On-site: Recap of CUNA Council MBD’12 Annual Conference

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

This year’s CUNA Marketing & Business Development Annual Conference had a record turnout with nearly 450 of the credit union community’s best marketers meeting in New Orleans for the annual event.  From first time attendees to veterans the event provided the meeting ground to share ideas and network with other professionals from across the credit union movement.

The conversations from the breakouts to the exhibit hall focused on how to keep the momentum credit unions have going nationally.  How to spread the credit union message and educate people on what credit unions do in their communities and what makes us the best choice for consumers.  How credit unions can fill the void many feeling in their banking relationship.

Victoria LaBalme kicked off the conference pointing out that we all take a perverse pride in being stretched to thin.  Talking about how we have made it a status symbol on how little sleep we get.  LaBalme pointed out three actions to take: Look – How do you view opportunities in your life, both personal and business. Listen – Listen carefully, don’t interrupt, stop looking for the opportunity to pounce into the conversation at a moment of silence. Love – Life is short. Love what you do and let the people you love know it.

Many of the breakouts focused on doing what credit unions do best and getting back to what makes CUs so unique.  The credit union marketer must leverage their position in the community.  With limited budgets and limited people in many credit unions what can you do to spread the message most effectively.  Both Sean McDonald, Mid-States FCU, and Christopher Morris, NCUF, used a Field of Dreams reference, “If you build it, they will come”.  But both pointed out that once you build it you have to self promote it or no one will know about it.

The event was capped off with the marketing community dressed to the nines at the 2012 Diamond Awards dinner.  Kim Wall, Georgia United Credit Union, was the 2012 inductee into the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Hall of Fame.  Anne Legg from Cabrillo Credit Union was named Marking Professional of the Year and John Goodwin of MECU of Baltimore received the Business Development Professional of the Year.

Three credit unions also received Best Practice Awards.  They were Maps CU for Business Development, Truliant FCU for Community Outreach and/or Political Advocacy and Fort Worth Community CU of the creation of their virtual spokeswoman in the Miscellaneous Category.

To view a full list of the 2012 Diamond Award winners visit the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council website here.

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