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:

Are Credit Union Conferences Becoming Ghost Towns?

I was looking at my calendar for the upcoming year/the end of this year and I came across my invitation to the BAI conference in Orlando (click here for more information). And another. And one more. Basically, I got a whole inbox worth of invitations to said conference. It's flattering. But I'm not going. Apparently, I'm not the only one. I did a quick count of vendors from this year versus last year, and there's a difference of 83 this year. The recent Harland Connections conference in Orlando and Symitar Users Group Meeting in San Diego this summer had attendance figures down by about one-third compared to 2007 as well. 

I don't think it's irrational to blame this on the financial downturn we've been facing. When unemployment springs up and the net income of Credit Unions (at least in the Washington area) is down 56%, it's not surprising that CUs (and banks, let's face it) are looking to cut costs. It's also not surprising that travel is a juicy bit of tenderloin to trim in times like these, as there are more practical costs to continue incurring.

Before you jump out of your chair yelling at me, this is NOT me speaking out against conventions. This is me being practical and incapable of ignoring these in-the-red figures. BAI is an amazing conference. I've always enjoyed going and the thought of not going this year is kind of disappointing to me (Colin Powell? Tucker Carlson? Anne M. Mulcahy of Xerox? John A. Allison of BB&T? That's one heck of a speaker line-up). I also like the "Grow Show", which is strictly focused on CUs and has a killer line-up of its own (click here). But "return on investment" and bottom-line is important, too, and I'm trying to think ahead here. 

So, with a plethora of conferences to chose from here are the questions: What do you consider the "must go to" conference that, come hell or high water, you'll find a way to get there?