Social Media presence isn’t easy and building momentum for its use at a national conference can be a challenge, however it planked our expectation this year at CUNA’s ACUC (America’s Credit Union Conference). And one of the entertaining highlights? Random pictures of attendees laying face-down in peculiar locations, in San Antonio and across the US.

Twitter is a natural tool for a conference. It allows attendees to post great take-aways from sessions, network with peers, share bright ideas, suggest city hotspots, plus much more. We used the hashtag of #ACUC11 so attendees of the conference could search tweets to find what others were saying about the event.

Over the course of the 4-day conference (6/19-6/22), according to Topsy.com’s Analytics, there were 679 mentions of #ACUC11  (!!). Thanks to the influx of tweets, retweets, and @mentions CUNAverse managed to gain many new followers, and we can now stay connected to our new friends (in 140 characters or less).

Planking goes Big Time

I won’t go into the history of planking (you can find it here on Wikipedia)  but it took this years’ ACUC by storm! From State League presidents (see NC’s John Radebaugh planking on a riverboat) to speakers, and attendees.  Even CUNA Mutual and those holding down the CUNA fort in Madison  got in on the action(See a collection of CU planking pics here).

It was a great way to build a community of attendees outside the conference sessions also by tying in some tourist sights San Antonio has to offer. Has anyone ever planked the Alamo? If not, @PJLiving  is the first!

Twitter seemed to bring a new life to America’s Credit Union Conference. As a staff member that stayed in Madison as things were in full-swing, I felt like I was right alongside of attendees. Reading highlights from breakout sessions and quotes from our Keynote Speakers, it was a nice breath of fresh air to check in the #ACUC11 search to see what would pop-up next. It was a great tool of inclusion in an age where we may not all get to travel for training. Though the information is fleeting (twitter keeps a tweet’s search functionaly for about a month), it’s a great way of connecting “in the moment”.

Are you using twitter at your credit union?  If so, share your best practices and ‘wow’ moments with a comment below.  Oh, and don’t forget to follow @CUNAverse

February’s Top 10 must-reads include content from the World Council of Credit Unions, Credit Union Times, and CNN Money in addition to excellent news and research from CUNA’s Credit Union Magazine, E-Scan, and CUNA News Now.  What do you think… did we miss any? Do those listed deserve to be must-reads this month?

Marketers embrace tablet technology

Reach an audience that’s young, high income, and likely to respond.

This article originally appeared on escan.cuna.org. Learn more about subscribing to CUNA’s EScan resources and reports by visiting their website.

Consumer Confidence Jumps in January

Read CUNA Senior Economist Mike Schenk’s take on why consumer confidence rose in January and what it means for the overall U.S. economy.

Take control of your CU’s appraisals

Ask several key questions when reviewing each appraisal.

CUNA backs SEC’s CU swap clearing exemption

The SEC’s proposal to exempt CUs with less than $10 billion in assets from mandatory securities-based swaps clearing requirements has CUNA’s backing, but CUNA would like it to go even further.

Iowa CUs Seek Greater Collaborative Strength

With the help of World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), Iowa Credit Union League officials traveled to Poland in the hopes of learning ways Iowa’s credit unions to save money while better serving their members from credit unions and cooperatives overseas.

Embrace end-to-end E-lending

Electronic lending, from application to funding, will be a requirement to remain competitive.

Twelve selected for Indiana’s 2011 ignite project

Twelve Indiana CU representatives have been selected to be part of ignite, an initiative of the Indiana CU League focused on developing innovations that can help CUs better the financial lives of their members.

Fed action may affect benefit costs

Additional defined benefit plan funding may be warranted if corporate bond yields drop.

Apple FCU Offerings Aim to Help Make College a Reality

How is Apple Federal Credit Union helping local families of college-bound students turn the dream of earning a college degree into a reality?

Standing on shaky ground

For up to 50% of Americans, a job loss or medical crisis could spell financial ruin.

The Credit Union National Association produces a number of excellent credit union-focused news and research via Credit Union Magazine, E-Scan, and CUNA News Now. Here are ten must-read articles from these publications for the month of January, 2011.

Marketing to Hispanics? Find the Right Translator

Make marketing messages understandable and culturally relevant.

Collection Strategies Adjust to Economy

A kinder, gentler approach is more likely to succeed.

‘NCUA-safe’, Suze Orman Attract Millions in Donated Ad Space

The “NCUA-safe” ad campaign featuring personal finance expert Suze Orman touting the virtue of federal credit union insurance has tallied more than $2.6 million in free advertising for the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

Ten Credit Card Predictions for 2011

Expect APR increases and lower delinquencies.

Gift Cards as a Meeting Incentive?

Can a federal credit union increase participation at its annual meeting by giving $25 gift cards to members in attendance?

There’s ‘No Such Thing’ as an Easy Core Conversion

If you let things slide, you risk ‘having a wave come over your head.’

Ill. League Obtains $1.4M Reg. Fee Holiday for Credit Unions

Why are all 290 Illinois state-chartered credit unions are seeing a boost to their bottom lines in 2011?

