On-Site at the 2012 NJCUL Reality Check Conference

by: Randy Smith, Publisher/Managing Editor, CUinsight.com

I had the opportunity to speak this week to the group at the NJCUL’s Reality Check about PR and getting your credit union exposure in the media.  I must start by saying that Paul Gentile and the staff of the New Jersey Credit Union League put on a great event.  There were many people in attendance from outside New Jersey and I would recommend it next year for anyone looking for new ideas to take back to their credit union.

Many progressive topics were covered at the event.  Ranging from credit unions in the digital age, identity theft and protecting your member’s, student loans and banking needs, mobile as a revenue opportunity and social responsibility.  Every attendee had a remote transponder to participate throughout the presentations and give instant feedback.

CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney spoke about current issues on the regulatory and legislative front as well as gave some insights on the fights to come.  This included Member Business Lending and the recently introduced supplemental capital bill.

A couple presentations that stood out to me were from Anne Legg, Vice President of Marketing at Cabrillo Credit Union and John Lass, SVP of Strategy and Business Development at CUNA Mutual Group.  Anne’s presentation was on her Credit Union Sustainability Model. She spoke on credit union strengths, weaknesses, threats to the credit union landscape and the opportunities.  She not only had everyone thinking out side the proverbial box, she gave new and innovative ideas for credit unions to implement.

John Lass, of CUNA Mutual Group, had a presentation that couldn’t have fit the name of the conference better, he gave everyone a Reality Check. John talked about new competition that is much different from the past; Walmart, Target, Apple, Paypal.  Not your average bank branch down the street.  He also mentioned that credit unions are at the pivotal tipping point and need to take a look at the classic value proposition as the financial industry becomes more and more digitized. At one point in John’s presentation more then 60% of attendees responded they thought traditional fee income spreads would continue to decrease.

Most of the speakers worked in the conference theme, Reality Check.  Over and over the speakers spoke of a new reality for credit unions to not only survive, but excel in the future.  The message was change is here and what is your credit union doing to capitalize on it.

Randy Smith is one of the founders and publisher of CUinsight.com, your one stop place for all things credit union.  Randy has spent over 15 years in the financial services community.  Over the past three years as publisher of CUinsight.com Randy looks for new and innovative ways to spread the credit union message and keep the community informed.  Randy works closely with individual credit unions, leagues and associations on a variety of topics including media relations, business development, marketing and strategic plans to get new ideas off the ground. Put simply, Randy likes to create and foster new ideas and watch them grow.  Randy has been cited and written for many publications and speaks at industry events to further the growth of the credit union movement.  www.cuinsight.com