Dumbledore, but if Dumbledore cared about interchange fees and board member involvement). 

Yes, the atmosphere made a big difference. The conference itself, a series of talks about credit union issues, was the real draw. Mostly because the people speaking were all describing different parts of this great, gray elephant and how they relate to the larger whole. 

I'll try to sum up every great thing I learned, but I'm sure you'll want to object/interject/add-to/throw on more. So, there's a comment section that serves that very purpose. Put your belly on the bar. 

What I learned around the Water Cooler: 

1. There are two kinds of social media users in the CU-sphere - the players and the parrots. The players are people who are actually doing things and use social media to broadcast and discuss those things. The parrots are the people who squawk about social media like that's actually doing something. The cold, hard truth? It isn't. Better banking practices and better business acumen will matter in the long run, not followers or friend counts or retweets. Relevancy is important, but nothing is more relevant to members and potential members than a CU that knows its business and can provide solid, secure technology to keep up with an increasingly mobile and time-pressed population. Watch any and all videos of the talks by Robbie Wright, Ed Brett or Robert Falcone, watch them - you'll be amazed. 
2. Apathy is over! (If you want it) - Jason Lindstrom of Belvoir FCU gave a terrific talk about advocacy and the role of the member in  saving the CU from extinction. He drew parallels between the members of an organization like AARP and the members of a credit union and pointed out that CU members should be just as passionate about saving credit unions as the people whose jobs depend on their continued presence. But they're not. What will it take to wake up the member and convince them it's time to take up a CU's cause? Silence won't work. One of my favorite quotes from The Simpson's springs to mind: "We've tried nothin', and we're all out of ideas!" Jason also made me a little misty at the start of his speech - a talk from the heart beats the tar out of a sales pitch. Keep that in mind. 
3. True collaboration starts with an acknowledgement of faults and shortcomings and a rejection of envy to make services better - Jon Hernandez is the CEO of Mattel Credit Union. And Downey City Employee Federal Credit Union. And CalCom Federal Credit Union. Why? Because he's good at his job, those CUs wanted him and he's willing to help all three get their groove on in the LA communities they serve. He works with three different cultures and three different boards to make these credit unions run as they should. They don't get snippy with one another, according to Jon, and he doesn't feel pulled in all directions. He wants all three to succeed and gives each a share of his time. And there are still some CUs that don't even collaborate internally? Mind-boggling. 
4. Sometimes, asking is all you have to do to get something going - Ondine Irving (pronounced "on-DEEN", not "AHN-dine") asked Suze Orman to look at the deals CUs were offering on their credit cards. Orman did. Then she talked about Ondine's organization and website on Oprah and CNN and so on and so on and so on. Ondine, feeling lucky, asked Suze to speak out on behalf of the NCUA, which Orman did. No one from NCUA ever contacted Orman to talk about what the NCUA is in relation to deposit insurance. It was Ondine that made the difference. Because she asked. Talk about your "net promoters", huh? 
5. Maya Bourdeau should be cannonized in the CU Marketing World as Our Lady of Realistic Expectations - This talk, I can say quite honestly, breathed new life into me. In one thirty-minute session, Maya Bourdeau laid to rest the ideas that:
   1. Credit unions should expect people to be eager to switch from a bank to a CU (TRUTH! they shouldn't expect them to want to switch whatsoever)
   2. Credit unions should tout the values of membership in advertisements (TRUTH! people don't understand or care and won't respond well to the process of explaining it in print, so don't lead with "member", "non-profit", "co-op" - talk about what you do for people and don't make the text any harder to read than you would for a ten-year-old).
   3. One credit union can create an ad that will inform non-members about the CU difference (TRUTH! they can't, it'll take a national concerted branding effort, so we need to get off our duffs and work on that). 
   4. Credit unions should bash banks (TRUTH! They shouldn't. It makes non-members feel bad about banking with a bank and it tarnishes a CU's reputation. So knock it off.)
   Maya Bourdeau is a very interesting lady who sees a lot of the flaws and shines light on them to try to make the industry better at promoting itself. Here's a copy of her report, go get it. Very good stuff.
6. You'd be surprised how many businesses are actually co-ops - Like Cabot Cheese in Vermont, for example. Paul Hazen of the NCBA gave a great talk on co-ops and how big an economic impact they actually have. Go here to learn about the NCBA and what they're doing for co-ops. And why it SHOULD matter to you.
7. Storytelling is important - What's your story? How succinctly can you tell it? Do you have "inside jokes" you could tell to/with your members? Paul McEnany had something to share from way outside the CU comfort zone. And maybe the best part, as far as I was concerned? The fact that overgeneralizing about your target market can alienate a whole group of consumers that actually might want what you're selling. Who have YOU cut out of your member base because you thought they wouldn't want you around?
8. "Your sons and your daughters, they're beyond your command"...but not beyond your guidance - These few years have been trying for our industry. We have to move forward with an eye toward change and a desire to survive. We need to foster a community that's nurturing of young talent and respectful to the veterans. We need to stop looking at each other as "young know-nothings" and "old fuddy-duddies". That approach will kill us from within. Young credit union members and employees want to be involved more than you think, and older folks have a lot to offer to the generation that's CERTAIN they know everything. Let's focus on training a generation of people that will keep the mission on the rails and start promoting it like their lives depended on it. Let's stop approaching it like we hate each other. 
9. Forum CU is an awesome conference site with an awesome staff - It's a beautiful place with a very friendly, very helpful staff of people. If you get a chance, swing by and get a tour. Worth your time. Which brings me to my last point...
10. If this happens again and you don't go, you're crazy - sure, it's around a whole year away, but keep an eye on their website and listen in on the podcast for your opportunity to attend next year. If you're unconvinced thus far, let me remind you that some of the industry's biggest credit unions, CUSOs, media outlets and talents were in attendance. Almost everyone was kind and very easy to get along with. Some folks were an absolute blast to meet in person. It was a steal at twice the price. So go. 

