Posted by Lisa Fawcett
I didn’t arrive to work ready for this … 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31. My CEO, Tony Carnarvon, has everyone in our main branch paged over the loud speaker, asking us all to come to our lobby. We all crowd in … noticing that there is coffee and cake to be had! The day is looking good already! Tony thanks everyone for coming down and announces that we have something to celebrate, and to join us is Fred Johnson, the president and CEO of the Credit Union Executives Society. Tony opens an office door, and out comes Mr. Johnson. We had no idea that Tony had locked him in there! I got goose bumps as he walked out, and I realized … something’s up!
Mr. Johnson took center stage and invited me and my marketing team up to join him. He said that he had not done this before, but when CUES asked him to hit the road and award the Golden Mirror Awards, he agreed. He proceeded to announce our awards, one by one, and hand out the distinctive trophies, which I passed down to my team members. Five awards in our hands! We were lookin’ good! Mr. Johnson commented that all of my team members’ hands were full, but that I didn’t have anything to hold. He fixed that! He then announced that we won the “Best of Show” for our Project 100 initiative and handed me the heavy crystal award! WOO HOO!
I was overwhelmed. What a great feeling for me, my team and our credit union! I’ve been to glitz-and-glamour award ceremonies, which are nice, but generally at those you are the only one from your credit union amongst other credit union people from all around the country. This presentation was much more personal and exciting! It was so awesome to have my entire marketing team on hand, our CEO, and all of the credit union employees who came to the lobby to share in the excitement of Fred Johnson’s award presentation. It was definitely our day to shine … Golden Mirror style!!
After the lobby party ended, my team went to our board room to watch the judges’ video that Mr. Johnson left for us. It was so rewarding to hear why the judges selected Project 100 as their choice for Best of Show. I want to thank the judges who put in a tremendous amount of time and effort reviewing the entries in all of the categories, and express how honored we are to have stood out amongst all of the incredible entries that they saw this year. Truly an honor.
Oh yeah … so…What is Project 100? In a nutshell, Project 100 was first created in 2009 to address Southeast Michigan’s severe economic downturn, and to promote the spirit of giving in our local communities. It involved a few Co-op employees hitting the streets in local communities randomly distributing $100 bills to people with only one request. Think about what you can do to give in your local community. Its impact went far beyond what we had originally expected. Check out www.whatisproject100.com to see the initiative in action.
To see all of the winning 2010 CUES Golden Mirror Awards entries, visit cuesgma.org.
Lisa Fawcett is the Marketing Director at Co-op Services Credit Union.
Pictured above: Bryan Feldpausch, Lisa Fawcett, Fred Johnson (CUES' President/CEO), Anthony Carnarvon (CSCU President/CEO), Beverly Outland and Jay Jackson. Bottom row: Kathy Hurt, Jeremy Cybulski
Lisa, you and your team make developing ideas like Project 100 look easy. I often say that as a creative company, we can only be as creative as our clients allow us to be. And with Co-op Services Credit Union we can truly let our creativity flow. You and your team deserve every award you have received for this initiative. It’s a great example of how adding creativity to one small idea can truly change an entire community, a region and even the world. Congratulations!
Posted by: Gregory Wohler | October 05, 2010 at 08:43 AM
Congratulations to Co-op Services Credit Union and the entire Project 100 team on a job well done. While the credit union has always given back to the community, it's now done it in a new and unique way and has inspired others to get involved as well. This could not have been achieved without a forward-thinking management team and enthusiastic staff participation. Way to expand on your initial idea and to think outside the box. Congratulations again, you deserve it!
Posted by: Stephanie Walker | October 06, 2010 at 02:59 PM