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."

Can I send my "Mii" to your virtual conference?

by Ron Daly

Yep, that's me. 

I've decided to convert and go fully virtual to participate in the "winds of change" in this era of tightening budgets, less travel and, coming soon, virtual conferences. I took the "Mii" off of my Wii system (okay, it's my daughter's Wii, but I get to use it when she wants to beat someone in a game) and am getting ready to send it to all the virtual conferences that will be popping up in the coming months.

He's going to hit the road this summer now that Symitar's educational conference has gone virtual (click here for the CU Journal article). I think it's a bold move and Symitar CEO Kathy Burress is on target when she points out "this is not time for business as usual." Webinars certainly are more popular these days, so I'm looking forward to seeing how they structure their two-day Users Group Conference into the virtual format in 2009.

1st (and Only) National Bank of America

by Ron Daly

While everyone was concentrating on GAC and the speakers the last couple of weeks, something VERY troublesome was bubbling up in the banking sector. The groundwork for a brand new bank - the “1st National Bank of America” was being put in place. I know you’re thinking walking around in the cold here at the GAC junket has killed a few brain cells. Maybe I’m a pessimist? Or worry too much? But think about how the banking and credit union industries would be changed if this starts at the top of a very slippery slope and then rolls downhill through the system. 

Here’s your assignments... take a read of these articles and play “what-if?”

1) The Associated Press article “Gov’t looks to quell nationalization fears”

2) The Economist article “Banks under Stress” asks "Is it Time to Nationalise Citigroup and Bank of America?"

Did Anyone Check to See if Washington DC is a Junket?

by Ron Daly
 
Damn, the Governmental Affairs Conference is only a few days away. I’m not sure if anyone checked to see if a conference in Washington, D.C. is considered a junket? I live here, it’s February, there was snow and sleet today, so I’d vote “Heck no” but I don’t think my vote counts for much.

Anybody got the direct phone line for 20/20? Think I’m kidding? If you haven’t heard, our ex-friends over at ABC are running an expose on excessive credit union spending on their show 20/20 on Friday the 20th. Jeffry Pilcher at the Financial Brand can tell you more (link to his story). My take? Please think twice before spending any credit union marketing money on any ABC radio or television affiliate until they tell the real credit union story.

So the GAC, as it is affectionately known in these parts, is going to be a bit different this year. Here are a few new rules for attendees:

Oh no you didn't...

by Ron Daly 

We are gathered here to day to mourn the death of JuicyCampus.com...wait, did I say mourn? I meant celebrate. 

Now, being in the long-time internet guy that I am, I usually don't enjoy the demise of a website. I know there are plenty of people out there just trying to make an honest go of the web. But the folks behind Juicy Campus don't inspire sympathy in me. For those of you who don't know (or don't have college-aged kids), Juicy Campus was set up to let college students spread rumors about the school, campus organizations, or each other. The rumors could be benign things like "the price of parking is increasing soon" or malicious notes about people's relationships, appearances, or any other area of someone's life. 

It took me two seconds to decide that this site and its mission was despicable. And it took me less time than that to be happy when I heard it was gone (click here for details on its closing). 

I don't know "social networking" as well as some of my credit union contemporaries, but I do know this: a social network can't survive when it's built on hate-mongering. Juicy Campus lost out because it couldn't drum up online advertising here in the downswing. It has since been usurped by collegeACB, which stands for "Anonymous Confession Board", which doesn't encourage gossip so much as anonymous comments from anyone at any time. 

Yeah, there's a BIG difference between that and Juicy Campus (sarcasm alert!). 

But let's take a moment to talk about the people who are doing a GREAT job of social networking in the credit union world. And HOW are they doing a great job? They're not spitting on people and being catty.