How did you feel about the CUWCS? Tell  us about it in the comment section. 

NACUSO Annual Conference Wrap-Up

by Ron Daly 

Just got back from this year's NACUSO Annual Conference and happy to see that the attendance was up. Even more glad to see a number of new CUSOs and first-timers at the event. Many of my contemporaries, collaborators, business partners and friends were in attendance to share their thoughts and feelings about the current state of credit unions and CUSOs. The theme of this year's conference was "Big.Bold.Smart." I think the description fits. These three simple words sum up what credit unions need to be in the coming months and years. 

• Big - We need to drive up investments, membership and assets across the board to keep ourselves alive.
• Bold - As we've talked about before (in the wrap-up of the NACUSO Regional Meeting), CUs need to start drinking a little of their own Kool-Aid and acting like the super institutions we know they are. 
• Smart - In the course of being bigger and bolder, we need to stay smart and do right by our members and our bottom line. 

In my opinion, the conference did a great job of bringing together industry professionals to talk about ways to grow CUSO and Credit Union "opportunity share" through networks and collaboration. Interesting the difference between market share and opportunity share and how a small networked revenue piece of opportunity share could surpass the revenue brought in by large market share bought with a low-cost pricing model. 

Couple of questions that I jotted down that successful organizations ask themselves and might be worth your time to answer for your shop 

1. What is your value proposition? 
2. Why Me? AKA - Why should a customer or partner choose you for the service you are selling?
3. How does your value proposition help you compete? 
4. How can you switch your offering to compete for a share of the opportunity vs. a share of the market?

Some of the highlights that we wanted to share with our loyal Soapbox readers: 

• NACUSO has put a list of presentations from the conference online on their website. Take a look at presentations from Jeff Russell (TMG), Guy Messick (Messick & Weber), Dennis Dollar (Dollar & Assoc.), and George Hofheimer (Filene)
• NACUSO's Twitter feed had some great highlights - follow them and give it a read.
• CUInsight offered up some YouTube videos of Interviews (including one with yours truly!). Click here to view.
• CUInnovators' blog has a detailed wrap-up with even more links and info. Click here to read, and don't miss the interview with Robbie Wright on the aforementioned CUInsight video page.

Congratulations to our partner Ongoing Operations for winning CUSO of the year!

What WON'T You Collaborate On?

by Ron Daly 

Last Wednesday was a great day for those of us here on the East Coast. After months of snow and sleet and cold, we were treated to a mild, cloudy day and a visit from our fellow credit union service organizations at the NACUSO regional meeting. And what a visit it was. 