Credit Unions On Top in Customer Satisfaction

CUs and small banks lead their larger rivals in customer satisfaction and loyalty, reports the Prime Performance 2010 Bank and CU Satisfaction Survey.

Fed Action May Affect Benefit Costs

Additional defined benefit plan funding may be warranted if corporate bond yields drop.

Fed Offers Two Plans for Interchange Fees

The Federal Reserve issued for public comment its proposed rules addressing interchange fees.

2010 was an exciting year for our team - it was the year we kicked off CUNAverse!  In just 7 months since we launched CUNAverse 10,000 people have checked out the blog, we’re nearing 100 posts, many of you have commented and sent tweets and we’re looking forward to keeping the conversation going in 2011.

We wanted to take the time before 2010 came to a close to thank you for helping to make our launch in to the blogosphere such a blast.  As we near 2011 please leave us a comment here on the blog, send us a tweet, or drop us a message on our facebook page to let us know the types of things you’d like to see on CUNAverse next year.

For those of you that have just joined in on the CUNAverse conversation, here is a look back at our top 10 blog posts from 2010:

1. Does Your Credit Union Have a Social Media Policy?

2. What Credit Unions Can Learn From Pizza Hut

3. What Credit Unions Can Learn From Ritz Carlton

4. Compliance: Are You Ready For 2011?

5. Why Celebrate International Credit Union Day?

6. Turnover Increase on the Horizon for Credit Unions

7. Culture of Fear or a Culture of Love

8. Worried that CUs Aren’t Focused Enough on Upcoming Truth In Lending Changes

9. Taking Your Credit Union From Good to Great

10.  First Feedback on Bill Cheney as New CUNA President/CEO

The “move your money” campaign generated much excitement among consumers, credit unions — and the press. That’s not news: It’s been going on since December, when the campaign to move deposits from big banks to “community banks” was first outlined on the Huffington Post (and, as a result of demands by readers of HP, eventually extended to credit unions).

Lately, though national press interest in the idea of more consumers moving to credit unions has been spiking. At CUNA, we’ve received inquiries from national media as well as big regional papers. A Newsday feature (in NYC and Long Island) about consumers moving their money to credit unions is just the most recent example. At CUNA, we jump on the opportunities to promote credit unions through all channels.

There is no doubt that consumers have been moving their money to credit unions. Last year, savings grew by 10.3 percent, the biggest one-year increase in at least five years. But are consumers moving with their money? In other words, what’s the membership growth?

More people are, in fact, becoming credit union members: 2009 witnessed more than 1.2 million new members — a 1.4 percent growth rate (to 91.2 million members — now nearly 1 in 4 Americans are CU members). That growth is robust: It outpaces the U.S. population growth by 1.5 times, as well as the growth of the nation’s banking customer base, which largely mirrors the U.S. population growth rate.

But is the 2009 growth rate an anomaly? On its face — not really. In 2008, for example, membership grew by 1.6 percent (the fastest one-year growth over the last half decade), and 2006 growth was 1.4 percent also.

But, CUNA economists suspect there is something more to the numbers (as economists typically do). They point out that indirect lending by auto dealers had been the engine (so to speak) of CU member growth prior to the Great Recession starting in late 2007.

Over the last 18 months or so, car buying has waned with the growth of the economy, which means indirect-lending-member-growth has slowed as well.

Nevertheless, membership grew in 2009, as the numbers show! CUNA’s experts believe that consumers are, in fact, moving their money and their feet to credit unions, even though the numbers were not inflated so much last year by new members through indirect lending.

We don’t have 2010 numbers yet (for 1st quarter), but they should be ready soon. Will there be a corresponding spike in membership? If so, we’ve got another great story to tell to the national press. If not — well, we’ve still got a great story anyway. More to come, no doubt.

What industry tops the Better Business Bureau’s list of consumer complaints?  If you said banks (high fees, impersonal service, mega-mergers), good guess but no.  It’s cell phones. But what industry had the biggest spike in complaints over the past year?  If you said banks, now you’re right. 

Cell phones drew the most complaints last year, 37,477, up 2.1% from 2008, according to the BBB.  Consumers registered 29,920 gripes against banks, but that’s a whopping 42.3% increase over the previous year.  None of the others (cable TV, automakers, internet retail) came close.  A “MainStreet” news posting on Yahoo Finance took note of banks’ dismal standing on the BBB consumer complaint list and advised that larger banks in particular “better beef up their customer service fast—before customers decide that the credit union down the street will treat them, and their money, with greater care.” 

Many have already come to that conclusion. CUNA figures show credit unions added 1.2 million new members in 2009.  And credit unions’ share of the household savings market has grown from 9.2% at yearend 2008 to 9.8% at the end of 2009.  That’s a pretty big leap, CUNA’s Bill Hampel points out, considering it took from 1994 to 2008 for credit unions’ savings share to get from 8.0% to 9.2%.