The Banktastic Credit Union Feed

This is why we can't have nice things. [Open Source CU - Home]

hi@itsjustbrent.com — Fri Sep 12 18:18:00 UTC 2008

First, a disclaimer: The folks at Currency Marketing are my friends, and so is Trey from TDECU, so my opinion is not objective. But still…this is just ridiculous.

For those who haven’t heard, a month ago Resource One Credit Union, located in my town of Dallas, TX, launched a cartoonishly blatant ripoff of Currency’s Young & Free Program , called MyLifeMyMoney. Pilcher covered it well at The Financial Brand.

I’ve been quietly rolling my eyes, but yesterday represented the last straw when they posted their call-to-action video, “K.I.S.S.“

As Pilcher pointed out last month:

MyLifeMyMoney copies essentially every component of Young & Free, including the overall strategy, the spokester�€™s responsibilities, the media used, and the incentives offered to the spokester.

Even the title “Spokester” is a word made up by Y&F Alberta’s Larissa.

So when I watched the latest video, and saw that R1 had even tried to (poorly) hijack the style of Larissa’s “The Difference Between Credit Unions and Banks” series, I was so bewildered all I could do was shake my head and cuss a little.

Let’s be clear: The hands-on-paper styling of the “Difference” videos were not original to Larissa, who borrowed it from Common Craft. However, she owned it, used it to deliver a message in a unique way to a new audience and used that style to create something original within the same style. She also gives credit to Common Craft as her muse.

A friend compared this to the film Multiplicity, where Michael Keaton copies himself and each copy is a little closer to eating glue.

There’s a difference between influence, homage, and a slipshod ripoff.

And again: It’s not like Currency invented calling for corporate auditions, Donald Trump and his pet hairpiece had been doing it for seasons. But they took a good idea and created something new.

I’ve created a slightly modified edit of R1’s K.I.S.S. video:

Collaboration is great. Influence is fantastic. Be inspired by great work. Borrow away. We can pull a lot of morals from this story, I’ll go with the least common denominator:

“If you’re going to steal, try not to do a pisspoor job of it.”

Common Wealth Credit Union's Young & Free Alberta is up for a Forrester Research Groundswell Award. [Currency Marketing]

Fri Sep 12 03:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

Young & Free Alberta is up for a Forrester Groundswell Award. This is exciting for a number of reasons.

Groundswell is the definitive, must-read book that proves the value of social media in business. To be associated with it is an honour.
A little ol' credit union is up against the likes of American Express, Coca Cola, Rubbermaid, Sears, The Wall Street Journal, General Motors, Microsoft, Intel, Accuview and Johnson & Johnson. Mega brands with mega budgets!

Here is the entry page that we put together for Common Wealth.

The entries are judged by an expert panel and one thing that the panel will look at is reviews and votes. If you have followed along and have liked Young & Free Alberta, could you please vote for it or write a review?

Credit Unions For the Win!

Next-next stop: The corner office [Filene Research Institute Articles]

benrogers@filene.org (Benjamin Rogers) — Fri Sep 12 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Carma Parish, 30 Under 30 member, Perfect Circle Credit Union

On September 27 I will receive the “Emerging Leader” award at the Chairman’s banquet for the Indiana Credit Union League. While I do believe this is a great honor I can’t help but think of the greatest honor which, in my mind, is to be named credit union executive. Come on…all you 30 under 30 musketeers reading this know you dream of the day of being a CEO (well some of you already are). With my boss just celebrating her latest 50-something birthday I can’t help but think about all those succession plan articles I’ve been reading the last few years. Even our board is talking about one. So I wonder … could I be part of their conversations? More important, am I ready?

Not at all. Crap.

There it is. I’m not ready.

The truth is while I think I’m pretty good at what I do I don’t think I’m prepared to be a CEO. Why not? I could sit here and tell you all the reasons why I personally am not ready and where I need to step it in high gear but let’s focus on someone or something else for the sake of my ego.

We have strong leaders all over the credit union industry. There are baby boomers that have been in the movement for more years than I’ve been alive and are still emerging as a leader; which is a good thing. However, how many of those leaders have a leadership development program in place for the younger leaders within their credit union? How many credit unions are putting as much care and investment in their leadership development programs as they are in their succession plans?

An overwhelming number of these leaders, who will supposedly be retiring in the next 5-10 years, have failed to pass on their own knowledge and credit union life lessons to the next generation of leaders who are sitting in the office just two doors down. Instead they’d rather pay for them to sit in a hotel listening to consultants talk about leadership in generic fashion and who have no idea of the realities of leading their credit union or any credit union in most cases.

Mike Welch, former and famous Credit Union Times publisher, has written several articles about how credit unions are focusing too much on succession plans and not enough on leadership development programs. I agree.

Believe it or not the unemployment rate will drop again and when it does will your emerging leaders who have not been engaged as tomorrow’s potential CEO’s go somewhere else when the opportunity knocks? Will they be swept up, not always with the promise of being the next CEO, but just the simple idea of a formalized program that will support and develop their skills as tomorrow’s executive? I might be.

I found it interesting that the Filene Institute just recently sent out a letter to credit union executives asking them to take part in an internship program for students from elite schools because of the growing need for tomorrow’s credit union executives.

It’s easy to understand that these Ivy League students come with a higher IQ and better education than I’ll ever have. But will they come? Credit unions aren’t exactly Teach for America. And what does this say about those credit union youngsters, like the 30 under 30, who feel they have what it takes and yet see little push in the industry to develop our skills. What is the #1 attribute you look for in a credit union CEO? Is it brains? Passion? Innovativeness? Only individual credit unions can answer this, but I’m happy to report that my boss handed me that Filene paper and said it wasn’t in the school they attended.

As emerging young credit union leaders, our biggest fear is that we will be passed up or worse, overlooked, for a CEO role because our credit union has failed to recognize or develop our potential. Credit union boards should not ignore the need for a succession plan but rather demand a formalized leadership development program to support it.

So I’m ending this piece by taking my own advice. I have written my own leadership development program, with timeline, and just took the first step in Stage 1 of my plan. See how easy that was.

It's all about me... [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Thu Sep 11 22:33:00 -0400 2008

Two cool things happened to me today that I want to tell you about.

The first thing is that I gave my presentation to the Internet Marketing Conference, which is happening today and tomorrow in Vancouver. It was only a 25 minute slot, which is short, but I delivered it in about 15 minutes, so we had time for some good questions. I usually like longer slots to get into more details, but it was fun to give a short, tight presentation instead.

A couple of people blogged it, which is a first for me, I think.

Miss 604 live blogged it, which I appreciate. And one of the sponsors, Techvibes summed it up nicely.

The second thing is that my friend TJ McCue published an interview he did with me. I've known TJ for about a year, and we met... um... hey TJ, how did we first meet? Anyway, I admire TJ for his smarts and entrepreneurial spirit. He's always got something cooking, and it's usually pretty interesting. He blogs on the Dun & Bradstreet content portal called AllBusiness.com. He ran an article called Why Bother with Blogging or Social Media. It's a good piece, and may be part one of two.

Enjoy, and thanks for this indulgence...

NOTE: Here's part two, it's called Why Bother with Blogging or Social Media, part two

Is this what our lives have come to? [Currency Marketing]

Thu Sep 11 18:00:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

Ever feel like the Internet is taking over your life? I do. I love it and would have it no other way, but sometimes the distractions and self-imposed obsessions are overwhelming.

Cheryl e-mailed me a link yesterday and said, "There's a new video about your life."

Do you think she's trying to tell me something? By the way, you should visit Rhett and Link's website, they are my all-time favourite Internet superstars! Add them to your must-follow list.

Doug Dalton of Zopa on CNBC [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Thu Sep 11 16:29:00 UTC 2008

The CEO of Zopa, Doug Dalton, appears on CNBC to shed some light on Zopa and promote the credit union relationship. Doug does an excellent job in this video explaining the concept especially considering the short window he was given and the questions presented to him.

Blogging Ike [Open Source CU - Home]

hi@itsjustbrent.com — Wed Sep 10 16:22:00 UTC 2008

Trey�€™s posting regular updates on Hurricane Ike as it sets its swirling sights on his credit union. Check the TDECU blog .

Not the first time a CU has used social media to keep members in the loop during disaster. See http://blog.veritycu.com/search?q=power+outage&x=0&y=0 .

Good call.

Elevator Speech Winner! [Filene Research Institute Articles]

kelseybalcaitis@filene.org (Kelsey Balcaitis) — Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Because no one sent me any gifts or bribes, I was forced to actually read the responses. And after much deliberation and long nights spent analyzing them, I have determined a winner. Now, without further ado….

Congrats to Matt Davis of Members Credit Union in Winston Salem, North Carolina. His response was creative and had a different way of presenting the differences than just saying them. His answer was:

“If you went to eHarmony.com and tried to find your financial institution perfect match, how would you fill out your profile? You’d want fewer and lower fees, lower loan rates, and higher deposit returns, right? More importantly, though, you’d want want to be affiliated with an FI that knew, and addressed, your unique needs, desires, and characteristics. You would also want a say in how the place is operated, wouldn’t you? Time to set up that speed date with a credit union, sister! Tell your bank that there are other, better, fish in the sea. You’re going cooperative!”

Everyone who participated came up with some great responses. Just not as good as Matt. For his winning response, Matt will receive a gift card to threadless.com.

Thanks again!

We helped Vancity launch a new Microfinance Wiki. [Currency Marketing]

Tue Sep 09 16:00:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

I have had a few phone calls from William Azaroff at Vancity lately and these conversations typically start like this, "Hey Tim, have you guys ever designed a [insert a something we haven't done before]."

And my typical response has been, "No, but I think we can figure it out!" The latest is a wiki project for microfinance.ca.

What is cool about this new website is the position that Vancity has taken. Rather than trying to own Microfinance in Canada, Vancity has decided to act as a facilitator to grow the sector. Not for selfish reasons, but because its the right thing to do. The wiki platform will enable the entire sector to contribute and to use social technologies to move the social economy forward.

"Building on that first version of microfinance.ca, we wanted to do more: we wanted to help practitioners of, and thinkers about, microfinance in Canada to come together in an ongoing conversation about how microfinance can help alleviate poverty in Canada."

This is yet another innovative project backed by Vancity and we are super proud to be involved.

William has blogged about the launch as well. What's great about working for William is that he totally understands the social media space and is 100% open to using whatever technology is going to get the job done. This is refreshing (and slightly scary). Sometimes we get so locked into a single technology platform that we forget to come up for air and see what else is out there.

What Will it Take to Witness Significant Change in the CU Industry? [CUES Skybox]

Credit Union Executives Society — Tue Sep 09 11:19:36 -0400 2008

By Lisa Hochgraf

Yesterday at CEO Institute Graduate Exchange, the first-ever gathering of CEO Institute graduates going on right now in San Diego, Franck Schuurmans, Ph.D., talked about credit unions' failure to strategically leverage their many advantages. (I know this because my boss, Mary Arnold, is there.)

Senior consultant and director of non-profit practice for Decision Strategies International, Inc., Conshohocken, Pa., Schuurmans sent attendees home for the night to think about a great question, which I'd like to pose to you:

What it will take to witness significant change in the CU industry?

I'll bring you an update on how attendees in San Diego answered the question next I hear from Mary.

Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES editor and frequent blogger on CUES Nexus Connection.

Vancity and the Microfinance wiki. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Tue Sep 09 10:00:00 -0400 2008

I am so pleased to announce the new wiki Vancity has launched. It is for the Microfinance community in Canada, and lives at microfinance.ca.

Why did we launch a wiki? Well, in short, we are a longtime Microfinance practitioner wanting to expand knowledge amongst those who are involved with Microfinance in Canada.

We have a product called Circle lending, in which a peer group takes out very small loans together, and help each other to succeed in what are usually home-based businesses to repay their loans together. It is an amazingly transformational product, designed to help lift people out of poverty and give them a new chance.

Additionally, we have a Microcredit Toolkit, which is an open source peer lending model so any institution can replicate it. We were incredibly honoured that Muhammad Yunus, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for founding Grameen Bank, personally endorsed our toolkit a couple of years ago.

As you can see, we are deeply involved with the Microfinance model in Canada, and wanted to create a place where we could take the open source concept a little further. So we created and are hosting a wiki where anyone can add information as a practitioner, researcher or follower of Microfinance in Canada, with the aim of growing and evolving a central knowledge repository about the subject.

I think it's a great example of a very inexpensive solution to create affinity within a specific community. Now let's see if people find it useful.

I want to recognize the amazing Catherine Ludgate, who manages Vancity's Microfinance programs, and without whose support this never would have been launched. The second I came up with the idea of a wiki to bring together the Microfinance community, Catherine was enthusiastically on board. If you want to know more, here's a great article about Catherine.

I also must thank Tim McAlpine and Currency Marketing for creating a wiki that doesn't look like a wiki. See the screenshot below to see what I mean...

Oh, and PS: Colin Henderson at CommunityLend, I am hoping you'll be the first to add yourself to the wiki...

The CU Scoop - Implementation & Blogs (Ep. 24) [The Banktastics � BanktasticTV - The CU Scoop]

Tue Sep 09 09:57:43 -0400 2008

Download this video

Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV’s “The CU Scoop” featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:

Filene Implementation Podcast
Mark discusses a really interesting podcast that Filene recorded with Educators Credit Union about implementation. This CU implemented several of Filene’s i3 ideas, and focus on how they made them work during this podcast. Definitely interesting to learn about the implementation instead of focusing on just the innovation!

ThatCreditUnionBlog
Mark wanted to suggest a blog to you all. Check out ThatCreditUnionBlog run by Rob Rutkowski. It’s full of really great information regarding the credit union movement submitted by Rob and other members at his firm. Check out the blog and subscribe to it - you won’t be disappointed!

Email Us!
Feel free to email comments or suggestions about “The CU Scoop” to mark@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the Banktastic Community. We’re always looking for your input.

What’s on the whiteboard this week?
See what’s behind Mark’s head this week!

See you next week!

-The Banktastics

Credit unions fighting "flu" season [Filene Research Institute Articles]

benrogers@filene.org (Benjamin Rogers) — Tue Sep 09 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Rachel Parrent, 30 Under 30 member, Vantage Credit Union

It comes on fast, can knock you off your feet, causes chills, fever, pain and long-term damage. What’s worse…there is no defined cure. I’m not talking about the common flu, but rather a more destructive and widespread virus: affluenza.

What exactly is affluenza? It’s the desire to consume material goods, uninhibited. Credit is so easily available that many Americans have a mentality that everything they want should be theirs, NOW. Why should they save when they can buy now and pay later? Many young people have watched the generation above them buy, buy, buy, buy…with seemingly no end in sight.

We have been trained that if we want something, we should have it. There is no delay, no need to save or sacrifice – just go get it. (The bill won’t come for a month…so you’ve got time.)

The problem with this “education” is it is deeply engrained in our society. If you spend just a few minutes in front of a television or flipping through a magazine, you can see how engrossed we are with consumption. There is always something newer, better, sleeker, faster than what you already own. How has this affected our generation? How can credit unions make an impact on reversing these effects?

I would say that many are spoiled and greedy. They expect someone else to pay for their college education, or the down payment on their first home. They don’t understand why they can’t seem to afford the $35,000 car when their annual income isn’t even that high…why they shouldn’t have the newest cell phone, laptop, and new clothes every week. They need credit unions that are not concerned about how to benefit from them, but rather concerned with re-educating them to save for what they want and make a spending plan (budget) that shows them what they can really afford on their income.

And, how to avoid falling for affluenza’s enticing rhapsody.

More on OpenID [The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee]

Mon Sep 08 15:28:32 -0400 2008

I was just reading an article in Information Week talking more about OpenID and how it has been starting to catch on and is being implemented on mainstream sites, like MySpace. �As quickly as they praise it, it rapidly turns around into how many sites enable the use of their OpenID, but they don’t accept ID’s issued by other providers because of “inherent risks”. �This sentence got my brain thinking:

“Since no OpenID provider makes public its practices around vetting and protecting identities, there’s effectively no way of assessing liability for faulty initial identification.”

Who is bound by law to verify ID’s stringently? �Oh, that’s right. �Financial institutions. �So why don’t banks and credit unions jump on board and offer OpenID? �(I’d love to see a start-up virtual credit union do this.) �

One potential issue I see with this is there will still need to be a verificaiton step involved to verify that the OpenID was really issued by a bank or CU. �I could go get robbiewrightbank.com, issue “verified” OpenID’s that could be used to log into sites requiring stricter control over the content they are offering on their site. �So the question becomes how can you create a secure OpenID that is provided by numerous companies? �I think the answer may lay in an uber-secure TLD for banks and credit unions. Literally, have .bank or .creditunion or the like. �The registrar for the TLD would verify that the FI buying the domain is legit, using government verified documents like call reports. �This concept has been kicked around before but many it just doesn’t have any legs.

So what do you think? �Is there a need for a secure TLD for only financial institutions? �Do banks or CU’s really need to offer an OpenID service?