We met a lot of great folks last week who had a lot to say about CUSOs and the current "credit union economy". Following up from last Tuesday's Blog Post, NACUSO CEO Tom Davis kicked things off with a quick view of the industry and word on butterflies. "Butterflies?" You ask. Yes, butterflies. According to Tom's talk, when butterflies leave the cocoon they have to struggle to break free and fly off. If you help one out of its cocoon, it won't have to struggle - but it can't fly. I think that's a pretty good analogy, and a great thing to keep in mind when the going gets tough. 

Your One-Stop GAC Wrap-Up

by Ron Daly 

Being based just a few miles outside DC has its advantages. Chief among them, we were able to pop in and out of the GAC and meet with our clients, our friends, and our fellow CUSOs. While we didn't hit any of the big talks or breakout sessions, we didn't feel out of the loop. Nor would anyone else, I would wager, as CU professionals from across the country that were attending the GAC were eager to share their thoughts via blogs, emails and social media outlets of all kinds. We thought we would do a service to our followers that might have missed some of the highlights of the week and try to bring all those links and stories together in one place. If you feel there's a link or two missing that might be vital to people reading along at home, leave us a comment with the link in it down in the comment section. 

BEFORE CONFERENCE: 

morrischris: For all you GAC attendees & burger lovers, there is a Five Guys about a block from the convention center. Thought you should know. #GAC10

A few enterprising CU professionals created a "hashtag" label for Twitter posts related to the GAC. If you want to see how the whole thing unfolded in 140 characters, go to Twitter's search page and search #gac10. 

Certainly one of the most talked about parts of this particular GAC was the "Crashers", a group of young CU professionals dedicated to making their CUs better. Crash the GAC was started by Brent Dixon of The Haberdashery and Filene, who took the idea to CUNA. CUNA offered a number of scholarships so that attendees wouldn't technically be "crashing" in the traditional sense, and Palmetto Cooperative Services LLC sponsored a number of beds at the DC Hostel for attendees. As Crashers went about the conference, they wore their custom CU*Swag shirts with their slogan "Five Star Leaders, Two Star Lodging". Having received a CU*Swag shirt (Jimmy won one and gave me his - It's a nice shirt!), I can say they'd be great for any CU that wanted to deck out tellers in some custom gear. 

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE GAC:

aplusfcu: Packed crowd here at the GAC Opening Session. Lots of talk about job creation. #gac10 http://tweetphoto.com/12186755

The kickoff started with David Gergen, former presidential advisor and pundit, talking leadership in the Nation and in finance, and stating "The great American job machine is broken" and that innovation will be the key that gets it started again. 

CUNA President and CEO Dan Mica was greeted by a standing ovation when he took the stage for what will be his last GAC in said position. His talk centered around raising the MBL, the hot-button issue this year to be sure. His talk seemed well received by the majority of CU citizen journalists in attendance. [Read Dan Mica's opinion column here]

The MBL echoed throughout the conference, with more and more breakout sessions and private meetings devoted to its discussion. Gigi Hyland, also of the NCUA board, spoke her mind on day two about raising the MBL cap and the forward momentum of CUs through 2010, which she admitted would be a "tough year". She also gave due attention to the Crash folks, much to their delight. 

Debbie Matz, the newest chairperson from NCUA, took the stage to talk about what she felt should be key goals for every credit union in the nation, including expansion of online services and payday loan alternatives. [Some more thoughts from Matz in this article from cujournal.com]

CU_Ninja: RT @Paulsworld: Debbie Matz: 4 ways for CU's to succeed. Alt capital, biz lending, payday alternative and electronic services. #GAC10

There were quite a few impressive guests this year, including Joe Scarborough, Alan Greenspan, Ondine Irving, and even Reggie Bush snuck in at one point to the delight of attendees. Needless to say, if you weren't there, you missed out on a lot of interesting talk and a lot of insight. 

robwright: Hike the Hill! #gac10 http://tweetphoto.com/12386760

Wednesday was the day for attendees to "Hike the Hill", visiting with representatives and lawmakers from across the country on CU matters. Representatives Barney Frank and Spencer Bachus (MA and AL, respectively) stopped by Wednesday morning for a chat with attendees on Interchange Fees (which Frank said was not on the table) and, of course, more MBL talk (which Bachus said would be a tough fight for CUs to push through). Attendees then met with lawmakers to talk credit union issues, racking up pictures and stories along the way. 

