A Shared 'Experience'

Posted by Lisa Hochgraf

For me, this week at CUES Experience in Minneapolis was a big, positive, wonderful, well, experience.

I loved spending time with people I've met in the blogosphere, but hadn't yet met in person--Tim McAlpine, William Azaroff, Robbie Wright.

And re-connecting with people I've met at least once before--Brent Dixon, Katy Jett, Deb McLean, Morriss Partee, Ron Shevlin, Steve Williams, Denise Wymore--and, of course, my esteemed CUES colleagues.

And meeting tons of new people and gathering a bunch of ideas for future articles in CUES publications.

I loved my offsite experience to Fair Isaac. (I know talking about credit scores for two hours may sound boring to some, but I learned about a particular score that may help credit unions better serve people who don't have a credit history--whether that's the underbanked or members of Gen Y--and post-visit discussion of how credit scoring played a role in the submprime problem was also worth hearing.)

In all, I say woo hoo!

But probably my biggest takeaway was being inspired about how members can be encouraged to return to improving their financial situations by saving more and paying down debt.

Two speakers--Arkadi Kuhlmann, president/CEO of ING DIRECT, and Musette Bracher, VP/marketing at GECU, El Paso--talked specifically about how their organizations have taken a real stand on this issue. And they think more credit unions can do the same. (If you want more on this topic, watch for my upcoming article on Kuhlmann's session in Credit Union Management magazine, and read more about what Bracher's done in "Inside Marketing: The Savings Revolution.")

What was your big experience from CUES Experience?

Comments

[William Azaroff]

Great meeting you too, Lisa. It was a great time, a nice blend of the social connections and the sessions. Thanks!

[Denise Wymore]

Lisa,

What a great event! I lead the Minnesota Twins experience. When CUES first asked me to do that, I was nervous. I'm not really a baseball fan. But, of course, that wasn't the point.

I did tons of research on the Twins history and found that we have a lot in common:

1. We've been around a loooonnnng time. Twins started in 1901, American credit unions in 1908.

2. We both survived the Great Depression.

3. We've changed our team names, logos, and target audiences (Twins began in D.C. as the Senators, moved to Minnesota in 1961).

4. We've weathered losing seasons. (and we're about to weather another one economically)

BUT the biggest learning nugget for me was this -

5. We have to re-earn loyalty every single game. You can never take it for granted.

Fascinating stuff. CUES is always a joy to work with and the audiences that you attract are top notch.

Cheers!

[Diva Deb McLean]

Lisa - as always CUES delivers! I loved the Thursday off-site visits and then the discussions afterward of relating what we learned and viewed to our credit union life. MN was a great city and we were blessed, I'm told, with awesome weather for our visits. (But then how could it be anything else for our CUES brainy yet vibrant Marketers?) And the break-out sessions were superb - where else would we find a cultural anthropologist speaking but at CUES?

But I was blown away by Arkadi Kuhlmann, president/CEO of ING DIRECT, as the KEYNOTE speaker - what!!! A banker in our midst?!! But not any banker - what a fascinating concept - a banker with clear simplistic vision AND ethics to boot.

Only at CUES - kudos once again. Can't wait til next year.

[Brent Dixon]

Great post Lisa. I'll echo Denise - I loved running into / meeting everyone. I've said this before, but my favorite part of conferences are the conversations that happen in between sessions.

I wish I'd been able to catch more of the sessions. But my major take away from Summit Brewing Company was - don't be afraid to be exactly who you are. Homogenizing for the sake of growth or to make everyone happy will only water you down. Credit unions have an incredible story, as a movement and individually... embrace that in everything from your operations to your communications.

And Deb, I used you in my workshop. Wish I'd had you and your perspective on-hand.