Are your credit union's marketing efforts worthy of comment? [Currency Marketing]

Mon Sep 08 05:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

The blog-o-sphere has been buzzing about Microsoft's new Windows Vista ad campaign that debuted last Thursday. I'm not going to add another blog post analyzing whether the first ad is good or bad or whether Windows Vista has any chance of shaking off over a year's worth of awful press and reviews. I'll leave that to the advertising and tech blogs to fight it out.

One thing is for sure though, people are talking about this ad. On and offline. I was at dinner last night at my hotel and I overheard a group of regular folks laughing their heads off, "And Jerry and Bill come out of the mall eating churros. Ha ha ha! It was hilarious."

Relevance to credit unions? I know you don't have $300 million to spend on your next campaign, but this example begs these questions. Are your credit union's marketing efforts:

Memorable?
Different?
Remarkable?

And by remarkable, I mean worthy of comment and discussion—good or bad. Now in the case of Microsoft's latest effort, most of the commentary seems to be negative.

Most credit unions play the middle ground of features and benefits advertising producing results that are not remarkable. No one is interesting in duking it out over a bullet-point list of benefits!

P.S. OK, I will give you my opinion. I'm going to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt. I like the first Vista spot. It has layed the ground work for an interesting story to be told. Going head to head with the stellar Apple Mac vs. PC ads is a near impossible challenge. Vista has been publicly lambasted for more than a year. Microsoft and its agency have chosen to take a very different approach. And for that, I applaud them.

I can't wait to see the rest of the campaign play out. Bill Gates makes a great straight man, but the bigger issue for Microsoft is the negative public perception about Windows Vista. I think Vista sucks and I haven't even used it before! No 90-second spot is going to fix that.

I'm in San Antonio today spreading the Currency credit union branding, marketing and social media gospel. [Currency Marketing]

Mon Sep 08 03:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

I have presented the following three topics on numerous occasions this year:

Where does traditional marketing fit in a Web 2.0 world?
Engaging Generation Y on their own terms
Small is beautiful. Your credit union can remain small and successful

Today, I am delivering my Where does traditional marketing fit in a Web 2.0 world? talk at the US Central Moving Members' Money Conference in San Antonio, Texas. But the thing is, all three topics I have been speaking about revolve around my core belief that is illustrated in the simple graphic presented above. I start every presentation with it because it sums up the Currency marketing philosophy perfectly.

"Modern credit union marketing is a two-way conversation that utilizes traditional, digital and social mediums to connect with existing and potential members."

I know I rattle on incessantly about credit union social media, but I am equally excited about credit union branding and marketing. To me, branding, marketing and social media are inseparable. If you do not have strong differentiated credit union and product brands that are marketed in unique and exciting ways, then your online and social media activities will suffer and your credit union's marketing and sales efforts will not perform up to your expectations.

Branding and marketing used to be done in a vacuum. All the planning and strategizing was done in advance and we prayed that everything would work out in the end. Today, adding social media into the mix gives us an immediate way to respond as things happen. That's my simple recipe for success.

Class dismissed, now I've got a plane to catch home!

The miscellaneous Sunday [Tinfoiling]

Sun Sep 07 18:38:48 -0400 2008

This morning Marjun and I decided to head down to Commercial Drive. For those that don’t know Commercial Drive it used to be an Italian community when I grew up, well it still is, but it has changed to a very eclectic type of neighbourhood. It had the Fringe Festival years ago and is made up of small, unique, independent businesses. The Starbuck and Subways of the world may exist but wouldn’t thrive in this community.

We took the Skytrain down and had brunch at Wazubees. A great little, well not so little, restaurant that serves good food. Your coffee always comes with a small glass of water on a metal tray. Replenish the fluids you know. After brunch we headed dow to the Fair Trade Shop to pick up a kilo of raw sugar. I’ve become addicted to this stuff over the years. It is brown and not granulated. Marjun picked up a set of the World Community cookbooks there. It is a set of three cookbooks which includes our old favourite “More with-Less”. As we headed back to the Skytrain we ran into the Azaroff and Cottingham families. It was great to see them and we had an ever too brief visit. That is what makes the Drive so different, the people you see down there and usually the people you run into down there.

We said goodbye to William, Amy and Ivan and headed into the Audiophile (used CDs and LPs). This is one of my favourite places to find hard to find music. (Zulu being the other one). Within 5 minutes I had three great finds.

• Sid n Susie Under the Covers - a Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs compendium of some 60’s pop music. They keep the memory of the music in a new age pop style.
• Elliot Smith’s - Figure 8
• 10,000 Maniacs - Campfire Songs

Back to the Skytrain, heading home, we stopped at the Rupert Station and a bicyclist was just getting in the door when it started closing in on his front wheel. There was an attendant standing at the other door who stuck her foot in the door to keep it open. He politely asked if he could get in. She shouted out “No, get the next one.” I figured it must have been the end of her shift and she wanted to get home or she was pissed off at someone and this poor guy was going to be her target. If the Skytrain was a commercial enterprise I would stop buying its product. Free market principle. But this is a public transit system so what is the alternative? Funny there was a small poster on the train that said “Please keep the Skytrain clean, it is your Skytrain.” Yeah sure.

Interview with me on NACUSO blog. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Sat Sep 06 21:51:00 -0400 2008

I had a great conversation this week with Jim Jerving who is a primary writer for the NACUSO blog (National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations).

We chatted about a whole host of ways that credit unions can use social media to open conversations between and among their employees and their members.

Today he published some of what we spoke about on his blog in a post titled The Groundswell: Credit Unions Develop Online Communities. It's nice to see such a good conversation turn into such a good blog post.

By the way, the purpose of NACUSO is to...

...be the catalyst for instituting collaboration, innovation, and the reinvention of the Credit Union industry.

Posts like this get to the very heart of that purpose.

Thanks Jim!

Banking decisions at 13? [FORUM Solutions - Home]

ashlim@forumsolutions.com — Fri Sep 05 20:08:00 UTC 2008

I recently tuned in to Nala Henkel’s first Cuckoo Podcast and was surprised to hear her speaking to her 13 year-old daughter about the financial institution that her daughter was considering. Come to find out, she wanted to join this particular FI because of the color of their debit card… I read a lot of blogs and see many in the CU industry talking about what products and services we can offer to differentiate ourselves, define our niche, be the preferred financial institution…you get the picture. Now one thing I haven’t seen (maybe I am not reading the right blogs), is how organizations are making product decisions based on “how cool their debit card looks to a 13 year old” (this is Gen Y folks!)… This teen didn’t care what the bank offered, just that she could use the debit card and that it looked cool when she was with her friends. Something to think about…

Does the leader or future leader of your country embrace social media? Mine doesn't! [Currency Marketing]

Fri Sep 05 03:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

Our esteemed Prime Minister Steven Harper has ordered his cabinet members to ban all staffers from using Facebook. He is strongly encouraging the deletion of all personal pages from the site. It is expected that a Canadian Federal election will be called early next week—might this be part of an elaborate strategy to curtail any connecting with the people of our fair nation? Yikes.

The brand new Conservative Party site is scrambling to get connected. There are links to Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Friend Feed and Myspace. But upon closer inspection, the Twitter account has only 122 friends and two tweets.

Here's an article from the Hill Times. I especially like this quote:

"This is complete bulls**t. I don't even have a page on Facebook but I don't like it when they stop us from this kind of stuff. There's no point," said one senior ministerial staffer who requested anonymity.

Meanwhile south of the border, Barack Obama has embraced every conceivable social media platform. He (or more likely) his staff actively blog and Barack shows up everywhere. The official Obama campaign site links to profiles, pages and groups on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Twitter, Eventful, LinkedIn, BlackPlanet, Faithbase, Eons, Glee, MiGente, MyBatanga, AsianAve, DNC and Partybuilder. Obama is finally outpacing Kevin Rose as the most followed person on Twitter!

I guess Mr. Harper gets CNN. Mainstream media is all over the fact that social media is having a huge effect on the US election. McCain doesn't even know how to check his own e-mail, but dog-gone-it, his campaign is blogging.

Lesson for credit unions? If you are going to attempt to get involved in social media publicly but ban the use of it internally, it ain't going to work.

Overreacting? What do you think?

How One CU Takes the Gold in Implementation [Filene Research Institute Articles]

denisegabel@filene.org (Denise Gabel) — Fri Sep 05 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Michael Phelps who? Educators Credit Union is giving the Golden Boy of the Olympics a run for his gold and money with their implementation of numerous Filene i³ ideas.

Denise Gabel, Chief Innovation Officer, had the opportunity to talk with Jim and Shannon of Educators Credit Union located in Racine, Wisconsin about their two programs (out of many), Change Up (No Excuses) and What’s Your Score? (Smart Score). Listen in as Jim and Shannon talk about how they have made these ideas work.

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Using Technology to Attract Young Adults - Lessons from Toy Story and Netscape [Filene Research Institute Articles]

benrogers@filene.org (Benjamin Rogers) — Fri Sep 05 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Christopher Morris, 30 Under 30 member, CUNA Councils

“Technology” and “young adults” are seemingly always in the same sentence. Social Networking! Mobile Banking! Twitter! P2P Lending! Blogging!

But before you move forward with the “next big thing,” let’s reflect together as I take you back to the mid-nineties….

Some of us technology savvy youngsters like old technology too – I like books. Because of this, I’m naturally keen to patronize used book sales in and around Madison (did I mention I’m frugal too?).

Recently, I found a gem – The Internet for Dummies – 2^nd Edition published in… 1994. Most people would find this to be only an out-of-date internet reference guide (and it is), but actually it’s an interesting window into the world of online computing before the age of the web browser. Aside from email, it seems that finding information on the internet involved navigating complicated menus (through programs like Gopher) or subscribing to a Usenet newsgroup and filtering messages. It didn’t sound fun or easy.

But along came Mosaic, which eventually evolved into Netscape; the first popular web browser changed the world. A Wired magazine article noted at the time:

Mosaic is the celebrated graphical ‘browser’ that allows users to travel through the world of electronic information using a point-and-click interface…you can travel through the online world along paths of whim and intuition.

Much better. So why the history lesson? Mosaic was just beginning to make ripples when the Internet for Dummies book I mentioned was being put together. It warrants a whopping four pages out of four hundred and twenty-seven. Here are the author’s short-sighted words underneath the heading “So What About Mosaic?” in the book:

You have doubtless heard all about Mosaic, the ‘killer application of the internet.’ So why haven’t we discussed it yet? Well, it’s somewhat overrated, but it’s still pretty cool, so here it is.

What a begrudging endorsement! An invention that Thomas Friedman attributes as one of ten forces that flattened the world in his book The World is Flat is deemed “overrated” at the time or its launch. The product helped create access on a profound scale (ATMs or online banking come to mind?).

Let’s also look at Pixar Films. Founder John Lasseter originally worked at Disney and in the 1980s “tried to convince his bosses that new computer technology could add previously unattainable depth and dimension to animated films, turning them from two-dimensional or ‘2D’ into more realistic ‘3D’ images. It got him fired.” If you’ve ever watched any of their movies, you know the end of that story. Movies like Snow White and the Lion King were good, but Toy Story and Wall-E are better.

So what will be the next big thing for attracting and retaining young adult members using technology?

The truth is – we don’t know. To the Internet for Dummies’ author’s credit, much of new technology is overrated…or seems that way at inception. Segway anyone?

What to do then? When looking at these new technologies, ask yourself first – “is it something that makes a transaction/service/product easier or better for members? Is there real value in this new application? How does it align with our mission?”

Then ask young adults what they think before you move forward. This could be in the form of young adult focus groups, advisory board, employee involvement, etc.

It comes down to:

Is there a demand? (Think Mosaic)

Or will your new idea create demand? (Think Pixar)

In the meantime, I’ll be buried in a book…and checking my email at the same time.

positive credit union press = new members? [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Thu Sep 04 14:53:00 UTC 2008

For Better Banking, Check Out a Credit Union written by Brett Arends of the Wall Street Journal. Some great stuff in the article and credit unions are grateful for the coverage. One suggestion that credit unions should consider – developing a better web site for readers and potential members to check out the concept of credit unions and/or to find a credit union. In my opinion the creditunion.coop website is lacking the image and substance we want to portray when we get such national coverage. Do you agree? If you agree, any thoughts on how to improve this situation?

Young & Free Alberta launches the 2009 spokesperson search. Let's take a moment to thank Larissa! [Currency Marketing]

Thu Sep 04 03:02:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

It's the end of an incredible nine-month era. Larissa Walkiw, the 2008 Young & Free Alberta Spokesperson, is officially on the hunt for her replacement. Yesterday, we transformed the Young & Free Alberta site back to search mode and we are launching a major campaign in Alberta to find a worthy successor. Here is another fabulous video by Larissa to explain the details.

To celebrate Larissa's phenomenal run, we have put together a retrospective page that highlights some of her stellar work and amazing experiences. I encourage you to click the link and spend some time reliving the impact that she had over the past nine months.

When we pitched the Young & Free concept to Jeff Mulligan and his team at Common Wealth Credit Union in late 2006, we were excited about the possibilities yet nervous about the potential pitfalls. To say Larissa surpassed our expectations tenfold is the understatement of the year. I have had the best seat in the house for the best performance imaginable.

Larissa has a few more videos planned and will be chiming in here and there on the blog over the next two months, but she is now an unemployed university film student! Good luck my friend. Your future will be incredible.

Here's what I want from you. If Larissa has touched you in any way, please go to this blog post and write a comment. She deserves the biggest send off ever! You can also leave a comment here as well if you like.

Thanks!

When Google/Microsoft/BofA/Wamu enters your market [The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee]

Wed Sep 03 14:01:35 -0400 2008

Bank of America is still building out branches and their ATM structure like crazy. �Wamu is every where. �We even have super tough competition coming in from CU’s that historically have been in other cities and are 5 times our size. �What is a credit union to do?

Google just stepped into the browser marketplace with Chrome. �Building on other open source projects, they’ve thrown their development staff and large stash of capital behind launching a new browser project. �It is different then most other browsers, is smokin’ fast, and combines many common tasks into a simple process, like search. �Go figure.

The competition in the credit union space is only going to get worse. �In my CUSO side of life, there is really only one main competitor and they own the entire marketplace. �They are the Microsoft of my market. �So what are small CU’s, or small CUSO’s, going to do to stay alive? �Can we really survive based solely in niche markets?

The CU Scoop - I’m Melting! (Ep. 23) [The Banktastics � BanktasticTV - The CU Scoop]

Wed Sep 03 10:19:08 -0400 2008

Download this video

Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV’s “The CU Scoop” featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:

iPhone App Design Toolkit
Thinking about designing an iPhone app for your credit union? Well,
Brent Dixon recently posted a design toolkit for credit unions to use on OpenSourceCU. Go take a look and see what Brent put together!

Coupon Code for Finovate 2008
William Azaroff recently posted that he had a handful of coupon codes for Finovate 2008 on his blog. He has 5 coupon codes available, so go and sign up to get $250 off the cost of the conference. And don’t forget - Mark and I will be at Finovate 2008, and we’re still looking for some guest bloggers. If you’re interested in helping us review Finovate, email lisa@banktastic.com

Social Media Marketing Best Practices
Lately on EverythingCU, Morriss Partee has been talking about the best marketing practices of social media. For instance, he discusses several different things you can do as a blogger to increase readership of your own blog. It’s a great read - check it out!

Email Us!
Feel free to email comments or suggestions about “The CU Scoop” to mark@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the Banktastic Community. We’re always looking for your input.

See you next week!

-The Banktastics

10.1.08.2:30 - Where will you be? [FORUM Solutions - Home]

ashlim@forumsolutions.com — Wed Sep 03 13:43:00 UTC 2008

I’ll be finishing up a soda provided at the refreshment break of the Partnership Symposium and getting ready to engage in the event’s first ever Idea eXchange. The cool thing is that the participants actually get to do the talking…Don’t get me wrong, a conversation line up including a Warrior, a Skeptic and someone excited enough in today’s economy to talk about the joys of being Young and Free in the same context is truly some exciting stuff; however, talking with bloggers, speakers, credit union space veterans and novices alike about topics of interest in today’s world is pretty exciting too. So, will you be there with us to engage in the conversation? Space is still available to sign up for this year’s Symposium so click the link to register and be thinking about what you are looking forward to trading info on at this year’s Idea eXchange…(note: even if talking isn’t your thing, just wait until you see what is happening at Dinner on Wednesday…Guitar Hero and Rock Band return with a night of fun, games and good conversation…with a little bit of Oktoberfest, FORUM Solutions style.)

See you in October…

New! Nala is now producing podcasts for Cuckoo. [Currency Marketing]

Wed Sep 03 03:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

Nala Henkel, our Vice President, Strategy is continuing to give our Cuckoo division lots of attention. She is blogging regularly here. And, now she has added a Cuckoo Podcast to the mix!

Check it out. In her first episode she corners her 13-year-old daughter to talk about cool debit cards.

Here's some links to add to your browser or favourite RSS reader.

+ Cuckoo blog
+ Cuckoo blog RSS feed

And here is a directory of all of our podcasts and episodes. Happy listening and way to go Nala!

