I will take REAL Solutions for $500 please...

While I was at the REAL Solutions partner meeting, James Robert, co-author, asked “Hey, why don’t you do an interview?” So… I was pondering what questions should I ask. Then I thought I will try something different this time. I am going to do this interview “Jeopardy Style”. I will provide the answers and let the questions come to me. I supplied the answers to the following: Brent Dixon , founder of The Haberdashery, Denise Gabel, Chief Innovation Officer at the Filene Research Institute, Lois Kitsch, REAL Solutions National Program Director, and Kathy Darwin (no relation to Charles), CUANM’s REAL Solutions Program Coordinator.

Answer: REAL Solutions

Brent: What program is out there that embodies the philosophy of the credit union movement?

Denise: What is a philosophy and program that supports credit unions and consumers?

Lois: What is a program that recognizes the future needs of members and the ability for credit unions to meet their financial needs with affordable products and services through credit unions and state leagues?

Kathy: What do credit unions do for their communities?

Answer: Opportunity (which by the way I did not say opportunity for credit unions, just the word opportunity)

Brent: What is one of the greatest things credit unions can walk away with given the current economic times?

Denise: What are the current economic times for credit unions?

Lois: What is the reason why credit unions should reach out in serving emerging markets like young adults, low-wage families, “New Americans”, and Senior Citizens?

Kathy: What do low-wealth households look for?

Answer: Credit Unions

Brent: What is one of the best kept secrets for consumers that are out there today?

Denise: What is the consumer’s best-friend with money?

Lois: What is the best vehicle for change to provide economic opportunities for American families?

Kathy: What is a not-for profit financial cooperative?

Answer: The Fonz (in the spirit of Milwaukee…)

Brent: What bronze figurine would I most love to pose in a picture with?

Denise: Who is an icon of a leather jacket?

Lois: Who is the young adult who needed financial education, but was cool when young?

Kathy: Whose bronze statue stands in a park in Milwaukee?

Well there we have it-the questions from some innovative credit union minds… Does anyone out there have some other interesting questions to these answers: REAL Solutions, opportunity, credit unions, or The Fonz? If so blog back and ask us!

Credit Union Viral and Word of Mouth Marketing Idea

As you know, we really like to focus on non traditional ways for credit unions to help connect and build relationships with members... both online and offline.  Doing things differently, thinking huge, and pushing creative boundaries gets people talking. 

Plus a lot of credit union viral and word of mouth marketing ideas provide a low investment, high impact solution that can complement traditional marketing channels.

Check out this creative idea that got people talking about Red Bull (known for doing things differently). A well thought out plan that gets people talking in a positive way can create a long lasting positive impact on your credit union's brand.

What are you doing to get people talking about your credit union and do the marketing for you? Shout back below and share your thoughts and ideas.

REAL Solutions Live Stream

Check out the REAL Solutions Live Stream from the Summer League Liaison & Field Coach Meeting with the player below. Things should get kicked off around 8:45 AM CST on Thursday, July 30, 2009.  Go ahead spread... spread the word and tell a friend about the live stream on our credit union blog.

Today's Schedule

July 30, 2009 – Day Two

8:30 to 8:45am, Yesterday’s Recap

8:45 to 10:30am, Steer Clear of Predatory Car Loans – Mash Up

    * Bill Myers – RS Field Coach & Aspen Institute Fellow

10:30 to 10:45am, Break

10:45 to 11:15am, The Good Money Story –

    * Ken Eiden and Kristina Flores – Prospera CUKristi VanSchnydel

11:15 To 12:30pm, Serving a New Generation of CU Members – Net Natives

    * Ben Rogers – Filene Research Institute
    * Brent Dixon – The Haberdashery
    * Jill Weber – Wisconsin CUL

2009 SCMS CUMA Award: And the winner is...

Congrats to iLife for winning the 2009 CUMA with "Credit Unions are Sweet".

This year's CUMAs (Credit Union Movie Awards) turned into a huge success for SCMS and all credit unions around the world. There were over 45 entries that came in which were then narrowed down to six finalist. Once again, this year's CUMAs six finalists focused on the difference between credit unions and banks.

In less than 24 hours of voting there were over 550 votes cast.  That is amazing to see how the credit union movement can utilize a grass roots effort and get people to take action for a cause... even if it is for the CUMAs. Votes came in from credit union employees, members, non-members, families, friends and others in the community. The voting page alone was visited by over 800 people.

I am stoked and excited to see how the 2010 CUMAs will play out as the word continues to spread.

