My H.S. Yearbook

Just last week I sent an e-mail to former CUNAverse blogger Christopher Morris wishing him the very best in his new position at NCUF (check out his last official CUNAverse blog post ).  After that e-mail we joked that it felt like I was signing his yearbook. That conversation got me wondering what words of wisdom were left in my yearbook 13 years ago.  Just thinking back to high school brought back so many different types of personal memories – from football games and dances to first heartbreaks, both great and terrible teachers, standardized tests, stressing way too much about homework, some poor decisions and a lot of really fun times with great friends.   

Inspired by those memories, I dug out my senior yearbook to see what my friends at Oakcrest High School imparted on me as I was set to graduate. Reading what my classmates had written made me realize some bigger things about who we were.  We were the Class of 1997 – we were excited about the endless possibilities for our future and we were friends who sincerely wished the very best for one another. In some ways we were wise beyond our years and in other ways we were really naïve.  Here are a few of the comments and some of the advice given by my classmates:

• Don’t party too much and try to do some work.
• Don’t let anyone change you.
• Don’t settle for anything less than you deserve.
• Don’t let anything hold you back in life.
• Keep smiling.
• You’ve got the potential to rule the world.
• I have no doubt that there will be anything but success in your future.
• Thank you for your friendship, I would be a different person if we had never met. 
• As you move on to very exciting times take a moment every now and again to remember the great memories. 
• Be true to yourself in all that you do.
• May all of your dreams come true!

My yearbook picture in 1997

I’m guessing when I read many of these words years ago I didn’t take the words to heart in but instead focused on the feelings of sadness of leaving my peers behind and excitement/nervousness of starting the next chapter in my life.  Looking back and reading those words today I can’t help but feel inspired by my classmates and hope that I’ve lived up to many of their parting words.

Looking through my yearbook also made me realize how many classmates are no longer with us, just 13 years after graduation.  Life is short and even though as adults we don’t actually have yearbooks, we should tell the people in our lives that they matter, we should encourage them to live up to their potential, we should remind them of the things about them that make them so special to us and we should thank them for being in our lives.   

Dust off your own yearbooks and check out the words of wisdom your classmates had for you - I’d love to hear some of the great advice you were given; I’m sure there are lessons we could all learn today.

Isn’t it great . . . to be in CUNAverse!  It truly is great, exciting, fun, and much more for all of us – the staff here at CUNA, to be part of the launch of our blog CUNAverse. 

Over the last few years we’ve visited the idea of starting a blog and until now it always felt like the only reason we were considering starting one was because it was what everybody else seemed to be doing.  There are tons of valuable, insightful, provocative, and just plain hilarious blogs in existence both in and out of our industry.  While we loved staying up on all of the happenings in the blogosphere we just didn’t have a real purpose to throw our hat in the ring.  Until now.

As 2010 began, it finally started feeling like the time was right for CUNA to begin its blog journey.  The curveballs the economy has thrown at our industry and country have put a great spotlight on the real meaning behind the credit union philosophy.  As staff at your premiere trade association we are so proud of the hurdles you’ve jumped, the millions of members you’ve helped and the powerful way you’ve led your credit unions through these challenging times.  We feel inspired to bring you CUNAverse – a CUNA staff blog that will provide direct communication with our members and all of you who share our love of credit unions. 

We hope with this blog to be able to share all of the things that we find so wonderful about working in this movement, provide a place to discuss important industry topics, and have a platform for you to connect with us.  If you’d like to learn more about our goals of the blog please read the “About” section, you can also check out our individual bios to get to know us each a little more in the “Team” section.  

We’re so excited to see where this journey takes us!

>CUNA’s senior vice president of research/policy analysis and chief economist had a message about the economy for credit unions…

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Now I was never really a comic book kid to begin with because I thought they were too pricey to spend my precious paper route money on. The few comics I did come home with featured Spiderman, Superman, and an occasional HULK. That was over 30 years ago, so why am I talking comics now? I was asked by a group to theme my whole Leadership & Influence Keynote around any comic book hero of my choosing. With all the weird, wild, and wonderful characters to choose from, I found myself drawn towards a character whose comics I had never read….the Green Lantern.

Knowing virtually nothing about this hero – I think the initial draw was my thought that the lantern would serve as a good symbol of what an inspiring “level 5” leader must bring to take their organization or team from Good to Great. But the more I learned of the Green Lantern.. the more I realized he was the Hero who could best represent the solutions to some of the most relevant leadership challenges we face today. Skipping the nearly 7 page wiki summary & history of the Green Lantern…let me boil it down to the 2 major reasons for choosing Green Lantern as a symbol of the leadership we need today.

First… Hal Jordon – wasn’t bitten by a radio active spider, born on Krypton or freakishly changed by a DNA altering blast of gamma radiation. He’s just your almost average earthling who was chosen to be entrusted with a unimaginable power, the Green Lantern. Why was he chosen? (Notice earlier I said he was almost average?) He was chosen because he could be trusted, because those who chose him discerned that both his heart and head were in the right place. Hal Jordon wasn’t just willing to be good, but desired to do good! This desire compelled him to take action for benefit of others. Integrity matter, character counts, Trust is a MUST… but in addition to what we know is right, we must be willing to DO right. There is much more to discuss here, but lets save it for the conference.