Who's Your Mother? (or When Not to Make a Loan) [Filene Research Institute Articles]

benrogers@filene.org (Benjamin Rogers) — Wed Sep 03 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Toni Montgomery, 30 Under 30 member, AmeriChoice FCU

I was recently at a credit union leadership school where credit union professionals from around the state gathered. One of the days we were invited to choose two breakout sessions we would like to attend. I am in the marketing department and thought it would be a good idea to attend a lending workshop. During the workshop, the presenter asked the group this question: “You have a credit union member with a credit score of 440 applying for a loan. This person has been a long standing member of the credit union and has always repaid their loans to you. Do you give them the loan?”

Immediately, some of the loan officers in the room stated they would absolutely give that loan. If they set up direct deposit with an electronic payment, they would be guaranteed their money and they would be helping the member.

But … I can’t help but wonder, are we really “helping” that member. Yes, we (as the credit union) got our money and the member got the loan they wanted, but what other debts are they not paying because they are paying our loan back? Maybe they are skipping the credit card bill that has a $10,000 balance. Maybe they are skipping the car payment?

Being from the marketing department, I was shocked to hear that many of the credit union lenders in that room would give the loan because they would be guaranteed their money. (We need to keep in mind that we really do not have enough information to go on.) In concept, would you give this person the loan? This takes us to people who are constantly overdrawing their accounts. We get the $30 overdraw fee every time. When do we draw the line and say “you’re done.”

The real questions are: Are we really doing what is best for the member and is it our job to determine what is “best” for our member?

Are we “mothering” them?

It's Saturday night in the college dorm. Let's talk about angels on the head of a pin [CUES Skybox]

Bob Halleck — Tue Sep 02 20:25:14 -0400 2008

By Robert H. Halleck

Remember those great Saturday night discussions where you solved all the problems of the world or speculated about what the future will bring? Let's revisit those thrilling days of yesteryear in this blog series. Here is the deal. With no rules, no idea too "anything," and most certainly no ax to grind, predict what the credit union industry will look like 10 years from now. Let's not dwell too long on any one topic.

I bought the pizza so I get to go first. Here's my prediction: In 10 years all credit unions with community charters and all credit unions offering business lending will be paying income tax at either the state or federal level and most likely at both.

Your turn! Go for it.

Robert H. Halleck, who retired in 2002 from a 35-year financial services career, remains vicariously involved in the industry through his wife, a credit union CEO.

Do you Like me? I Like you (Maybe) [CUES Skybox]

Credit Union Executives Society — Tue Sep 02 14:53:00 -0400 2008

By John Mathes

What are some of your first childhood memories? Chances are they relate to early friends and shared experiences growing up. Remember those first awkward moments as you sized up a potential buddy and built up the nerve to ask, "Do you like me?" And that was usually followed by an, "If so, then I'll like you." The emotion and act of liking someone or something has been burned into our psyche almost from the start of our existence.

No wonder then that likeability primarily drives our decision to do business with a company. Nobody wants to spend hard-earned money with someone or something they don't like. The process is too painful, and we try to avoid it at all costs.

Advertising creators learned about likeability years ago. Many research studies proved that making choices is an emotional process, and the best way to communicate reasons to buy is by crafting messages that are likable. The theory goes, "If you like my advertising, then you'll like my products (or services) and you'll want to do business with me." Likability advertising comes in all forms; it doesn't necessarily have to use humor, but that seems to be the execution of choice for most large advertisers. I guess we all enjoy a good laugh and want to be associated with laughter and good times.

Building a brand follows the same emotional paths. From a pragmatic point of view, brands grow via the tools of acquisition and retention. To most analysts, it's a numbers game; that's why you see many credit unions touting their asset size or how many members they have. To be sure, numbers are important, but in the long run, the numbers represent only a snapshot of vitality. For the complete movie version of the story, you must look at the intangible aspects of the relationships.

And, they are relationships. You're with me on this point, right? People want a relationship with the stewards of their money. Personal finance decisions are not made through faceless bits and bytes over the Internet (yes, account management and bill-pay are to die for on the Internet, but they are simply tools). Relationships embody the very tenets and viability of credit union membership and should be carefully nurtured.

Who wants a relationship with somebody they don't like? Not me. Not you. And certainly not your members.

Until recently, there has not been good measurement of the intangible, emotional aspects of credit union brands. We simply studied asset/member size to determine if the credit union was performing well. But that does not put credit unions on a level playing field. Why should an institution be rewarded for being in a larger market, or having little competition or operating in an area of household affluence?

With the July 2008 release of Bancography's Brand Value Index, we now have a way to measure the value of every credit union brand in the country. The value of a brand can be quantified as the difference between a company's overall value and the portion of its value that's can be attributed to its tangible assets or to external market factors. The brand value represents the premium added by such intangible factors as service, reputation and image.

These factors are critical, as they can help drive low-cost growth. For example, any institution can grow simply by paying top-of-market rates on CDs; similarly, most institutions located in fast-growing markets will grow almost by default. But only institutions with strong brands—created through superior service, exemplary community relations and consistent messaging—can create the customer loyalty that allows growth even in adverse conditions and without having to resort to the bribery of paying top dollar for every relationship.

The resulting brand values are comparable and ranked regardless of asset/member size.

How does your credit union's brand rank? Is your brand preferred over the behemoth credit union across town? Or is the little former SEG-based upstart down the street cleaning your clock? You can find the top credit unions (and banks) here.

You would like me and want me as a member. The question is … would I like you?

John Mathes is director of brand strategy at Bancography, a CUES Supplier member, Birmingham, Ala. If you'd like to know where your credit union ranks on the index, contact Bancography at info@bancography.com or 205.252.6671.

Read more on branding in the CUES Skybox and CUES Nexus Connection archives.

more evidence of disintermediation [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Tue Sep 02 16:42:00 UTC 2008

A few years ago CUES published a report with the help of Decision Strategies International entitled 2010 Scenarios for Credit Unions. If you can get a copy, I highly recommend reading it. One of the scenarios involved rampant disintermediation of financial services. Or in other words unbundling (unlike the cable and telco companies are trying to do with their services) of services to best of breed providers. I believe we are on the cusp of this in the financial services world with more and more non-traditional financial companies entering the financial services arena with unique and compelling services. Might I say, unique and compelling services that can make the financial lives of consumers easier. Last week, I was reading my Springwise trend spotting email and there was another fine example in Facecard. An offering directly targeted to young consumers. You might want to check out their YouTube videos. I am hoping Jim Bruene does a review on Facecard. Something to think about as you enter your 2009 planning sessions.

The Elevator Speech [Filene Research Institute Articles]

georgehofheimer@filene.org (George Hofheimer) — Tue Sep 02 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Imagine you have a well-known, influential opinion maker in the elevator with you on the ride up to your hotel room at your favorite credit union meet up. This opinion maker has been seeing credit union people all over the hotel the past few days. She looks at your name badge and asks, “What are credit unions and why should I care?”

What message would you deliver in 15 seconds or less?

By the end of the week, the best response (as subjectively judged by our talented intern, Kelsey Balcaitis) will recieve a special gift from Filene Research Institute. Hint, it is not a research or innovation report.

Recruiting professionals, not just employees: Tips from Callahan and Associates [Filene Research Institute Articles]

benrogers@filene.org (Benjamin Rogers) — Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0400 2008

A few weeks back, Joe James, a 30 Under 30 member and a capital fellow, posted his thoughts about how credit unions could recruit better. He based his input on his first job out of college, at a great spot for credit union analytics: Callahan and Associates in Washington, D.C. We got in touch with Callahan VP Alix Patterson, who runs the Corporate Associate program, to talk a little about how a company with only a few dozen employees can attract some of the best and brightest.

DOWNLOAD MP3

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST RSS

Shout out: Hockey Stars microsite by Citizens Bank looks like a winner! [Currency Marketing]

Fri Aug 29 03:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

Citizens Bank of Canada, the virtual bank division of Vancity, has just taken its Hockey Stars website out of private beta. The site is gorgeous and I can tell that Citizens Bank is doing a lot of things right with this site and initiative. Here is a link to a description of the initiative on its site.

Earlier this week I published a pretty exhaustive post on what I think credit unions need to be doing to be successful with their social media efforts. Let's put Hockey Stars to the test.

Talent: looks like there will be a dedicated blogger and most of the content will be user generated.

Purpose: Connecting the real stars of the game. It's right there, front and centre and it's very compelling.

Point of view: A little hard to say at this point, but I get the sense that the content will be encouraging and extremely positive. This is the type of site that doesn't need opinionated editorial commentary to encourage dialogue and participation.

Content: The content will be compelling to a highly engaged niche group. Hockey and Canada go hand in hand and as long as there is a high level of participation, compelling content should not be a problem.

Frequency: The site is brand new, but I imagine there will be a lot of activity taking place here.

Promotion: Right out of the gate, there is an interesting Season Opener contest with more than 100 prizes that is sure to encourage people to register on the site and take part. I am unaware of the supporting on and offline marketing strategy for Hockey Stars, but knowing Vancity, they will back it with appropriate marketing support.

Well done and congratulations to the Citizens Bank team.

Another BarCampBankBC advertisement [Tinfoiling]

Thu Aug 28 18:35:12 -0400 2008

Tim and William have done recent posts about BarCampBankBC which amply speak of what it is about. I can only repeat what they have already said.

This will be my 4th BarCampBank and one that hopefully will start “to foster innovations and the creation of new business models in the world of banking and finance.” in our geographic area and beyond. This direction is long overdue.

I have repeated numerous times that the ability and opportunity for financial institutions to create new products and services has never been better. All of the building blocks are there. The only hampering item is ourselves. We have created structures that make it difficult to foster innovation. We fail to keep our eyes focused on the end event and get caught up in the mundane and minuscule processes. Yes the devil is in the details but that should not be the excuse to limit our ability to be creative. This event is going to have some very interesting people attending. There are a few that I don’t see listed that will also be mentioned.

• Tim McAlpine - the creative genius of Currency Marketing.

• William Azaroff - the man behind Change Everything at Vancity.

• Morriss Partee - the New Englander whose CU Everything is a wealth of knowledge for CUs.

• Nala Henkel - another smart cookie from Currency

• Nancy Zimmerman - one of the most energetic and outspoken bankers I know, and she has heart.

• Stephen Akhurst - a very intelligent Central 1 consultant, he puts together the Innovation Awards for CUs in BC.

• Denise Wymore- Watch out when she starts talking about her pet peeves.

• Matt Vance - who wouldn’t like anyone from Bellingham?

• Boris Mann - the Drupal guy who makes things happen.

• Tripp Johnson - don’t know Trip but know about the Gonzo Banker people.

• Wendy Lachance - Coast Capital’s mobile expert.

• Kate Dugas - the other half of Change Everything at Vancity.

• Andy LaFlamme - another New Englander whose points of view are articulate and insightful. (Don’t get him and Morriss together for a Guitar Hero event!)

• Brent Dixon - one of the most creative people I know of.

• Dana Dekker - he was the force behind MACUs success.

• Roland Tanglao - if you want to know anything about mobile phones ask Roland.

• Caleb Chang - Caleb wears Hawaiian shirts on Monday, need I say more?

• David Drucker - a GUI expert and an ex-Bostoner (Bostonite? some one help me here).

• Laurel McJannet - she is from Verity which says it all.

• Mark Sadowski - Anyone from New Mexico has to be mentioned.

• Jeffry Pilcher - if you want to talk to Jeffry make sure all your ducks are in a row.

Who is missing? Ron Shevlin, Charlie Trotter, anyone from the Garland Group, Christian Mullins, anyone from Indianna or the Carolinas and a number of others.

Seriously if you haven’t attended a BarCampBank before this is your chance. You will not regret it. Don’t let the $35 registration fee paint it as a non-event. You will come away with some truly invaluable insights you won’t find anywhere else. It is an international event.

Who's Joining Credit Unions [Filene Research Institute Articles]

joseysiegenthaler@filene.org (Josey Siegenthaler) — Thu Aug 28 09:46:04 -0400 2008

A greater portion of credit unions today are now considered “community credit unions.” This shift has left credit unions with a much more heterogeneous membership than in the past. Filene’s Chief Research Officer George Hofheimer sets out to help credit unions learn more about these new members by answering the questions:

Do these new members look different?
Do they use different products?
Do new members want different things?

In short, this research uncovers a number of mundane and not-so-mundane things about the credit union member of the future. For those concerned with membership growth, this report may uncover potential strategies and tactics for attracting new members in today’s changing competitive environment.

On the fence about BarCampBankBC? Canadian social media icon Mitch Joel thinks you should attend! [Currency Marketing]

Thu Aug 28 03:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

Mitch Joel, from Montreal's Twist Image, wrote a great piece for the Vancouver Sun entitled "Changing Business Through the Unconference." You can also read and comment on the article on his Six Pixels of Separation blog.

Cool. I'm a big Mitch Joel fan. I saw him present at the Credit Union Central of Canada conference in Niagara Falls last October and had the good fortune of introducing Mitch at the MACU conference in Whistler in June. He knows his stuff.

And if Mitch says you should check out BCBBC, you better listen. :)

Housekeeping

If you have put your name on the Wiki, but haven't paid, please do. You can go directly to the payment site by clicking here. You can pay by credit card or PayPal. Come to think of it, how did I get strapped with the bookkeeping job when my two organizing partners, Gene and William, are credit union employees and actually know how to build a spreadsheet? Hmm.
We will be ordering shirts next week, so if you haven't voted on which shirt you think should get produced, please do so now! Choice A is leading the pack, but if strongly disagree get voting.
If you do want to attend AND want a cool shirt, sign up AND pay by September 3. After that, you can still sign up, but you better not come topless expecting anything other than pointing fingers AND strange looks.

That's it for now. Less than a month to go to BCBBC. See you there.

A Seat at the Table: Young Adult Directors and Board Advisors [Filene Research Institute Articles]

benrogers@filene.org (Benjamin Rogers) — Thu Aug 28 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Credit union volunteers, particularly board members, are overwhelmingly older than 50. Credit union boards can invite young adult perspective in a number of ways, including presentations from consultants, research from credit union staff , or broader research about the young adult market in general. This brief proposes a more audacious step: recruiting a talented young adult to serve as either an advisory volunteer or a full director.

Member Capital Accounts [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Wed Aug 27 12:54:00 UTC 2008

I was reading the July edition of the Callahan’s Credit Union Report and there on page 6 was a great credit union friend of mine, Diana Dykstra – CEO at San Francisco Fire Credit Union, with a piece she wrote on an idea she has – Member Capital Accounts. First, a little story about Diana one of the smartest and most innovative people I know in any industry. Eighteen years ago I was a young whipper-snapper just in my second year at the credit union and out of college. I was trying to learn all I could about consumer lending and Diana was frequently in the credit union trade publications with fresh ideas and talking about the success she was creating as the person in charge of lending at Golden 1 Credit Union. Well, I had an upcoming conference in San Jose that I was attending and not being the bashful type I called her up and asked if I could stop by for a visit to meet her and see what I could learn from her. I didn’t expect this busy executive and credit union icon to say “yes” to my request. Well, was I wrong. She said come on out and then proceeded to spend an entire day with me answering my every question. Wow, what an experience that I haven’t forgotten about to this day. She continues to amaze me with her leadership and her innovation. Now, back to the article and another great Diana idea – Member Capital Accounts.

I cannot summarize any better than how Diana put it so hopefully the Callahan’s people won’t mind me quoting a small section of the article in Diana’s words. “Here at San Francisco Fire Credit Unon we have begun to embark on a transformational journey. We want to put our members back in control of their credit union and one of the first steps is the creation of Member Capital Accounts. ...Every member of SF Fire CU will have a new share type established; it will be identified as a “Member Capital Account” within his or her individual membership. The balance of this account will grow by the member’s contribution to the credit union’s annual net income based on a capital allocation declared by the Board of Directors. The calculation is simple: First the Board of Directors declares the annual allocation to the Member Capital Accounts. Then add all interest paid on loans to dividends received on deposits; then calculate its percentage of the total of all member interest and dividends. This becomes the member’s percentage of the declared member capital allocation. Thus the more business the member does with the credit union, the greater the contribution to his or her capital account.”

Brilliant idea and I for one can’t wait to see it blossom. Diana will be at the symposium and I am sure she can provide additional details if you are interested.

Are you listening? What your credit union can learn from EA and Tiger Woods. [Currency Marketing]

Wed Aug 27 03:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

By keeping tabs on what is being said on-line about its products, Electronic Arts picked up on a user-generated YouTube video that demonstrated a glitch in its Tiger Woods 2008 video game. For the release of the 2009 version of the game they produced this new commercial.

This is a quote from the WOMMA website.

Tiger Woods Responds to Fan's YouTube Video

A fan of the video game Tiger Woods 08 posted a YouTube video highlighting a "glitch" in the video that enabled the Tiger Woods character to walk and golf on water—dubbed the "Jesus Shot." In response, and as a promotion for the Tiger Woods 09 game, game creators Electronic Arts and Woods posted a video that shows the real-life Woods taking that very same shot. The video's message: "It's not a glitch. He's just that good." It's a great example of the good ideas that can come from keeping a pulse on what people are saying about you and your brand online.

EA took a possible negative and made it into a huge positive. Well done.

Listen. React. Repeat.

Next-Gen branches and mobile banking [Filene Research Institute Articles]

benrogers@filene.org (Benjamin Rogers) — Wed Aug 27 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Brandon Michaels, 30 Under 30 member, San Francisco Fire CU

That’s right! Financial institutions in India, and around the world, are embarking on a risky, but HIP, new branding message: NEXT-GEN branching. Each branch will have approximately 300-500 sf of lounge areas to play video games, conduct business via Wi-Fi, and conduct financial business. The idea is to make banking ‘hip.’

According to OpinionResearch Corporation, only 10% of the general population feel comfortable enough to do their banking transactions in an online format, secure or not. However, they found 21% of young adults, and growing significantly, feel comfortable.

Thus, financial institutions in India are playing into that by creating branches that are full of Wi-Fi, video games, high-tech lounges and banking interfaces in order to try to make the population, and specifically young adults, more comfortable.

In direct relation to this, mobile banking is also of imperative stature. Young adults love the ability to do their business in an online, mobile format. But, according to may blogs, such as the wireless weblog, financial institutions are one of the last industries to embrace mobile banking because, in part, “they continue to be run by traditionalists.” The way of the future for banking is via cell phone and/or PDA.

89% of the general population haven’t considered using their cell phones to conduct banking transactions. Banks, according to OpinionResearch, are doing ‘OK’ in this market, but they don’t push the envelope. It’s all “keeping up with the joneses.”

Where are Credit Unions in this? Credit Unions are never known to be the movers and shakers in this industry. Is it time that we open our eyes and embrace this advancement of technology and the shifting of societal norms? Is it because we don’t have the right type of leadership in place to embrace it? Ten times the number of people will be using mobile banking in 2011 than in 2007. It’s time that we start moving toward this so that we can have our ducks in a row to capitalize on this market.

We need to fight and elbow our way into this industry. They aren’t just going to fly to us. We need to fly to them, wherever they are, and at whatever time.

Photo: Tincho.�.�. / Andr�s Mart�n, using Flickr creative commons license

Twitter down for Hitler. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Tue Aug 26 16:41:00 -0400 2008

I have a feeling everyone saw this while I was on vacation last week, but just in case you didn't...

Twitter down for Hitler:

Credit to Nicholas Deleon and his brother Gabriel from CrunchGear.com.

CU Warrior hits the pages of Fast Company [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Tue Aug 26 18:37:00 UTC 2008

I am a loyal Fast Company reader and I am talking cover to cover reader and the magazine comes to the house instead of the workplace. Read a lot of stuff on the Internet and in electronic format, but something about Fast Company makes me want to read the paper version. In this month’s issue on page 80 is Matt Davis, aka the CU Warrior, with his what are you saving for program. Love it. Have been waiting for a credit union innovation to be featured in these pages and Matt delivered. Oh and by the way, the CU Warrior will be hosting a session at our symposium – just another reason to come to Indy on October 1-2. Bring your magazine and I am betting he will sign it.

iPhone app design toolkit [Open Source CU - Home]

hi@itsjustbrent.com — Tue Aug 26 15:21:00 UTC 2008

Photo from teehanlax.com

As some of you jump into the minimally-charted waters of iPhone-app design for your credit union, I hope these stencils and user-interface elements come in handy for mocking up and prototyping designs:

On a related note – which credit unions are doing something cool with the iPhone or iTouch? If something’s impressed you, drop a line in the comments. The best find (this is a very subjective contest) gets a $5 Starbucks card and this brilliant pair of sunglasses.

(links via Ilya Vedrashko’s Ad Lab)

The CU Scoop - Blogs and Hot Dogs (Ep. 22) [The Banktastics � BanktasticTV - The CU Scoop]

Tue Aug 26 09:56:19 -0400 2008

Download this video

Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV’s “The CU Scoop” featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:

Blog Starter Kit from Currency Marketing
Tim McAlpine of Currency Marketing has been sharing the best of the best blogs out there and breaking them down for you on their blog. Tim’s posts are really going to help you stay connected to what’s going on in the financial industry by checking out the best blogs out there. This is a great chance to amp up your RSS reader, so start subscribing!

Premier Federal Credit Union’s Hot Dog Sale
Jeff recently posted on the CU Communicator blog about Premier FCU’s annual hot dog sale. This is a great example of a credit union reaching their members in a fun way. One of the coolest things about this post on the CU Communicator is that there’s a video to give you a behind the scenes look at how they assembled the event and how it all went down. Check it out!

What’s on the whiteboard this week?
See what’s behind Mark’s head this week!

Email Us!
Feel free to email comments or suggestions about “The CU Scoop” to mark@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the Banktastic Community. We’re always looking for your input.

See you next week!

-The Banktastics

The credit union social media articles and white papers are coming. I hope they include the stuff that matters. [Currency Marketing]

Tue Aug 26 03:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

I have had a half dozen calls recently from writers who are working on credit union social media articles and white papers. The good news is that credit unions are waking up to the possibilities of social media and industry publications are in the midst of preparing best-practice information. The bad news is that these articles and white papers will likely just scratch the surface.

These writers will most likely address:

Blogging platform choices including free and open-source options like WordPress, Typepad, Blogger, Drupal and other proprietary or custom-coded solutions
Sources for tracking the blog-o-sphere including Google Alerts, Technorati and Google Blog Search
Sources for tracking readership including Feedburner and Google Analytics
Best practices like including photos of your bloggers, signing off each post with the author's name and various linking options
Podcast hosting options, microphones, portable recording devices, video cameras and editing software choices
The myriad of free social media services and networks including Facebook, Myspace, Orkut, Second Life, Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, Friend Feed, YouTube, Viddler, Vimeo, Flickr, Photo Bucket, 12 Seconds and the like
Best practices for moderating comments and dealing with spammers

But honestly, you can muddle your way through all of the bullet points above without making too many mistakes. And if you do make mistakes here and there you can easily right your ship as you progress.

So, what should these articles and white papers really include?

I just published a seven-part blog starter kit series. As I researched which blogs to include, it was great to see that we now have dozens of credit unions that have caught the social media bug.

What I was struck with, though, was how great the personal blogs by credit union employees are and how mediocre the blogs by credit unions are (there are some exceptions, but not many).

How can you move from mediocre to great? Here are six things that I hope the writers of these articles and white papers consider: your talent, your purpose, your point of view, your content, your frequency and your promotion.

1) Your talent

Recruit a strong writer or group of writers and give them free reign to express real opinions. Don't impose stringent editorial guidelines. Whether they are employees, contest winners or members of your credit union and community, let them do their thing. Trust that you have allowed the right people to be your voice. If they are employees, give them ample time to produce good content. Too often, corporate blogs die on the vine because they are run off the side of an overflowing desk.

2) Your purpose

Publish a differentiated purpose for your blog. With more than 70 million active blogs in the world, we don't need another vanilla corporate blog without a purpose. Within your purpose, define your audience and your subject matter. Who are you talking to and what are you trying to say? By doing this work up front your talent will find it much easier to produce content that's on message.

Your purpose should be different than any other blog in your marketplace, if not the world! Here's a good example that passes this test, "The latest news and announcements from the UFirst Federal Credit Union Board of Directors."

The narrower you go, the more potential you have to create a following. Here's another good example of a simple stated purpose, "Welcome to UTFCU Rocks, the new student site for UT Federal Credit Union. Here you'll find information on special contests, promotions and events."

3) Your point of view

Credit union blogs suffer from the same plight as credit union brands: they are designed to appeal to everyone and therefore appeal to no one. Don't be scared to alienate. If your blogs lacks focus and is interchangeable with all other credit union blogs, why put in the effort?

Take the Currency blog for example. You could ask a regular reader why they follow and he or she would probably say something like. "That Tim guy is a credit union super freak that doesn't like banks at all. I like it when he occasionally loses it."

Could your credit union publish this article? QueerHistoryProject.com. Probably not and that's what makes Vancity's Change Everything community blog so awesome. Not only will Vancity allow a community member to publish this story, Vancity promoted it to their community home page!

4) Your content

Entertain me. Enlighten me. Tell me a good story. Do not repurpose material that is available elsewhere. That includes your newsletter articles and brochure copy. Report on things that matter to your community—not the credit union blog-o-sphere. Make a point. Stir the pot. Call the kettle black. Do not waste your readers' time.

5) Your frequency

Credit unions are posting far too infrequently to create a following. I've heard the 'post at least once per month' rule. Wrong. You need to publish once per week at the very least. Ideally, you should be publishing two to four posts per week. These can be a mix of writing, audio podcasts or video clips. You decide.

Look at The Financial Brand blog. It is less than half a year old and it has vaulted to the top of the pack in its niche. Why? Jeffry Pilcher has an original voice on a niche subject and he publishes up to 10 highly researched, high opinionated and highly educational posts every week.

Take social media seriously or forget it.

6) Your promotion

Publishing those two to four blog posts per week is just the beginning. Not only do you need to invest some money in marketing your social media effort in the form of traditional and non-traditional paid media, you need to immerse your credit union in the local blog-o-sphere (not the credit union blog-o-sphere). Are members of your credit union posting comments on local blogs everyday? This is a terrific way to get included on local blogrolls and to have local people reading and leaving comments on your blog.

Is your blog URL plastered all over your branches? Your website? Your newsletters? Your community cruisers? Your statement stuffers? Your advertisements? And your foreheads? It should be! Use every existing communication channel to promote your new blog. Your membership is not going to magically stumble on it.

And now to pick on an innocent bystander

Robbie Wright is a friend and a fellow credit union blogger. I am going to use him as an example to illustrate what I feel is the major issue of under-performing credit union blogs today. I am calling him out, because he is the only person that I could think of that has a personal blog and and also is the main blogger for the credit union he works for. He's also a good sport. Right Robbie?

Robbie has one of the best personal blogs that I read: The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee. Here are four of his posts from the last few months.

Lemmings (July 31 with 12 comments)
I lost a little respect (Posted July 1 with 5 comments)
Is Discover more thrift oriented than credit unions? (June 10 with 13 comments)
REI and the credit union spirit (May 9 with 9 comments)

Now, here are four of Robbie's posts on his CUSO's blog from the same time period.

NACUSO launches new site and blog (July 8 with 0 comments)
MasterCard’s new Debit Platform (April 7, 2008 with 1 comment)
The Federal Reserve’s Legal Opinion on Deposit Reclassification (March 31 with 0 comments)
Our new partnership with CUES (March 18 with 0 comments)

Robbie's personal blog headlines and articles are opinionated, provocative and generate great conversation. His headlines and blog content for the CUSO are safe, boring, infrequent and generate little dialogue.

When employees blog for employers, they self edit and second guess their own instincts. Its human nature. Nobody wants to get in trouble for stirring the pot. A nice safe blog post won't get you fired. Unfortunately, it probably won' get you any online attention either.

I am not saying that every blog needs to be written in the style of the crackpot that the local paper publishes in the letter-to-the-editor section, but make me laugh, cry, question things and make me want to come back for more. Can a blog about Deposit Reclassification do that? I say hell yes! Especially if Robbie writes it in his personal persona without the fear of pissing people off.

This goes back to my first two points: define your purpose and point of view at the beginning and everything from that point on will just flow.

Maybe creating conversation isn't part of your blog's stated purpose. Maybe you just want to push news out there. That's fine. Turn commenting off and stop worrying about it. Seth Godin's blog and Daring Fireball are two of the most popular blogs in existence. Neither allow comments.

The comment conundrum

But it seems to me that you do want comments. "How do I get more comments?" is the most popular question that I hear from corporate bloggers. My quick answer is you have to work at it every day.

I co-presented the Young & Free story in New York with Cathy Graeber from Forrester. You can view the slide deck here. On slide seven there is a graph. At the bottom is a line that indicates what percentage of the Internet users comment on blogs. It looks like about 20% of Generation Y and 3% of Baby Boomers have left a comment on a blog.

Here's the ugly truth about the blog-o-sphere: a large percentage of comments are left by bloggers looking to build cross links to their own blogs in hopes of increasing traffic. It is very difficult for a business blog directed to consumers to garner a lot of comments. Consumers aren't necessarily in the self-promotional game and leaving a blog comment can be really intimidating for a first-timer.

Your content has to be incredible. It has to inspire or polarize the audience. People only comment if they really agree or really disagree with what is being written. And with headlines like "Ten reasons retirement is coming," its no wonder credit union blogs lack any real dialogue.

The Young & Free Alberta blog has had more than 900 comments in less than one year. So it is possible, it just takes hard work and great content.

Final thoughts

Sure you can click over to WordPress and start a blog this second, but social media is not free. It takes a smart strategy and a ton of execution by dedicated resources.

If you do all six of these things well, you might actually get some comments, connect with your members, build your brand, grow your readership, sell some products and services and produce a positive return on your social media investment. You may even acquire some new members along the way!

That's all I have to say about that. What about you?

P.S. I bet I get at least one comment on this post. Sorry Robbie!

Blog starter kit part 7: a dozen blogs that are just silly and fun. [Currency Marketing]

Mon Aug 25 15:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

This last list has real potential of making you think less of me!

This is a collection of hidden gems, time wasters, gut busters and just plain weird blogs. Click if you dare. I have marked a few with asterisks (*). These blogs are not suitable for those easily offended and are best not to be viewed at work. You will have a hard time explaining why you have your earbuds in and Coke coming out of your nose. I crowd sources a few of these on Twitter, so if any offend you, it's wasn't me (really).

Final warning: This is not the list to give to your boss to convince him or her that your credit union should get involved in social media. That's what part 1 to 6 is for.

Feed | URL | Indexed
Feed | URL | Fail Blog*
Feed | URL | Funny of Die*
Feed | URL | LOLZIES!!1@!
Feed | URL | Storylog: True Stories
Feed | URL | Stuff White People Like
Feed | URL | The Alka-Seltzer Great American Road Trip
Feed | URL | The Big Picture
Feed | URL | The Dilbert Blog by Scott Adams
Feed | URL | The Onion*
Feed | URL | Violent Acres*
Feed | URL | You Look Nice Today*

Previously

Done. Phew, that was harder than I thought. I have given you 88 hand-selected blogs to pick and choose from. I know that is a lot, but with more than 70 million active blogs worldwide, hopefully I saved you some time finding some good blogs to follow.

Discount code to attend Finovate. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Mon Aug 25 11:21:00 -0400 2008

Last October I was lucky enough to attend and live blog at the inaugural Finovate conference. Finovate was started by Jim Bruene, who writes both NetBanker and Online Banking Report. No slouch, he.

I loved attending Finovate 2007, and live blogging it gave me a great perspective on what I was seeing. The format is simple: each presenter gets seven minutes to present their solution or product. No PowerPoint, no speeches, just live demos so everyone can see what they do. You can read my blog posts here, here and here

Jim wrote a post on NetBanker the other day giving the details of Finovate 2008 with all the presenters listed. It's a great lineup!

This year, Finovate 2008 again happens in New York on October 14th at the Crowne Plaza Times Square. The cost is $995 USD, but if any of my readers want to go and are planning to book by the end of August, the Finovate organizers have given me a special promo code to pass along.

The first five people who go to finovate.com, and use the discount code "azaroff55" will get $250 off the $995 conference cost. It'll definitely be an event worth attending!

local review of Mint [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Mon Aug 25 13:38:00 UTC 2008

Each week I read the Indianapolis Business Journal and I have been following the start-up ventures of personal financial management offerings like Mint. The two intersected last week as I read the August 4-10 edition of the IBJ and specifically Jim Cota’s review of Mint. It is a solid review and like many Mint users Jim was impressed. The only thing that I wish Jim would have pointed out is Mint’s revenue model. The fact Mint earns revenue from financial service providers that make offers via recommendations in Mint should be fully disclosed. Users should understand this as they sort through the offers. Yes, they might getting a better deal than what they have which is a good thing. You just have to wonder if they are getting the best deal they could or if all of the offers are in the consumer’s best interest?

Peace b w u. &also w u! [Filene Research Institute Articles]

benrogers@filene.org (Benjamin Rogers) — Mon Aug 25 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Katie Miller, 30 Under 30, Navy FCU

“Pope Benedict XVI to use SMS text message to reach youth during World Youth Day” is the headline from a 7 May 2008 article from IntoMobile.com. A quote from Bishop Anthony Fisher reads, “We wanted to make WYD08 a unique experience by using new ways to connect with today’s tech-savvy youth.”

If such non-traditionally technologically advanced institutions like the Catholic Church are turning to mobile devices to connect with youth, why can’t credit unions?

The Bishop puts it perfectly – to engage youth, you need to provide them a uniquely crafted experience. Something that really resounds with them: text messaging…

In an informal poll of the interns in my office (ages 19 and 22), they stated that they easily check their phone more often than their email. They don’t think most “kids” can afford a blackberry, so their access to email is more limited than their ability to send and receive text messages. Their main mode of communication with friends is no longer through typing on the computer – it’s typing on the phone!

So what’s a perk for Generation Y? The ability to do business through text messaging. A suggestion from a member of our Innovation staff was to give teenagers (or really, any Debit Card holder) the ability to have text messaging alerts sent to them when their checking account balance drops below a threshold set by them. His thought was that, “teenagers are really bad at managing finances, but really good at checking test messages.” How many teenagers want to have to pay that $30 NSF fee? Text message warnings are a helpful way to prevent those NSFs, and possibly a good enough incentive to get a new Gen Y customer for your checking account!

Unfortunately, when I googled “credit unions and text messaging” most of my results related to “smishing” scams where unauthorized text messages were being sent to credit union members, in an attempt to fraudulently get personal information electronically. While it’s unfortunate that credit unions were being targeted, the same security and education provided around our internet and email communications can be created for our text message communications as well.

So what do u say? Brng on the txt msgs! ;-)

NACUSO blog } innovation direction [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Mon Aug 25 01:02:00 UTC 2008

Here is a post on the NACUSO blog regarding a conversation I had with Jim Jerving earlier this week. I am not an expert on the topic of innovation – just trying to add value to our members here at FORUM – anyway I can. I invite you to join the conversation – we all need to get better in serving our members – our future depends on it.

Blog starter kit part 6: a dozen blogs about marketing and social media. [Currency Marketing]

Sun Aug 24 15:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

These are blogs that I read to keep up with what's new in general marketing, social media and technology. If you are in the midst of creating your own social media strategy or if you are a seasoned pro, I guarantee these blogs will continue to teach you.

Feed | URL | Boing Boing
Feed | URL | Buzz Canuck by Sean Moffitt
Feed | URL | Church of Customers by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba
Feed | URL | Chris Brogan
Feed | URL | Copyblogger by Brian Clark
Feed | URL | Groundswell by Josh Bernoff
Feed | URL | Logic + Emotion by David Armano
Feed | URL | Mashable
Feed | URL | Problogger by Darren Rowse
Feed | URL | Techcrunch by Michael Arington
Feed | URL | Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel
Feed | URL | Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang

Previously

Next up:

Dozen blogs that are just silly and fun

When I first thought about creating a blog starter kit series, I thought it would be easy! Needless to say, its taken more work than I thought to come up with a list that I am willing to put my name behind. Feel free to add to it in the comments.

Blog starter kit part 5: a dozen blogs by credit union leagues and associations. [Currency Marketing]

Sat Aug 23 03:01:00 -0400 2008

By Tim McAlpine

These are blogs that represent credit union chapters, leagues and associations. I had to scrape to find nine including a couple that are just news aggregators and a couple that seem to be dormant. That not to say there aren't gems here—I particularly enjoy Jeff Hardin's CU Communicator and CUNA's YES Summit Blog.

Feed | URL | Austin Chapter of Credit Unions
Feed | URL | CU Communicator
Feed | URL | CUNA News Now Headlines
Feed | URL | YES CU Blog: Serving 18-to-30s
Feed | URL | Fort Worth Chapter of Credit Unions
Feed | URL | NAFCU Compliance Blog
Feed | URL | NCUA Recently Posted Information*
Feed | URL | The Mica Minute
Feed | URL | WOCCU's International Partnersips Blog

And, since I could only find 9, I'll round out the dozen with two more credit union blogs that should have been in the previous list and one wild card that I don't know where to fit!

Feed | URL | Coor's Credit Union Blog
Feed | URL | What are You Saving For? by Member's Credit Union
Feed | URL | The CU Skeptic

Previously

Next up:

Dozen blogs about marketing and social media
Dozen blogs that are just silly and fun

You know the drill! If I missed any of your favourites, add them in the comments.

"EST" model [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Fri Aug 22 15:38:00 UTC 2008

My teammate, Andy, placed a one page handout from the book, Winning at Retail: Developing a Sustained Model at Retail Success by authors Willard Ander and Neil Stern on my desk a few minutes ago. I just got back from a productive meeting and read it while I redocked my laptop. I enjoyed the read – quick and to the point. There are five “EST” areas in which a retailer can excel.

Cheap-Est – winning with price
Big-Est – winning with dominant assortments (inventories / services)
Hot-Est – winning with fashion (forward positioning)
Easy-Est – winning with solution-oriented service
Quick-Est – winning with fast service

Note to credit unions – smiley-Est was not one of the five. My take? Glad you clicked on read more. Customer or member service is a tablestake and not how you win. You have to have it to survive – it is not what sets you apart for the victory. Oh, and the authors mention a sixth area and it is dubbed the “Black Hole”. The description in the article goes on to say, “This is where retail firms with no clear identity and a “be kind of good at everything” strategy go to die. A few retailers like Wal-Mart have managed to master several of these EST areas over time, but they have done so specializing rather than generalizing, nimbly leaping over the Black Hole without falling victim to it.”

I would say here at FORUM we are attempting to get better at number four. I think Ron Shevlin might advocate number three in this post.

shoebox banking [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Fri Aug 22 12:24:00 UTC 2008

Read with interest about the new service offered by an Amsterdam based bank offering a private banking service where wealthy clients keep their receipts in a shoebox and then a courier picks up the shoebox and brings it to the bank for the banking representative to track the transactions from the box contents. When I was an active member of Filene i3 I was in a small group that discussed this idea and how we could implement at the credit union. Instead of focusing on wealth though we were trying to figure out how to offer this convenience to members who were doing most of their financial business with the credit union. We ultimately picked another idea to pursue, yet I still frequently think about this idea. I even thought that this would be a business opportunity for an entrepreneur. Collecting and tracking this information for consumers – not offering advice, simply collecting and tracking. Many people despise the task. Plus, I have seen some overstuffed wallets and purses with receipts flowing everywhere out there in society. There is an obvious need as consumers are time starved and often don’t know where to start in tracking their financial lives. Tracking is important for the sake of efficiency and making sound money decisions. I think the secret is in the simplicity of the shoebox. I say this because I don’t think you can even expect consumers to scan such receipts, it needs to be as easy as tossing them in a shoebox. Definitely something we should ponder and think about how we could offer such a service.

Join the Conversation (Book Review) [The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee]

Wed Aug 20 19:34:29 -0400 2008

It took me a while to finally get around to it, but on my vacation this summer I had the opportunity to read Joseph Jaffe’s Join the Conversation.

For those of us already embedded into social media at our various organizations, much of the content of the book will be a review for you.� But Join the Conversation is a great tool for those folks in your credit union who are new to social media and need a little helping hand in why it is so important to get involved.

In Chapter 12, Jaffe lists 33 ways to get involved in the conversation and this is precisely what more credit unions need to do.� Things such as Google Alerts, Digg, tracking product names, company website linking, key brand phrases, etc.� Jeffry Pilcher just wrote about an Ohio bank who learned what this could cost you the hard way.� It is incredibly important for credit unions to be aware of the tools and options they have for tracking their brand image.� Much like the newspaper clippings services from the days of yore, tracking your brand, and the conversation around it, is a must.

If you have some hesitant execs kicking around your CU, make sure they read this book.� It’ll help them understand why you feel so passionately about this social media stuff.

Want change? Then jettison experience demands [Filene Research Institute Articles]

benrogers@filene.org (Benjamin Rogers) — Wed Aug 20 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Brandi Melo, 30 Under 30 group, Rocky Mountain Credit Union

It disappoints me to consistently read a requirement of “5-7 years experience” for all jobs posted in trade publications. How can years of experience accurately demonstrate that the applicant utilized those years to bring him/herself to the level needed to perform the job well? I think this really limits the qualified applicant pool and definitely discourages Generation Y applicants.

As part of the 30 under 30 group, I’ve spent some time researching how to make credit unions more relevant to young adults. An area that caught my attention was employment classifieds, like those in the back of Credit Union Times.

Here’s a simple thought: eliminate the years of experience requirement.

As a member of Gen Y, we do not want to spend numerous years climbing the corporate ladder. Many of us are capable of executive positions today. Just Google gen y employment or read Rebecca Thorman’s blogs about Gen Y Leaders and you will find an array of articles and posts that tell you our generation expects challenges and the opportunity to advance right away and have the characteristics needed to be successful.

There are many young, educated, enthusiastic adults who want to make bigger impact now. We are energized, full of ideas and can breathe life into an institution if given opportunities in leadership positions.

The 30 under 30 group is an excellent example of young adults serving in executive-level positions. However, many of us acquired these positions by internal promotions. Credit unions that are promoting from within and bringing young adults up through the ranks should be commended, my credit union included. Yet, I would like to see management positions based on the quality of skills, rather than the quantity of years of service.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that experience plays a major role, but I don’t think it can be defined simply by years served. More importantly, an employer should be concerned about what was accomplished in any years of experience.

With such a diverse potential workforce, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all job posting anymore. If you are looking for renewed energy, ideas, and attitudes that make a difference, consider recruiting and employing members of Gen Y and at least create job postings that would allow them to apply.

For additional information and ideas about Gen Y recruitment, take a look at Ben Rogers’ Recruiting Brief.

Taking the First Steps [Filene Research Institute Articles]

kelseybalcaitis@filene.org (Kelsey Balcaitis) — Wed Aug 20 00:00:00 -0400 2008

Millions of Americans are unbanked and cut off from formal financial services. They turn to check cashers, payday lenders, and pawn shops for transaction and lending services- at a high price. Credit unions have a crucial role to play in the efforts to educate and serve the unbanked and underserved. With help from one of Filene i³’s newest innovations, the First Step Program, credit unions can help these unbanked and underserved.

Download a copy of our recent First Step Program Blueprint First Step Program Blueprint or visit the First Step Program’s project information page for a copy of the team’s Concept Document and additional information to help you offer this innovation to your members.

Removing roadblocks [Open Source CU - Home]

trey@trabian.com — Tue Aug 19 19:29:00 UTC 2008

Our CEO came for a visit today. He asked each member of our seven-person team this:

“What projects are you working on? What roadblocks stand in your way?“

A year ago, Cam said:

Being ahead of your own time is not a badge of honor unless the idea saw the light of day. Let this serve as a call to action to all the ThinkTankers, BarCampers, Bloggers, and organizations who have been spending too much time talking about ideas.

Roadblocks. At the lower levels of any organization, too often the roadblocks are constructed from above. “We don’t do business that way, so that idea won’t work.”

Or maybe they’re seemingly too tough to move. “The core system won’t do that.”

Remarkable organizations have visionary leaders who remove roadblocks.

The CU Scoop - Triple Play (Ep. 21) [The Banktastics � BanktasticTV - The CU Scoop]

Tue Aug 19 09:42:44 -0400 2008

Download this video

Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV’s “The CU Scoop” featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:

Banktastic LinkedIn Group
Mark wanted to bring a little announcement from The Burst to The CU Scoop. David G., one of Banktastic’s awesome members, took it upon himself to create a group on LinkedIn for Banktastic! The group is growing, so join now and look for the Banktastics!

Filene Wants Your Feedback
If you’ve implemented some of Filene’s i3 ideas at your credit union, they want to hear from you! They recently made a call for feedback on their blog, so Mark wanted to help them out by spreading the word. Do them a favor and let them know what you think about their innovation ideas.

BancVue Stats
Jim Bruene posted an article on NetBanker recently that discussed the current status of BancVue and it’s popular rewards checking product. BancVue released a list of stats that show how well they’re doing. According to the stats, there are more than 13,000 new rewards checking accounts per week - that’s awesome! For a complete list of the stats, click here.

What’s on the whiteboard this week?
See what’s behind Mark’s head this week!

Email Us!
Feel free to email comments or suggestions about “The CU Scoop” to mark@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the Banktastic Community. We’re always looking for your input.

See you next week!

-The Banktastics

Credit union system maintenance [The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee]

Mon Aug 18 18:14:37 -0400 2008

I’m guessing the following graph is fairly typical of most FI’s.� So if these were the website transaction patters of your members, when would you perform maintenance on critical, member-facing systems?

Online Search Advertising [Filene Research Institute Articles]

benrogers@filene.org (Benjamin Rogers) — Mon Aug 18 12:10:12 -0400 2008

Financial services advertising represents nearly a quarter of online ad impressions. If you’re not reaching potential young members as search for financial answers, somebody else surely is. This step-by-step guide for launching and maintaining online advertising campaigns shows you how even a little budget can go a long way toward member and product growth.

A month 'til BarCampBankBC. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Sun Aug 17 11:26:00 -0400 2008

I'm starting to get really excited about BarCampBankBC, which is happening the weekend of September 20th here in beautiful Vancouver, BC. It should prove to be an amazing coming-together of some great minds in the world of banking, credit unions, social media, technology, innovation and social responsibility.

With just a month to go, we have 62 people who have signed up on the wiki, but only 30 who have registered and paid. Now 30 is still a pretty decent number, but...

...if you're thinking of coming to BarCampBankBC, please take a minute to register now!

It'll make the lives of the three organizers, me, Gene and Tim, a little easier.

Thanks, and see you there!

PS: I'm about to go to Alaska on a cruise with Amy and Ivan (my wife and son), so if I don't publish comments quickly or at all, please forgive me!

PPS: It's almost exactly a year since the first North American BarCampBank in Seattle, where so many great relationships and conversations started. A great milestone!

TGIF [Tinfoiling]

Fri Aug 15 20:07:08 -0400 2008

Another week has passed and the events continue.

Our youngest son returned to his home in Copenhagen last Saturday after a great one month visit. As well, a friend returned home to Powell River who had been boarding with us since January while going to school at UBC. It is always an adjustment in a home when the total inhabitants decrease by 50%. Our oldest son and daughter are here for a visit for the next 2 weeks and after that we are home alone again. At least I won’t have to watch or hear the PS3 with Grand Theft Auto blaring away. That is another story.

The iPhone is working out very well. The phone has been dropping calls once in a while out here in the Valley but in Burnaby-Vancouver there hasn’t been any problems. The ability to have one device deliver all of the applications you connect with is really unbelievable. All of us at work have now had iPhones for a month and the glitter still has not worn off. There is only one minor issue, the inability to have your SMS mesages use ringtones instead of the stock alarm sounds. The best and most used downloaded programs for me would be:

• Evernote - Great synching with your Mac desktop.

• Comic Touch - Just add some humour because who doesn’t need it.

• Exposure - decent Flickr app.

• Jott - very usable app with the notes feature.

• BoxOffice - never have to look for a newspaper to see what movies are playing.

• Stanza - the best book reader. Great classics for free.

• Shazam - I finally know the names of some songs after hearing them for years.

• Facebook - a very decent interface.

And the two best!

• Twitteriffic - much better than any other Twitter client.

• OmniFocus - the absolute best program for to dos, projects, etc. Done in the GTD style with synching to your desktop.

As it turns out there are 10. There are a few more that are useful at times and of course the web sites that have a great iPhone interface.

I have started planning for the two presentations I am doing next month. It is always amazing when you start thinking about what you will say, how you will present it, thinking that there ins’t enough material. Then you get started and you have to hack it back because there is too much material. You could probably spend an infinite amount of time always tweaking the end result. One talk will be at Forum Solutions Partnership Symposium in Indiana. The other is at the CUCC 2008 National Lending Conference in St. John’s Newfoundland. After looking at all the other speakers I feel like a lightweight in a heavyweight division.

I have just started a book by Susan Jacoby “The Age of American Unreason”. In it she analyses of the intellectual condition of the US. She does not pull any punches. It has some great writing with inventive and sharp cynical humour. Rationalism at its best.

Have a great weekend everyone! The dog days of summer are upon us.

MoneyWorks = USP [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Thu Aug 14 13:48:00 UTC 2008

Throughout the last five years or so I have been blogging about an idea I worked on while a member of the Filene i3 group called MoneyWorks. When asked for a one sentence explanation of MoneyWorks, I would always reply that it was Tupperware parties for credit unions. The MoneyWorks program was implemented at FORUM Credit Union as Common Cents and has now morphed in to a program called the Unofficial Spokesperson or USP for short.

I recently heard a USP update from Andrew Spirrison, retail delivery guru here at FORUM CU, and asked him to write a quick update post for this blog. Here are his words…

“Anyone know a good mechanic? How about a reasonable CPA? Even better, ever talked to a USP?? What is a USP?? If you ask them where to go for all life’s financial needs their answer is simple – FORUM Credit Union.

USP’s are “Unofficial Spokespeople” that are proud FORUM members who are recommending the institution that has always been there to meet whatever financial life requirement that has come their way. It could be as simple as a basic checking account to a life financial plan.

FORUM USP’s exhibit the most genuine form of marketing available. If they didn’t believe in recommending FORUM to their neighbor or co-worker they simply wouldn’t do it. Just like the good mechanic or CPA… It is a proven fact…people like to tell people about a good thing.

As a token of FORUM’s appreciation, for every new member service that a USP refers they are paid $5 into an account in their name. In addition, we provide USP’s business cards, sponsor their events, attend meetings with them, conduct coffee hours, contests, publish regular updates and utilize a really cool tool to track their referrals.

Speaking of really cool….FORUM is getting applications from USP’s that represent charitable organizations. All funds raised from referring people to FORUM are being directed to a fund that will be donated to a charity of their choice!!

The FORUM USP program is growing fast…don’t be surprised if your neighbor stops you when cutting your lawn this weekend to tell you all about it.”

Changing Everything on ChangeEverything.ca [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Tue Aug 12 23:46:00 -0400 2008

When we first launched ChangeEverything.ca, it was a hectic and amazing time. Not enough time to get everything done. One of the areas I felt we could do better was site usability and overall design. Kate and I always felt like we wanted to go back and make some improvements.

So this year, we blocked out some budget and started working on fixing some of those areas. Among the areas we focused on were:

improving the registration flow
improving the workflow for adding changes and blog posts
grouping social features together so people discover each other and interact easier
putting a sharper focus on the people, and not just on the text
making the site, well, just prettier

It was a complete pleasure working with Kirsten Hall, an extraordinary usability consultant here in Vancouver, the amazing Tim McAlpine and his team at Currency Marketing on the front end design, and Affinity Bridge a great Drupal development shop in town.

The process, like the original creation of the site, was charmed. Everyone worked together well, there were no real hiccups, and people had a lot of fun.

The upcoming design changes, including as mock-up of the new look and feel, were announced on ChangeEverything.ca today. We're looking for Beta testers, so check it out and help out if you want.

Otherwise, I'll let you know when everything launches in September!

platinum, gold, silver, bronze [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Tue Aug 12 14:07:00 UTC 2008

I guess I should have entitled this just gold, silver, bronze since the Olympic games are in full swing, but Olympic commentary is not the purpose of this entry. Want Olympic commentary? Okay, that Michael Phelps guy is good, really really good. Instead the purpose is to remind you that we would be honored to include you and your company as sponsor partners for our upcoming symposium starting on October 1 and to let you know it is not too late to participate as a sponsor. Here at FORUM Solutions we think it is tiring to see the multi-levels typcially labeled with precious metals as sponsor opportunities. We prefer the simple customized approach here. If you are interested just let us know how you would like to be involved and how much you would like to contribute and we will make it happen. For example, want to offer a prize to the best Nintendo Wii Rock Band competitors at the symposium? Please join great company in ServiceCorp, The Members Group, filinx, and New Ground and help us continue the fine tradition we have going at the symposium. You can contact us at the bottom of our web site.

The CU Scoop - Young Free Texas (Ep. 20) [The Banktastics � BanktasticTV - The CU Scoop]

Tue Aug 12 10:01:10 -0400 2008

Download this video

Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV’s “The CU Scoop” featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:

Young & Free Comes to Texas!
Mark was contacted by Tim McAlpine from Currency Marketing on Sunday to announce that the very popular Young & Free Alberta campaign is coming to Texas! That’s right, Young Free Texas is here! To get some better insight into the new campaign, Mark got on the phone with Trey Reeme at TDECU, the credit union where Young Free Texas was launched, and got a great interview to share with you! We have a nice condensed version, and the whole enchilada below! To check out the condensed version, watch the episode at the top of the blog. And to catch the full-length interview with Trey, watch this video:

Download this video

What’s on the whiteboard this week?
See what’s behind Mark’s head this week!

Email Us!
Feel free to email comments or suggestions about “The CU Scoop” to mark@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the Banktastic Community. We’re always looking for your input.

See you next week!

-The Banktastics

Young & Free Texas-style. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Mon Aug 11 10:55:00 -0400 2008

I'm a big fan of Currency Marketing's Young & Free Alberta campaign. I think it's one of the smartest uses of social media to drive direct business results that I've ever seen.

When I speak to people about it, they have just one criticism. That Larissa Walkiw, the spokesperson of the Alberta program and an amazingly talented young woman, makes the whole campaign and you'll never find another like her.

So a few months back when Tim McAlpine, the pioneer of Young & Free Alberta, announced that he was opening it up to allow for one credit union in each State or Province to replicate the program, I was very intrigued.

Now I see that he's partnered with TDECU in Texas, the home of the amazing Trey Reeme, to launch Young & Free Texas.

You can also check out their Facebook fan page.

It will be fascinating to see how this new program progresses. I believe there are lots of talented and passionate young people who will take this program in new directions. That there is more than one Larissa, so to speak, and that there are amazing nooks and crannies that other people will take the program as spokesperson. But ultimately the proof will be in the pudding.

Congrats Tim, and good luck Trey and TDECU!

Diving back in [Open Source CU - Home]

trey@trabian.com — Mon Aug 11 14:21:00 UTC 2008

For the greater part of this last year, I’ve stayed off the grid. It was tough keeping my mouth shut because – well – being quiet for more than three seconds at a time isn’t in my nature.

When I stepped away from Open Source CU in December, my new boss gave me one task: make young adults love our CU.

In January, Tim and I began talking about bringing the Young & Free brand to the US. After seeing the ins and outs of Common Wealth’s campaign, I knew it would translate well to the goal I was given on day one. But for the past eight months, we’ve kept our lips sealed.

Today, Young & Free Texas launched.

Bringing social media into a great big financial institution has given me even more respect for what pioneers like William, Shari, Ed Terpening, Ginny, Matt Davis, et al have accomplished. For starters, I’ve had real meetings with real attorneys. Lordy bagordie.

Beyond that, most of your coworkers don’t get “blog” – but they do get conversation.

I’m as fired up today about Young & Free’s potential for sparking conversation in Texas as I was when I helped introduce Young & Free Alberta at last year’s Symposium with Tim.

One factor in Common Wealth’s success has been the use of traditional marketing (i.e. offline) to support the online side of their campaign. IMHO, it’s where many companies fail, never seeing significant returns on their social media campaigns.

Too many dip their toes in the water and turn away, towel in hand to walk back up the beach and to the car. Backing up social media with a juggernaut of real world media is crucial.

It’s good to be back and, as of today, soaked.

Internet Marketing Conference agenda is out. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Sat Aug 09 21:05:00 -0400 2008

The Internet Marketing Conference is making its way to Vancouver on September 11-12, 2008 and they have released their full agenda.

It is truly an astonishing lineup, and I'm very pleased to have such a great mixture of international speakers who will be coming to town alongside local speakers who are doing some amazing work. It should be an incredible event, well worth checking out.

You can register for the event here.

See you there!

It just makes one wonder [Tinfoiling]

Wed Aug 06 19:25:33 -0400 2008

This is the stuff that drive me nuts.

Credit Union Central of B.C. merged with Ontario Central to form Central 1. Here is something from their homepage:

When the merger took effect on July 1, 2008, the combined organization had more than $7.5 billion in assets, with 475 employees based at offices in Vancouver and Mississauga serving nearly 200 credit unions with some 2.8 million members

Good stuff. But when I click on the following

I get this message:

eCentral:
Our server has detected that you are not using the MS Internet Explorer browser.
Unfortunately, this service is not available for your type of browser. Please use Internet Explorer (version 5 or newer) to access this service.
Explorer can be downloaded for free at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/default.asp. Sorry for any inconvenience.

That means Safari, Camino and Firefox don’t work. If you have a Mac good luck.

You would think an organization this size would create web pages that wouldn’t have to have Microsoft as the only company that could produce a browser to use the site. Yep $7.5 billion in assets with all those employees (who never use Macs) serving 200 CUs with some 2.8 million members (who never use Macs). I thought those days were over. The ones where you had to get Microsoft tattooed somewhere to get a job. There must be a good reason, right?

Small is beautiful to some [Tinfoiling]

Tue Aug 05 15:31:53 -0400 2008

Ron has a blog post about the downside of being small. Great post with some definite statements about how small is not the panacea for everyone.

First, small and large are relative terms. They are labels we place upon items in order for us to gain some semblance of order. What is small to some will be large to others and the opposite, what is large for some is small for others. Remember the end of the film Men in Black II?

There is another aspect of an organization’s size that is of a prime concern. How it is managed. You can have any size FI and if it is managed well size, though a consideration, is part and parcel of many other goals and strategies. A badly managed organization doesn’t need size to fail.

Small to me means keeping the organization flat, tight, and productive. It means being able to move on a dime. It means ‘fighting’ with 3rd party suppliers that create expensive products that would force you into a strategy or product that is not even a 50% solution. It means quit ‘whining’ and do what you are supposed to do. Small means have staff meetings where the contribution is from everyone so you formulate objectives that are understood and agreed upon so you don’t need a marketing department to push anything. Small means you don’t have to structure meetings to decide on the colour of the toilet paper in the washrooms. The list could go on and on. It is important that the term small does not get translated in the terms most employ. Small by its nature in today’s society looked upon as an anomaly because so much that we are shown (big) is the antithesis of small. That is why I think ’small is beautiful’.

Ron and Jeffery are right. You need more coming in that going out. A very simple rule of business. But not all mergers have delivered that ideal and so merging sometimes clouds the issue of what is really necessary - changing the management to at least begin to move forward. Sometimes I have seen mergers to build larger empires of senior management. FIs live and they die, nothing continues forever. Try as you might there may be conditions and reasons that are no longer available or valid to continue.

It would be very easy for the Board to say “we need 10% growth and nothing else matters!” Piece of cake. But when they say “we want at least 5% growth, keep the community happy with at least a 7% dividend, make sure donations are 7% of net income, be sure to continue to contribute to the social capital of the CU and the community, and deliver innovative products that are useful, as well as no line-ups in the branch, etc…well that gets a bit more difficult to manage. Keep the bottom line healthy and you can realize all and more of these goals. That is the tough part. Fine tuning all the aspects of what makes you successful. Growing in all of these aspects makes for a difficult and at times impossible situation. But man is it ever rewarding and satisfying when everyone contributes to making it happen. The biggest enemy of being small? Thinking small.

Communicating Social Responsibility in Vancouver. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Tue Aug 05 10:57:00 -0400 2008

For the past year and a half or so I've been fortunate enough to speak at several conferences across North America. Mostly these gigs have focused on either financial services or marketing, and sometimes both.

My topics have evolved, and now have quite a focus on corporate social responsibility. It was not totally intentional, but came out of explaining the context of who Vancity is to my audiences.

A few months back, when I was practising my Net.Finance presentation for my peers, a co-worker Tonya told me about the upcoming International Association of Business Communicators' Communicating Social Responsibility Conference coming to Vancouver in October.

Long story short, after a brief conversation with the conference organizers, I was honoured to be invited to speak at this conference about triple bottom line marketing. I work at Vancity for very specific reasons, due to its ethical nature, and triple bottom line approach where it focuses on economic, environmental and social factors when determining its success.

My topic is called Corporate social responsibility as a key differentiator. I am excited to see some of the other sessions, including the one by my co-worker Tonya, which is called Does anyone care? Communicating out on Vancity’s accountability report. I am also interested in hearing from James Hoggan and see the session called A new International Standard for Social Responsibility: Global learnings for communicators.

One of the great side benefits of speaking at all of these conferences is getting to attend and having my mind opened by all these world-class presenters. This is one conference that I'm super-excited about.

The CU Scoop - National Followers (Ep. 19) [The Banktastics � BanktasticTV - The CU Scoop]

Tue Aug 05 09:49:22 -0400 2008

Download this video

Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV’s “The CU Scoop” featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:

National Credit Union Brand
Mark talks about a hot debate going on over in the CU Tomorrow Blog. Jill Nowacki posted about a national credit union brand, but not necessarily a national advertising campaign. Jill started a great conversation on the blog, even sparking posts on other blogs. This is a hot topic right now, so check out the above links to read through the posts and comments, then share your own thoughts!

Credit Unions are like Lemmings
Mark also mentions an article posted by Robbie Wright that discusses how credit unions are like lemmings. Here’s a quote from the article:

“Credit unions are lemmings. Nobody ever wants to be the first one to do something. Then, slowly, as some credit unions adopt the new technology/process/whatever more CU’s start to follow. Pretty soon it is a mad rush because nobody wants to be the last.”

If you agree that credit unions seem to play follow the leader when it comes to innovation, let us know by commenting on the blog, or sharing your thoughts on the original post. Also, lemmings are real. Mark didn’t know that. Did you?

Thanks to our sponsors!
We’d like to give a huge thank you to our sponsors, Texas State Bank! We greatly appreciate your support!

You can be on The CU Scoop!
We’re interested in your thoughts on topics and trends in the credit union industry. If you want to be a part of our show, record your own video (roughly 2-3 minutes long) and upload it to our Viddler.com account. Here’s the log-in information:
username: thecuscoop
password: markymark
Remember the rules: 1.) no bank bashing, and 2.) don’t self-promote too much. If you have any questions about sharing your video with The CU Scoop crew, send an email to mark@banktastic.com.

What’s on the whiteboard this week?
See what’s behind Mark’s head this week!

Email Us!
Feel free to email comments or suggestions about “The CU Scoop” to mark@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the Banktastic Community. We’re always looking for your input.

See you next week!

-The Banktastics

My new guitar. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Sat Aug 02 16:41:00 -0400 2008

I've been wanting to treat myself to something nice for a little while now, but couldn't think of exactly what. I knew it had to be something special and lasting, not a piece of electronics or a little Apple gizmo, as much as I love them.

Recently, because of my 3 year son Ivan's keen interest in music, I've been playing a lot more guitar. I've always said that I don't really play the guitar, I play with a guitar. But it's become clear that I've simply outgrown my nine year cheap cheap cheap Hohner.

So I started looking around for a suitable, and not terribly expensive upgrade.

I consulted my good friend Bil Repenning, who knows more about guitars than anyone else I know. He also knows what a terrible guitar player I am. His expert advice was invaluable.

So I looked at a few places down in Seattle when we were there on vacation last week, and at a few places back here in Vancouver. And then yesterday I went into my little local music shop, Bone Rattle. I felt so comfortable in there trying out guitars, asking dumb questions, getting advice. They just want to help people find the right guitar.

And that's where I fell in love with Seagull Guitars. In addition to being a Canadian company that makes all its guitars by hand, they have some incredible reviews out there of their work.

So, I bought the Seagull Guitar S6 Original today. I am very excited. So nice to have a real guitar I can grow with, and the process of buying it - a Canadian product from a local music store a block and a half away from my house - simply added to the excitement and meaning.

And now I'm blogging about it instead of playing it so I won't wake Ivan from his nap, but we'll play it together as soon as he wakes up.

PS: Thanks Bil!

Innovation and where it comes from [Tinfoiling]

Fri Aug 01 19:01:56 -0400 2008

People ask me how we handle development work at the credit union. There is no simple answer or formula that one can recite as to how ideas flourish into a product, a process or a service. You wonder if they sometimes appear out of thin air.

Today was a prime example. Our e-statement project is finished, done, complete. Next Wednesday the interface will be in place for actual use by the members. All the components were developed in house except for the web site interface which was done by Central 1’s MemberDirect people. What does it do? It puts a link on the web site to a monthly PDF which is an exact duplicate of what the members have been receiving in the mail in paper form. For all the benefits it saves money and paper. But then as we talked about it, something happened.

Why not have a link for an up to date, real time PDF statement? If it is the 10th or 20th or whatever date in the current month, why not just click and a PDF created on the fly and delivered. Your transaction of 1 minute ago would be included. That means besides the depository of a few years of statements on your account, you could get a real time version statement anytime. As all of the methods and code were built, it looks like it would only take a half a day to do that. That means before Wednesday of next week this added feature will part of the launch.

But where did that idea come from? From a simple suggestion that with our ability to trigger real time transactions we could move that forward to being part of triggering real time statements. Was it valuable? I spoke to a few people and yes it was valuable. In fact it would make some businesses very happy in reconciling their accounts on a daily basis. The beauty of the whole function is that we aren’t using an outside supplier to do this on a month-end batch basis. What has been built is real time in-house the ultimate IT mantra. Expanding what we can do in real time gives us the idea for another product. If statement processing had been done by a 3rd party we would have been stuck in thinking in a ‘batch’ mode and never contemplated doing it differently.

I believe that innovation comes from dynamic thinking. Thinking how something can be done now and not later is important in what you have to offer. In today’s instant age much is possible by keeping everything fluid. It is important that you work in the environment you want to live in. There is always another step. If I ever have to get into a lifeboat I want a life preserver now, not pink plastic water wings later.

What Do Hernia Surgery & Auto Insurance Claims Have in Common? [CUES Skybox]

Credit Union Executives Society — Thu Jul 31 15:45:29 -0400 2008

By Wendy Cleveland, CME

No, this isn't a bad joke. And in most cases, the only similarity you might consider between hernia surgery and filing an auto insurance claim is that both can be rather painful.

However, case studies presented at CUES' CEO Institute III this spring at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration demonstrated several similarities between these experiences as provided by two vastly different companies. Progressive Insurance Company's Concierge Program and Shouldice Hospital's hernia operations share the following business model attributes:

niche markets targeted with specific services: auto insurance claims management and hernia operations.
creating an experience from an unpleasant situation: To say the least, both a hernia and an auto accident can be less than enjoyable. These two companies try to take away some of the pain by designing an experience that is completely unique.
high level of personal service: With a commitment to serving their customers, these businesses build strong brand loyalty and capitalize on the power of word-of-mouth marketing.
focus on process: Efficiency along with service and experience keep costs low.
innovation/differentiation: Process and experience differentiation are difficult to imitate. Products are easy to copy quickly. This is an extremely important lesson for credit unions, when everyone has a free checking account.
long-term financial commitment provides a barrier to competitive entry: Risk of failure is high if a competitor must make a large investment to compete directly using the same model. Thus competitors are discouraged from moving ahead.

Presented by Professor Elliott Weiss, these case studies were part of the unique learning experience at CEO Institute.

For executives looking to take their credit unions successfully into the uncertain future, the three-year CEO Institute can assist by providing top-notch education in strategic planning, organizational effectiveness and leadership.

As a recent graduate of CEO Institute, I highly recommend the experien ce to other credit union executives. Now don't worry, this isn't going to be an advertisement cleverly disguised as an informative article, even if it is coming from a marketing executive. Read on to discover the Top Five Things I Learned at CEO Institute (with all due respect to Letterman, I can be briefer).

5. Learning teams provide interesting, unique perspectives from participants with varied experiences. For instance, CEO Institute students came from various functional areas of their CUs, work for CUs of different sizes and memberships, and originate from all over the world. The teams are particularly effective for evaluating case studies such as those previously mentioned, as the varied perspectives of the participants create a rich discussion and raise points individuals may not consider in an isolated environment. At Darden, there are lovely conference rooms assigned to each learning team; the pub is another excellent option for maximum creativity.

4. Each of the three segments of CEO Institute offers a top-notch learning experience at highly respected business schools. While it is not necessary to take them in order, extraordinary relationships can be built with classmates over the course of three years of shared learning and experiences. These relationships expand participants' professional network, providing a powerful resource for each other in critical thinking and problem solving. Be forewarned, there is likely to be photographic evidence of good times.

3. LPI (Leadership Practices Inventory), which is part of CEO Institute III, provides insights into your leadership style that you may not have considered. Like a 360-degree evaluation, it may challenge your self-perceptions by identifying gaps with the perceptions others have of your leadership behaviors. Yes, you could just figure they're wrong and you're right. Of course, true learning comes from moving outside your comfort zone. So get moving!

2 . Falls River, another unique aspect of the program's third segment, is a great place to discover you're an adrenaline junkie. Not to mention the leadership and teamwork learning opportunities. (Go Hogs!) The power of this experience was more than I could have imagined. It challenged my own perspectives of limitations and exposed new possibilities. One activity particularly challenged a female teammate and me; as we watched the men in the group struggle at times, we knew completing the task as it appeared on the surface would be difficult without incredible upper-body strength. My teammate considered alternatives and tested a couple of theories until finding a workable solution. Once she completed the activity, she talked me through completing it as well. What a sense of accomplishment! How many times do we as CU leaders not consider alternatives beyond the most obvious which may seem insurmountable? [To get an idea of one activity we undertook, see Stephanie (Steph) Sherrodd, VP/retail delivery at Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (in red) with me in the photo.]

1. Strategic planning does not smell like an onion. It can, however, resemble one. In the first segment of CEO Institute, held at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Paul Schoemaker, Ph.D., reminded us how critical it is to identify and understand our CU's core competencies. He introduced two mapping tools: a tree and an onion. These visuals help CUs simplify the process. For instance, the onion is a set of concentric circles in which all major functions, services and operations are plotted; the center of the "onion" clearly illustrates core competencies.

To learn these Top Five Things and more, consider attending CUES' CEO Institute. It's an invaluable learning experience you will treasure for a lifetime.

Wendy Cleveland, CME, is VP/marketing/business development at $494 million AltaOne Federal Credit Union, Ridgecrest, Calif.

Read another account of CEO Institute: "What I Learned About Myself While Leading a Team Across a Bridge--Blindfolded."

CEO Institute grads can relive their experience by attending CEO Institute Graduate Exchange, Sept. 8-10 in San Diego.

Batteries, hamsters and daisies [Tinfoiling]

Thu Jul 31 14:32:00 -0400 2008

This morning my MacBook Pro started to freeze up. There was no response to the keypad or trackpad no matter what. I tried booting about 6 times all with the same problem. Dug out the CD and rebooted but again it didn’t work. Holding the ‘C’ key down wasn’t being seen by the Mac so it started to boot from the hard drive again. The only solution left was to take the battery out and let the machine ‘die’ from a complete lack of power. After putting the battery back Voila! everything is back to normal. It wasn’t that scary as I did have a current backup I could get to.

I wonder if sometimes life could be like that. Brent’s post today talked about him feeling like a hamster. I don’t know about you but his words rung pretty true. You tend to just get stuck with all the noise around you. Then you realize most of this crap is not life threatening, it is just noise. I just wish I could remove the battery and get a quick restart but that isn’t going to happen. You need to take care of what needs to be taken care of, just slow down and become human again instead of machine like. We need to remove ourselves of the A + B algorithm that becomes our existence and get outside and pick a few daisies. So if you get to do that today make sure you are barefoot and don’t step on the worms!

Lemmings [The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee]

Thu Jul 31 14:31:48 -0400 2008

Credit unions are lemmings.� Nobody ever wants to be the first one to do something.� Then, slowly, as some credit unions adopt the new technology/process/whatever more CU’s start to follow.� Pretty soon it is a mad rush because nobody wants to be the last.

From Wikipedia:

…groups will reach a cliff overlooking the ocean. They will stop until the urge to press on causes them to jump off the cliff and start swimming, sometimes to exhaustion and death. Lemmings are also often pushed into the sea as more and more lemmings arrive at the shore.

We always talk about being innovative but save for a few exceptions, CU’s don’t like change and don’t want to innovate.

Business Lending in a Tough Economy [CUES Skybox]

Credit Union Executives Society — Wed Jul 30 15:57:39 -0400 2008

By Jim Devine

More than 2,000 credit unions now offer member business loans for a total dollar volume of more than $20 billion. Most of these CUs initiated their MBL activities during the last five years.

For the most part, the CU industry has experienced very little difficulty with the performance of their business loan portfolios. However, many existing loans were booked during a relatively healthy economic period, where the majority of small businesses were performing reasonably well.

So have credit unions really been that good at member business loan underwriting and credit administration? Or have they simply been in the proverbial right place at the right time?

CUs will soon find out how good their initial business loan underwriting efforts have been and whether they truly possess the expertise to manage business credit risk in this very challenging economic environment. It will be imperative for CUs to monitor the operating performance of their small business borrowers to make sure they are maintaining a risk profile consistent with the CU's expectations.

A good business credit risk management system begins with a thorough and consistent approach to the underwriting process. Before approving a given loan request, a business lender must understand that particular small business—and the chemistry of its business model.

As part of this risk assessment process, the lender must be able to identify the critical cash determinants associated with this business. The lender must also clearly identify both the primary and secondary sources of repayment, along with any other business model issues critical to the going-concern performance of the business.

Lending policies should specifically identify how debt service coverage is measured. Most policy manuals describe a minimum coverage ratio in the $1.10-1.25-to-$1.00 range--in other words, the lender wants to see at least $1.10 in capacity to pay for every $1.00 of debt repayment required. But there are different ways to measure capacity to repay. All staff members involved in the member business lending effort should consistently use the same definition of debt service coverage in their underwriting efforts. Jumping around can create real challenges in trying to manage risk from an overall loan portfolio perspective. For this same reason, everyone in the lending foodchain should understand how to measure operating cash flow.

Once the underwriting process has determined that the prospective borrower's operating risk profile meets the CU's standards, the CU can move forward and approve the loan.

Now the real fun begins! In reality, the credit risks begin once the CU has approved and booked the loan.

The truth in lending is that last year's performance does not pay back the business loan you booked today. Future performance will ultimately dictate repayment capability.

Given this scenario, CUs must be in a position to monitor the ongoing performance of their business borrowers, compared to anticipated or expected levels of operating performance.

Good business credit administration processes are built on business model structure expertise. The process should be able to stress test critical cash determinants and detect any deterioration in a borrower's operating performance—in a timely manner.

The objective is to keep the risk profile of the borrower at or below the level that existed when the loan was originally approved. To continually monitor risk levels, CUs must develop and use a business loan risk-rating system.

If a borrower's risk profile increases beyond the profile in place when the loan was approved, the lender must be capable of taking action to address the reasons for the deterioration. The lender must also be able to modify the working relation with the borrower to accommodate the change in the risk profile.

The deteriorating condition of the national economy is inevitably going to put performance pressures on small businesses. CUs are starting to experience their first real challenges with non-performing small business loans. Senior management and MBL officers of every CU engaged in MBL must regularly reassess the condition of their MBL portfolios, as well as their business loan policies and procedures. The goal is to position the CU to appropriately manage business portfolio risks on an ongoing basis.

To deal with this risk management reality, CUs must make a commitment to continue developing their organization's business lending and credit administration skill sets. While many credit unions outsource business loan underwriting, regulators at both the state and federal levels have told the CUs in their jurisdiction that they are still ultimately responsible for making the final credit decision. They are also responsible for managing the loan on an ongoing basis while it is on their books.

Jim Devine is CEO of Hipereon Inc. and co-lead faculty of CUES' School of Business Lending.

Download the free CUES Webinar, "Analyzing Cash Flow," led by Jim and partner Bob Hogan. (At the log-in screen use "analyze" as your password.)

Read more thoughts from Jim Devine.

The CU Scoop - Field Trip (Ep. 18) [The Banktastics � BanktasticTV - The CU Scoop]

Tue Jul 29 09:49:34 -0400 2008

Download this video

Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV’s “The CU Scoop” featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:

The Future of Financial Branding
Jeffry Pilcher guest blogged for Open Source CU recently and discussed in a two-part series The Future of Financial Branding. He gives six predictions about what trends we’ll see, which institutions will thrive, and what problems others will run into. He makes a call for credit unions to really stand out and be different, try something new to make your brand unique. Besides, who isn’t jumping on the “green” wagon these days? Your customers will expect more.

I Can Has Account?
Speaking of Jeffry Pilcher, he posted on his blog about Arizona State Credit Union and their new campaign targeting college students through the use of LOL Cats. Using the phrase, “I Can Has Cheezburger,” after the extremely popular website, their campaign offers an actual free cheeseburger when college students open new checking accounts. Some think this is a great effort on ASCU’s part to reach out to Gen Y through their obsession with LOL Cats. What are your thoughts on ASCU’s new campaign, or as I like to call it, LOLpaign?

And on this note, I made a mistake when discussing this with Mark earlier. The exclamation point was in the Twitter that Jeffry Pilcher posted, not actually in the promotional sign created by ASCU. I had it backwards, but I still noticed!

CU Hype New Project: CUQuickSites
If your credit union website has any type of animated GIF on it, you need to visit CUQuickSites right now. This latest project from CU Hype provides a ton of templates and different packages to best suit your credit union and its size. This is something credit unions should definitely look into if they’re wanting a new look with cool features to make a site your members will love!

Thanks to our sponsors!
We’d like to give a huge thank you to our sponsors, Texas State Bank! We greatly appreciate your support!

What’s on the whiteboard this week?
See what’s behind Mark’s head this week!

Email Us!
Feel free to email comments or suggestions about “The CU Scoop” to mark@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the Banktastic Community. We’re always looking for your input.

See you next week!

-The Banktastics

Why I love Twitter [Tinfoiling]

Mon Jul 28 23:58:17 -0400 2008

Morriss recently wrote about the 4 stages of Twitter which was as close as it gets to emulating the stages of experience with this product. I hadn’t realized how long I had been on it and then thought about why, after e-mail, it is the one thing that is always checked.

At first it seemed that the community that would built up around Twitter, with you deciding who to follow and who is following you, would be limited. How many of your face-to-face friends would actually use it tended to be few if any and wasn’t everyone on Facebook anyway. But a community did build and it reached beyond any geographic location that you could imagine. Now you can see people responding to each other were you know you were the conduit in getting them followed or following each other. How many people have you interacted with because of someone else’s introduction to that individual?

There also seems to be a grouping of like minds. I have never asked or heard of anyone’s political persuasion, not that it would matter. There is not much knowledge about age or generation. In fact unless the person blogs and has posted the link you really don’t know much about them. Some post frequently, others rarely. There is a link or a connection to each person that proves to be different with each post. There is a unique insight when someone updates you on what is taking place in their life or their thoughts at that specific instant. There seems to be a common bond that is unexplainable. That unknown connection is why I love Twitter. It is an amazing way to communicate with some amazing people.

At the same time I am always somewhat hesitant on what to post. When compared to what some post, mine seem like drivel. Once in a while you can contribute which is satisfying. But one also needs to say what one doesn’t like. I really don’t like it when someone posts 6 or more times, right in a row. Thankfully everyone has a specific icon so when that starts you can quickly pass through the stream. It is also hard to follow a thread of thought when someone posts a short cryptic message to some unknown @person. If it sounds interesting you can click on @person and hope there is something there to understand. There is tinypaste if you want to go beyond 140 characters but it is rarely used.

Finally it is great to hear what music someone is listening to or where they are but I really don’t want to know that you have arrived at Starbuck’s and are having a double non-fat latt�. Sorry but I don’t drink coffee and it irks me that I can’t be sitting across from you with a tea.

Gen Y Entrepreneurs [The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee]

Mon Jul 28 14:11:58 -0400 2008

Chris Saad, of Data Portability fame, posted this video on his blog.� It clearly demonstrates what Gen Y’ers think about when they build a company.� I also think that many other Gen Y’ers look for environment like the ones described when they are looking for employment.� And if credit unions can’t attract Gen Y employees, they are probably going to have a very difficult time attracting Gen Y members.

Branch of the Future? [FORUM Solutions - Home]

jenw@forumsolutions.com — Mon Jul 28 14:00:00 UTC 2008

Ever wonder what the "Branch of the Future" will look like? Perhaps you already have the perfect prototype in your mind - at least in your humble opinion... With your input and a little help from our friends at NewGround, we will be slowly constructing a large-scale model of the "Branch of the Future" through-out this year's Partnership Symposium. Wouldn't you like to throw in your two cents? Come on, what are you waiting for? Sign-up for the 2008 Partnership Symposium, we'd love to see you there!

Get your own Banktastic & CU Scoop shirts! [The Banktastics � BanktasticTV - The CU Scoop]

Fri Jul 25 11:02:39 -0400 2008

As you saw yesterday on episode 26 of BanktasticTV’s “The Burst”, we’ve created some awesome BanktasticTV shirts that you can order. Click the images below to get your hands on one now.

The Banktastic Shirt

The CU Scoop Shirt

And a big congratulations to Christopher M. for being the first to comment on The Burst yesterday and winning his very own Banktastic shirt! Expect that in the mail soon, Chris.

Lunch with the Currency people [Tinfoiling]

Thu Jul 24 14:10:13 -0400 2008

I promised this 2 days ago. Here is a quick look at the internal workings of Currency with the mastermind Tim and mastermindette Nala. If you ever go for lunch out there this is where you need to go.

The Future of Financial Branding pt. 2 [Open Source CU - Home]

jpilcher@webermarketing.com — Thu Jul 24 16:25:00 UTC 2008

(This is the second half of “The Future of Financial Branding.” Click here to read Part 1 .)

Prediction #4: Traditional branches will thrive.

Ten years ago, people predicted that online banking would kill traditional branches. That hasn�€™t happened, and it probably never will.

While a physical branch presence is no longer a pre-requisite in financial services, there is (and probably always will be) a measurable segment of the population that wants/needs to walk into a branch to talk to a real person. If not for routine transactions, certainly the big ones, like home loans.

The real tragedy is that traditional branches (as in �€œthe way we�€™ve always done it�€�) will also thrive. With startling frequency, cookie-cutter branches are built with almost no strategy or scrutiny from senior management. Local architects are hired, and they do what�€™s expected: Build something that looks like a bank. That�€™s how you end up with 12 teller stations sealed off behind bullet-proof glass. Warm and personal? Phbbbt… More like transaction factories.

That said, a growing number of financial institutions seem to be grasping the importance of using branches to stand out. Of course, they seem to frequently borrow each other�€™s branch models instead of engineering their own unique experiences (see Prediction #5) �€” e.g., concierges/greeter stations and coffee cafes.

Prediction #5: Innovation will come from extensive R&D.

Sorry, but that�€™s �€œRipoff & Duplicate,�€� not �€œResearch & Development.�€� History proves that everything successful in the financial industry gets copied at some point or another. But in the future, duplication will occur almost instantly. Some things will be copied before anyone knows for sure how well it works.

And where will these new ideas come from? Not from within the financial industry itself. The most disruptive forces in financial services will sneak up from outsiders and entrepreneurs, especially online startups like those frequently covered by NetBanker.

Prediction #6: Being green won�€™t make a difference.

Being green will make a difference for the environment, and that�€™s great. But will it create any kind of brand boost for financial institutions in the future? Not really. Why? Because in 10 years, everyone will be doing it. Everyone will have to �€œbe green.�€� It�€™s something consumers will simply expect.

That said, the green bandwagon is filling up quickly. So you better hop on now before you get left behind. In 10 years, being un-green, well, that�€™s a whole different story. Ten years from now, if you want to see a consumer backlash, try telling people you don�€™t offer basic �€œgreen�€� stuff like e-statements.

There will always be room in the consumer�€™s hall of fame for hardcore financial brands that take green to the nth degree. But only a handful of organizations are really capable of taking their green commitment to the fullest possible extent. Truthfully, only a small handful of companies in any industry are comfortable taking anything to the max, which is precisely what effective branding requires… and why so few can do it well.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the trends that fuel the massive homogeneity shared by the thousands upon thousands of banks and credit unions in North America.

Any difference, no matter how big or small, will capture people�€™s attention. Ten years from now, those financial brands that seek out and foster these differences will thrive, leaving others to compete on price and grow through mergers.

In the meantime, many banks and credit unions will roll-out superficial rebranding campaigns and cosmetic makeovers (many hitched to name changes and mergers), only a handful will muster the hoohahs to really stand out. Even fewer will commit the resources to really pull it off.

For regular readers of this blog, it can be easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of the occasional breakthrough like Umpqua Bank, Young & Free and The Addison Café. But these represent a mere micro-fraction of the vast sea of me-too financial service providers out there.

If it�€™s any relief, know this: This isn�€™t just a problem facing financial institutions. It happens in every industry. Branding is hard. Good branding flies in the face of our instincts �€” instincts that tell us that �€œfitting in�€� and sticking with the pack is the best formula for survival.

If you read this far, the good news is that you are probably in a role to help prevent this sameness from happening—at least at your organization. It’s never to late to get started. Just don’t wait 10 years.

Jeffry Pilcher, publisher of The Financial Brand, has worked exclusively on financial brands for the last eight years. In summer months when he isn�€™t knee-deep in credit union brands and names, he�€™s knee deep in Alaska�€™s rivers, fishing for king salmon. The rest of his free time with is spent with his wife, Tina, or loving his faithfully devoted dogs Dude and Sweet P.

Subscribe to The Financial Brand�€™s RSS feed here or sign-up for the email bulletin here.

Dear CUs: How do you manage the social? [Open Source CU - Home]

hi@itsjustbrent.com — Tue Jul 22 07:13:00 UTC 2008

Many social media tools are either cheap or free (including blogging platforms like Wordpress and Blogger, DIY social networks like Ning, podcasting tools like Odeo, and online video like YouTube and Viddler).

But as anyone who’s jumped into the space can tell you, this doesn’t mean social media is a cost-free answer to a given strategy. The big costs are time and commitment. Creativity. Empathy. Enthusiasm. From a person or group of people. And it can almost become a double-edged sword, because the more successful your social media initiatives are – the more people are participating in your community and conversation – the more resources are required to manage it all.

From moderating comments, to creating content, to monitoring conversation elsewhere on the web – social media, a prospect that at first glance may look shiny, new, accessible, and cost-effective, can be extremely resource intensive.

So I want to ask some credit unions that are doing it, some of which I’ve called out specifically below: How do you approach resource management for your social media projects?

Do you hire a community manager? Do you clear room from an existing employee’s plate? Do you spread the work out among several employees? Do you close your eyes and hope for the best?

And beyond that, maybe the scariest thing of all, what if the initiative goes really, really well? What if your community becomes enormous and active? How do you plan to grow with them?

(I’d love to hear from: Carolina Postal CU’s Deb McLean, MidState Educator’s CU’s Danielle Chatfield, Members CU’s Matt Davis, UTFCU’s Brandon Ballentine, Premier CU, Whoever is overseeing America First CU’s Review System, Verity CU’s Shari Storm, Vancity’s William Azaroff & Kate Dugas, and anyone else who’s hands are dirty with social media.)

What if there were no Stop Signs? [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Mon Jul 21 23:45:00 -0400 2008

Having worked on both sides of the client-agency relationship, I had to laugh at this...

Gene Blishen is GonzoBanker of the month [Open Source CU - Home]

hi@itsjustbrent.com — Mon Jul 21 20:11:00 UTC 2008

The brilliant and sometimes hilarious folks at GonzoBanker have written up Gene Blishen as GonzoBanker of the Month. Gene is General Manger of mac-only Mt. Lehman Credit Union, located just outside of Vancouver.

If you work in the industry (or don’t, for that matter), Gene is a person you should get to know. He’s a creative, people-driven thinker, and if you have a conversation with him you’re guaranteed a head full of new ideas.

Read the article here.

(PS: If you’d like to idea-swap with him and a lot of other inspired industry folks, join us in September at BarCampBankBC.)

Why we do the things we do [Tinfoiling]

Mon Jul 21 01:00:11 -0400 2008

Every single day we take a lot of things for granted. What we have eaten, our homes, our vehicles, what we do for a living, everything that makes up our ordinary lives. We just consider most of what we have as similar to everyone else. Just your typical ordinary person living a pretty unexciting life.

We continue in this realm with our family, friends, acquaintances and people we work with. We take the good days with the bad days and have a basic enjoyment of existence. Then we sometimes doubt what we are doing and think we need some authenticity in our existence. We look at life from our own viewpoint and neglect to consider that everyone around us has a unique and different viewpoint, not exactly our own. Life goes on.

I have always had a strong religious belief and don’t attempt to proselytize anyone. A key condition of each person is their free will and no one should be above trying to diminish that aspect of anyone’s life. That is theirs and theirs alone. We establish our own ‘moral compass’ from what we believe, how we think and sometimes how we were brought up. It has been important for me to pay attention to this though most of the time it becomes the most neglected. You tend to be viewed by what you do, not what you think or believe.

The recent Gonzo banker award has brought out some very kind remarks by people who I have the highest regard for. When your peers make the most positive statements about you, well you just are a little overwhelmed. It is something we don’t hear very often and I for one am guilty of not telling others what a positive influence they have been in my life. Sure we have our ups and downs and we all get those bad hair days. That’s life. We really need to seek to understand and voice those unique qualities we see in others. We really need to make sure that we tell that to them. It’s a quality of human existence that makes life really worth living. My deepest appreciation to all of you.

My friend Gene. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Fri Jul 18 19:38:00 -0400 2008

I'm a big fan of GonzoBanker.

When I first started working at Vancity, I was brand new to financial services and started looking at industry websites to help orient and ground me in my new job.

I quickly came across GonzoBanker, and it is now one of the only leftovers from those early days of bookmarking. Their irreverent coverage of how IT issues can aid and hinder financial institutions is both useful and entertaining.

So today, I was thrilled to see that they named my friend Gene Blishen as their GonzoBanker of the Month.

Gene is my hero. He is a philosopher, humanitarian, technologist, futurist, banker and a decent, decent man. I look forward to reading his blog whenever he updates it, and his name always comes up when the people I respect the most name the people they respect the most.

It is an honour to be his direct BC credit union peer, be able to access his sage advice and plan BarCampBankBC with him.

So congrats Gene. Well deserved!

Distributed computing at CU’s? [The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee]

Thu Jul 17 00:38:44 -0400 2008

Our CU has a ratio of three employees to one server.� Astronomical.� Barely any of those servers get used all day long and rarely do their resources get maxed out.� To me, it seems like a wonderful opportunity to use credit union resources for the better good: distributed computing projects.� While there are many projects, Folding@home may be one of the largest, most well-known projects sponsored by Stanford University.� It studies the folding of proteins and how “mis-folds” can cause diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and many types of cancers.

Seems like a perfect project for credit unions to get involved with and just think about how many unused, or rather available resources, you have in your servers/data center.� Then think about all of those desktops sitting around at night doing nothing.� A search for credit union returns nothing.� I’d love to see my credit union’s name in that list.� Imagine how much work we could contribute if we installed the distributed computing app on all of our clients.� We’d snap our fingers and have close to 200? computers running the app.

A credit union could “go green” and implement real power savings plans for their clients as a community service or let the computers run and contribute to projects like this.� So why aren’t more credit unions doing this?� The thought of managing another app?� NCUA?� Bandwidth?

I’m going to create a generic credit union team that anyone can join and I’m trying to come up with a good, self-explanatory name.� credit_unions is pretty straight forward, but doesn’t have quite the edge.� Ideas?

The Future of Financial Branding pt. 1 [Open Source CU - Home]

jpilcher@webermarketing.com — Tue Jul 15 14:44:00 UTC 2008

Looking out 10 years at the landscape of financial brands, what will we see? Here�€™s six trends (Editor’s note: three now, three later).

Prediction #1: More of the same.

The vast majority of financial institutions will continue their pursuit of �€œbetter sameness�€� in lieu of real differentiation. They will continue to apply imaginary rules about what financial institutions should and shouldn�€™t look like. These self-imposed restrictions will keep most banks and credit unions (and investment firms and insurance agencies) from doing things that are fun, daring unique or otherwise interesting, mostly because they presume they need to project a �€œsafe�€� image.

Reality Check: Playing it safe with your brand strategy is about the riskiest thing you can do.

Surely there will always be a few rogues who break from the herd, but these are few and far between.

In the near future, financial institutions will continue their race to the middle. Banks will get more credit-union-like, as they adopt kindler, gentler personalities and pursue community-centered strategies. And credit unions will continue get more bank-like, as they merge, change names and add things like business services and commercial loans.

Prediction #2: More self-deception about service.

Ten years from now, you can walk into any geographic market in America (maybe even the world) and ask 10 financial institutions what differentiates them. They�€™ll probably all say the same thing, just as they do today : �€œIt�€™s our service!�€� At least nine of them will be lying. In all likelihood, all of them will be.

It�€™s unfortunate, but all too many financial institutions continue to perpetuate this �€œour-service-is-better�€� myth. They insist on fooling themselves with this common (but completely unsubstantiated) belief that their service is truly what differentiates them. They are the ones with �€œwarm, friendly, personal service.�€�

Who are these dreadful competitors delivering such a crappy experience that you can stand out as a such a shiny beacon of service? Be honest. When was the last time you walked into a financial institution other than your own?

Reality Check: You can�€™t outsmile the competition �€“ not now, not 10 years from now. Only one or two financial institutions in any market/niche stand out for their exceptionally good �€” or exceptionally bad �€” service.

Clinging to the �€œour-service-is-better�€� lie stunts the growth of many financial brands. It will continue prohibiting them from realizing any sort of true differentiation and achieving their ultimate potential.

Prediction #3: More me-too names.

One thing is for certain: Those nostalgic for the days when every credit union had a �€œwhere/who�€� name like Lincoln County Teachers Credit Union will be disappointed. The trend of credit unions changing names will continue to be strong, but not because they are enamored with growth (as some suggest).

Credit unions will continue to have to change names when their major SEGs disappear. Others will have to change names because they will be forced to. Eventually, almost every single credit union hitched to a major brand will have to change names, because �€” quite understandably �€” these iconic brands want to protect their trademarks. If you have a name like John Deere (or even University of Something), a letter from a lawyer could be on the way. In fact, you can probably count on it.

When the time comes to change names, banks and credit unions will continue to pick familiar-sounding monikers. Expect more financial institutions to roll-out names with meaningless words like �€œFirst�€� and �€œOne,�€� while others opt for everyone�€™s favorite feel-good terms like �€œCommunity�€� and �€œNeighbors.�€�

Reality Check: If you think a particular name sounds safe, it almost surely isn�€™t. Every name that sounds �€œfinancial�€� is already taken by someone somewhere in the industry. Picking a �€œsafe-sounding name�€� comes with the very real risk of getting sued and being forced to start over �€” at significant cost.

The good news is two-fold. First, renaming problems are completely avoidable. Second, resistance to unconventional names that once might have seemed unthinkable is eroding. Names that once would have sounded off-category, such as Jwaala, Zopa and Red Canoe will become increasingly more common.

(Up next: Brick-and-Mortar, Innovation, and The Problem With Green)

Update: Click here to read Part 2 .

Subscribe to The Financial Brand�€™s RSS feed here or sign-up for the email bulletin here.

The CU Scoop - iRemarkd (Ep. 17) [The Banktastics � BanktasticTV - The CU Scoop]

Tue Jul 15 09:44:54 -0400 2008

Download this video

Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV’s “The CU Scoop” featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:

New iPhone Release
If you have a tv, radio, internet connection, eyes or ears, you’ve probably noticed that Apple released it’s brand-new iPhone this past Friday. Along with this release came a race for companies to create an app to go with the new phone. We’re glad to see that Mt. Lehman CU from Canada developed an app that connects you with your recent account activity right on your iPhone (and iPod touch). As Mark said, Mt. Lehman shows that a credit union of any size can be innovative and keep up with changing technology. Great job, guys!

Remarkd.com
Mark stumbled across this cool site that helps non-profits help members interact with one another. It works by members posting items up for sale on the site, and then the members give a portion of the proceeds from the sale to benefit a cause. It’d be great to see if CUs could use Remarkd for their member base, or just particular groups within your CU. We think you oughta check this out when you can!

Thanks to our sponsors!
We’d like to give a huge thank you to our sponsors, Texas State Bank! We greatly appreciate your support!

What’s on the whiteboard this week?
See what’s behind Mark’s head this week!

Email Us!
Feel free to email comments or suggestions about “The CU Scoop” to mark@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the Banktastic Community. We’re always looking for your input.

See you next week!

-The Banktastics

CU Warrior wins guest spot in the lineup at Symposium [FORUM Solutions - Home]

dougt@forumsolutions.com — Mon Jul 14 16:15:00 UTC 2008

CU Warrior earns his name with a come from behind effort to take first place and win the guest spot at this year’s symposium. The final results are as follows:

417 unique voters:

CU Warrior – Matt Davis claims 41.3% of the votes
The Director – Ginny Brady had a strong showing with 30.7% of the votes
The Vendor – Thrifty CU from Jwaala came in with 18.9%
The Loop – Andy LaFlamme claimed 9.1%

We would like to thank the following:

The candidates for their courage and playfulness. The videos were all fantastic and made it fun to promote the contest. We admire your willingness to participate and hope the three that did not topple the CU Warrior will submit an entry for the 2009 Symposium.

The voters – wow, we didn’t expect 417 unique voters – thank you.

Ron Shevlin for the idea of opening the selection of a winner up to you the voters. Now, please hold true to what Ron communicated to you – show us some love by attending the event – we need you here.

Our FORUM Solutions teammate, Dan, for coordinating all of the videos and the voting results.

Please stay plugged in to this site for more news related to the symposium as we get closer to October.

Canada leads the world in use of Online Banking. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Sat Jul 12 00:15:00 -0400 2008

Well, it's always nice to be number one (well, maybe not).

Yesterday comScore released their study which shows that "Of the 37 global markets individually-reported by comScore, Canada ranked number one in adoption of online banking, with 67.1 of Canadian Internet users banking online in April 2008."

It also shows...

RBC Financial group led the category with 4.6 million visitors, followed by TD Bank Financial Group with 4.5 million visitors and Bank of Montreal Sites with 3 million visitors. Among those banks in the top 10, Bank of Montreal Sites experienced the greatest increase in visitation during the past year, growing 22 percent.

I wonder if my friends at BMO are surprised by this.

The study also showed that the heaviest users of online banking are 45-54 year olds. At first this may seem surprising, but in fact, they are also likely the heaviest bankers: "The segment shows both high penetration (73 percent) and the heaviest frequency in usage (12 visits and 157 pages per visitor per month)."

So can we just admit that online banking is just banking. If your financial institution still talks a lot about online but still has its heart firmly in the branch, here's some ammunition to change the conversation.

Read the press release here.

Seven questions with me on Buzz Canuck. [william azaroff | blog]

wazaroffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413690553381709037noreply@blogger.com — Fri Jul 11 10:12:00 -0400 2008

When I was in Toronto last month speaking on a panel at the CMA Word of Mouth Marketing Conference, I had a chance to reconnect with my friend and trusted advisor, Sean Moffitt.

Sean is simply one of the smartest guys I know when it comes to viral marketing, social media and word of mouth. He is the guru.

So I was very flattered when he asked to do seven questions with me for his blog. He published it today, iPhone Day here in Canada.

Take a read.

The CU Scoop - Collaborative Karma (Ep. 16) [The Banktastics � BanktasticTV - The CU Scoop]

Tue Jul 08 09:39:59 -0400 2008

Download this video

Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV’s “The CU Scoop” featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:

BarCampBankLondon!
BarCampBankLondon was just held on July 5. You’ve probably heard quite a bit about all the recent BarCampBank events being held lately. If you’re interested in attending one, there are several more coming up in the next few weeks:

BarCampBankChicago will happen July 16
BarCampBankCharleston will happen July 26/27

Check out the BCBs above to see about registering. Get in on the discussion while you still can!

Credit Union Joins Credit Karma
News surfaced recently about a credit union partnered up with Credit Karma. The Pentagon Federal CU has joined many banks in posting its rates in the special offers section for Credit Karma users. We think it’s a great move for credit unions to get some exposure through Credit Karma. Good on ya, PenFed!

Q&A: What is your CU doing to collaborate?
Lisa asked this question a while back on Banktastic, but it failed to get any leverage. Mark’s posing the question now to The CU Scoop audience - what is your CU doing to collaborate? Is your CU considering working with another to generate better results? If you have a response for this discussion, head on over to the question on Banktastic and let us know what you think!

Thanks to our sponsors!
We’d like to give a huge thank you to our sponsors, Texas State Bank! We greatly appreciate your support!

What’s on the whiteboard this week?
See what’s behind Mark’s head this week!

Email Us!
Feel free to email comments or suggestions about “The CU Scoop” to mark@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the Banktastic Community. We’re always looking for your input.

See you next week!

-The Banktastics