Quick Credit Union Blog Update

I am in Fort Worth this morning and about to kick off the Hands-on Social Media session for SCMS.  This is going to rock as we will be letting credit union leaders of today and tomorrow get to play with social media. From blogging to twittering to web video and podcasts, we are going have fun creating SCMS2009: Speak Your Mind. Share Your Experience.  Following along today and click to watch the blog being built live.

If you want to follow along, simply pick up the #scms RSS feed here. After the session, we will be doing an interactive recap and QA with a live twitter stream. So please feel free to shout back and share your thoughts, ideas and questions.

Rock it!

Credit Union Twitter Idea - Will Tweet for Food

How far is your credit union willing to take Twitter? Are you ready to move past tweeting regurgitating marketing messages. The latest rates, loan promotions, and press releases?  Think outside the bird and start doing some crazy things.  Get people engaged and talking.

We have developed some pretty cool offline word of mouth campaigns and are working on one that involves Twitter as a key player but not as you might traditionally think of a credit union using Twitter.

To help nspire you (shout out to @jaduplant), check out how Twitter is being used on the East Coast and West Coast with the two videos below:

Props to @mrjlay for shooting this video over to me.

Is your credit union using Twitter? How are you guys using it? Are you just "talking" or are you listening and conversing? Is the conversation one way or two ways. What has the response been?

A word of warning, we are finding through our research and focus group that Twitter is NOT a key communication channel at this time for the traditional Gen Y credit union member.  This is not to say that Twitter can not be an effective communication channel for your credit union but it is important to note and set clear expectations.

Shout back and share your credit union Twitter experience or tweet me up here: @jrwlay

Either way, I look forward to your thoughts and ideas so that we can all can innovate, communicate and collaborate together.

Credit Unions: Vote for Your 2009 CUMA

Wow! What an awesome response to this year's CUMA (Credit Union Movie Award) entries. We are so excited to see how credit unions are using web video to connect with their members and tell their stories. It was a tough decision as over their were over 45 entries.  Thanks to all who entered. The council* has narrowed down the entries for voting to the following six videos.

Voting Closed - July 21, 2009 2:00 PM CST

*The council include Southwest CUNA Management School students:

Grace Bianco - Security 1st FCU

Shawn Temple - Bossier FCU

Dale Hansard - Caprock FCU

Eric Hardman - Electro Savings Credit Union

**Only one vote per email address. Abusive voting will be thrown out as decided by the CUMA committee. Email address must be valid email. Voting will run from 12:00 PM CST July 20, 2009 through 2:00 PM CST July 21, 2009.

2009 CUMA Voting Complete

Thanks for voting for the 2009 CUMA! Be sure to check back on July 22, 2009 when we post the winning video for the 2009 Credit Union Movie Awards.

Credit Unions: Don't Tick Your Members Off

Have you ever been wronged by a company? Of course you have. What did you do about it?  Complain to them? Write a letter?  Tell the BBB?  Was the issue rectified and did they ever do anything about it.

One guy was wronged by United Airlines for breaking his guitar and wrote a song about it.  It went viral on You Tube and has been seen by over 2,800,000 people.

Watch the video below to see and hear his story...

United Airlines had to put on damage control fast and “a managing director of customer service called Carroll and apologized, going so far as to ask if United could use the video internally to train its people.”

So credit unions, take note, if you tick off your members (even one member) who has the skills, technology and know how, this could be you. The question is, are you prepared how to handle this?  How long would it take for you to try to make things right?  What would you do?  I’m not trying to scare anyone but more of this could happen (maybe just not with this much production).   

This is why it’s so important to listen in social media. For some tips on this check out Google Alerts and Twitter Search where you can setup RSS feeds to stay in the know.

Shout back and share your thoughts and ideas about this.  Look forward to the conversation.

Note: I know this was first published here and here.  This post was written on Friday, July 11th but was scheduled to go out today after some other things like this and this.  This just goes to show how fast things like this can travel.

Welcome SCMS Students - Rock the Credit Union World

Greetings and hello to all the SCMS students.  I wish all of you nothing but the best as you kick things off and know there will be a ton of great ideas that come out of the next two weeks.  From what I hear on Twitter (via @scmsjanine, @shawntemple, @jaduplant, @Kent_CUlifer), things are already off to a awesome start.

Keep me in the loop with what's going on and friend me up on Twitter: @jrwlay

I hope you enjoy the CU Grow credit union blog t-shirts and where them with "purple pride" to represent SCMS.  My challenge to you is to shout back to this blog post on how you will "innovate, communicate and collaborate" in SCMS over the next two weeks.

Spread the word. Tell your friends at school and get them to post their thoughts and ideas as well. Looking forward to hanging out on July 21 and July 22.  CU soon!

Until then, rock the credit union world. \w/