Secondly – The Lantern, and the Ring it charges are indeed phenomenal symbols of what followers want leaders to bring to the table. Since the dawn of time light seems to have served as a symbol of hope, knowledge, truth, virtue and nearly every good and noble thing. In a world filled with darkness, depression, disconnection, desperation and despair… the need for Bright Leaders who can help us all to “Lighten Up” has never been greater. The Green Lanterns ring operates by 2 core principles that will be central to our discussion of what makes Green Lantern leadership powerfully contagious.

In this fun and fast paced keynote I’ll build on these 2 concepts essentially tying them together to show leaders how to immediately and sustainably increase levels of employee engagement throughout their organizations by being & becoming the Positively Contagious Leaders they want to be and that their people and the world need them to be.

Your leave this session with your Lanterns Lit and Glowing Green or I’ll eat kryptonite. See you soon in Vegas where there will be many lights on…but we’ll only be looking for your Green One.

Kirk Weisler, Chief Morale Officer -

Author of 2 Best Smelling Books

The Dog Poop Initiative

The Cookie Thief

Kirk’s T4D Blog (Thought 4 the Day)

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Jamie Hart, Virginia CU, Inc., won a Flip camera, similar to that used to record the videos from YES LIVE, in a final day drawing.

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Bad Haircut” was the award-winning educational program designed at the YES Summit to teach creditworthiness to 18-to-30s. Accepting their cash awards from conference organizer and host, Josh Jones, are (from left above): Terry Boden (MemberFocus Community CU), Carmen Ellington (Autotruck FCU), Melissa Sexe (Credit Union of Colorado), Amy Etheridge (Robins FCU–partially obscured because Josh, a typical Gen Yer, likes to hog the camera, that’s her to the near left), Paula Anderson (Anheuser-Busch ECU), and Sue Yoder (Citizens Equity First CU).

>Claudine Oriani capped the third annual YES Summit by giving attendees their marching orders to put ideas learned at the conference into action. Oriani, chief creative officer of the Partland, Ore.-based As If Productions instructed her audience to pick no more than three to five goals. Any more would be overwhelming.

Among the points that summit speakers delivered over the previous two days and Oriani emphasized:

· Engage in dialogue, not monologue. The 18-to-30 guests who appeared at the summit make it clear that listening to the demographic is even more important than speaking to them. Gather first-hand input from interviews and panel discussions and let young adults’ insights guide your strrategies.

· Rethink marketing methods and messages. Don’t follow existing print media models or conventional. Become familiar with the current delivery channels and use them. Look for stories that resonate with the intended audience. “If rates are not the value proposition that works with this age group,” Oriani said, “stop shouting rates from the rooftop.”

· Explore the power of parental influence and peer referrals. Advertisers send 5,000 messages every day, but only two or three register with individuals. Advice from peers and parents is more believeable because it’s telling, not selling.

· Make the business case for change. Connect programs to existing strategic plans, goals, tactics. Conduct employee interviews and keep coworkers informed. Provide “talking points” for front-line staff. Repeated messaging is key.

Oriani sees credit unions facing increased competition from “person-to-person” lending. As an example, she points to Prosper, which claims, on its web site, to offer “personal loans without the big bank attitude.” Consumers in need of credit start the ball rolling by registering with Prosper and listing the desired loan amount and maximum acceptable interest rate. Interested individuals then compete for the loan, and the lowest bidder credits the borrowers bank account, from which monthly payments flow automatically. Prosper promises “No hidden fees, no pre-payment penalties, and your interest rate never changes.”

The people-to-people lending model that Prosper represents is relatively new, so the jury is still out on whether default rates on the unsecured loans are signigicant. Still, Oriani believes the innovation warrants watching.

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NCUA Vice Chairman Rodney Hood.

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Time and time again throughout the last few days, YES Summit attendees heard the importance of parents on young adults’ financial decisions – whether it be in areas such as student loans, establishing a banking relationship, savings habits, and sharing advice.

Susan Follick, Segment Marketing Director at PSCU Financial Services, says you have allies in your attempts to get through to young adults—their parents. “This generation looks to their parents for advice. Leverage the relationship your credit union has with its members who are parents of Gen Y.”

Who cares? We should – Recent high school seniors’ test scores on finances are falling from previous years. With school system’s budgets strained, credit unions have a great opportunity to step up to the plate (banks already are – see Wells Fargo’s popular Stagecoach Island as one example).

How?
Provide financial education material to engage parents – some examples:

• Giveme20.com – website to educate 12-22 year olds
• “Parents” section on website

Financial products positioned as teaching/learning tools to teach financial life lessons, such as:

• Savings programs
• Reloadable prepaid cards
• Checking accounts w/debit cards
• Online banking
• Credit cards – age appropriate

Susan shared a few related best practices in product packages from credit unions across the country (click links for details of each):

• Apple FCU – Fairfax, VA: eXtras Student Checking
• Oregon Community CU – Eugene, OR: Remarkable Checking
• Pacific Service CU – Walnut Creek, CA: FirstStep Checking
• City-County FCU – Minneapolis, MN: boom! (Budgeting Our Own Money)
• CFE Federal Credit Union – Orlando, FL: Innovators Account for ages 15 – 17 & Horizons Account 18 – 22

Susan also said via email before the summit that one of the greatest challenges credit unions face in serving 18-to-30 year olds centers on new media. Sure, you need to be familiar with what’s hot online, but you have to be there yourself. Susan wants to change the thinking within credit unions on the importance of using new media tactics to reach Gen Y. She says, you have to get “over the fear of jumping in and trying it.”