Jimmy Marks, our CMD, and some of his Crashing buddies were also behind a "tweetup", a meeting of Twitter users in attendance. I'm told it was a big success and that there were some great conversations happening in the midst of all those young whippersnappers. 

FOR THE FULL EXPERIENCE: 

I couldn't possibly tell you everything that happened at the conference and around the conference - to do that, I'd have to start blogging Monday and not quit until the end of the week. Which the folks below did!

Carla Day of CU Chat Up was a one-woman GAC reporting supercomputer. She typed her poor thumbs right down to the knuckle on her Palm Pre, live-blogging and reporting events as they happened. To get a great recap of the whole experience, see her personal Twitter feed.  

To read about the full day's worth of events through Wednesday, spend some time with Rob Rutkowski's "That Credit Union Blog" which did a day-by-day recap. Read all about it here. 

The CU Water Cooler gang made time for a "Liquid Lunch" chat podcast, which can be heard here. 

If it gets summed up much better than this, let me know: 

Matt_Vance: At DCA getting ready to fly home. GAC has come to a close but the ideas, projects & action are just getting started #gac10.

BarCampBankVegas happens in Vegas, but doesn't stay there.

by Ron Daly 

Robbie Wright, a friend of the blog and my fellow Technology Council Member at NACUSO, wrote us a little piece about the BarCampBank that was coming up in Vegas. I was in town already for the NACUSO conference a few days later, so I was excited to see exactly what a BarCamp was all about. 

Let's go ahead and knock out the two confusing aspects: One, there's no bar. Two, nobody threw down sleeping bags. So, no camping. 

But there were plenty of people from the industry there who were sharing ideas, questions, grievances, personal high-notes, and everything in between. Obviously, TARP and Corporate Capital came up. We also talked about assets, real estate, advertising, promotion, collaborative cooperation between CUSOs and credit unions, ownership issues, the changing age of members and borrowers, Web 2.0, social media, e-mail...the list goes on and on. 

Mind the Gap

by Ron Daly 

If you've ever been to London, you are familiar with this phrase that's meant to warn travelers on the Underground. It's a simpler, smarter way to say "don't fall into the crack between the train and the platform". It's become part of the culture there. 

There's a gap here in the states that needs minding, too. It sits between colleges and affordability and it was part of the carpool discussion this morning. The stock market has shrunk about thirty percent. The housing market has shrunk about thirty percent. People have lost/are losing money with every passing week and the value of a dollar is waning. Despite all of this, college costs are increasing year-to-year? According to the people at CU Student Choice (click here), the average gap between federal aid limits and the cost of public school education for four years is $29,356. For private school, $104,228. YIKES!

Minding the "gap" is what the credit union system is all about and we applaud those helping members fulfill their dreams or those of their children. Credit unions and CUSOs are doing a great job of filling the void left by the banks that can't figure out a way to apply their TARP money to help the consumer (sorry, but you KNEW I was going to go there) and I want to highlight the efforts of a few folks who are trying to make college more affordable in the credit union system (and there are plenty more)

Guest Author Robbie Wright: BarCampBank

Robbie Wright is the Vice President of the Credit Union Division for Nexcentri, a CUSO of Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union. Robbie is also one of the more prolific bloggers in the "CU bloggosphere", writing the blog The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee. His insights on being in the employ of a CU and in the CU industry are honest and insightful, with a good eye for observation. His discussion in comments is usually lively, adding more background to the story as more CU professionals weigh in. Also an authority on "BarCamp", we've asked Robbie to walk our readers through the basics of BarCampBank Vegas, coming up at the end of April/Start of may. Robbie can be reached at robbie@nexcentri.com. 

Innovation.  Social media.  Core competencies.  All over-used buzzwords that seem to get discussed at every conference by some talking head that's paid to be there and has done the same dog and pony show for a year and a half.  Well, BarCampBank is here to change that.  Commonly referred to as the "un-conference", BarCamps have been around for a number of years and were initially popularized in Silicon Valley.  As Wikipedia puts it, "BarCamp is an international network of user generated conferences - open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants."