By Frank J. Diekmann
It’s hard to exaggerate the fears and rumors that have surrounded the terrible outbreak of Ebola.
Some have called for stopping all travel, for mass quarantines, and not just suggested but claimed to know that the whole tragic sequence is, in fact, a government conspiracy.
Indeed, one CU CEO told CUToday.info he is more concerned with the fears around Ebola than the disease itself, as you can read here.
So it was difficult not to think of that when Magic Johnson was keynoting the California and Nevada league meeting. When Johnson, then playing for the Lakers, announced in 1991 he was HIV positive it was at the height of uncertainty and fears over that disease, which was the Ebola of its time. Players on his own team were afraid of using the same showers. Other players said they didn’t want to play against him out of fear of contracting HIV themselves. The prognosis for Johnson himself wasn’t good, either: he was expected to die. After all, the only certainty around HIV at the time was that you died of it.
When the outgoing and positive (and still very much alive) Johnson was speaking to the meeting and moving through the crowd, the issue never came up until an audience member asked him about “challenging times” in his life, and he gave a very touching response about how what was most painful was how he had hurt his wife.
As for fears of contracting HIV, not only did people not shy away from Magic, they fell over themselves to get an arm around him in dozens of pictures.
Ready For The Worst, And Then...
Speaking of Magic Johnson and biases, I have to admit to one of my own. When Johnson came out to speak I was prepared for an hour of superficial but funny old sports anecdotes about himself and the Showtime Lakers and his rivalry with the player he called “that blonde-haired guy,” Larry Bird. Maybe a few forced, insert-name-here references to credit unions and the need for “teamwork,” and a quick exit. Well, I shot an air ball.
I knew Johnson had strong business interests and had been successful off the court, I just didn’t realize how much of a businessman he was. He spoke the language, with references to ROI and strategy and branding and the “per-caps” at his various food retailers. Heck, if he had started riffing on supplemental and risk-based capital, I’m not sure anyone would have been surprised. You can find the whole story here.
Johnson is part of the group that owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, and in response to an audience question about the direction of the team, he offered up an answer that is quite applicable to many credit union boards. “As far as the blueprint, that’s the president’s decision. As owners we know what we know, and we also know what we don’t know, and that’s how to make baseball decisions.”
Magic Johnson: Credit Union Spokesperson?
A final note on Magic. After an another audience member asked whether he would be willing to lend his name and influence to credit unions in their efforts to educate and empower people, he said, “The diversity in the room makes me feel good. We can definitely talk about it. I’m about financial literacy when it comes to minorities in a big way. It’s important to understand money. We didn’t grow up in money; we don’t know how to save and what to do and so on. We had to teach ourselves. The next generation needs to be taught about how to build wealth and pass that on to the kids, and about not getting into debt and the other things that have plagued my community in a big way.”
Regulation Really Is Getting Crushing
During the meeting, just as league CEO Diana Dykstra was asking the question, “How many new regulations since 2009?", the power went out on stage. Apparently the regulatory burden is overloading the electricity grid, as well. (The answer is 180 new regs.) The league, incidentally, had fun with the power outage the next day when the power went out on stage again, only to have it come back a moment later with the video screens reading, “Just kidding.”
Making Films For An Audience of One
During his comments, keynoter Joseph Pine spoke of how the new “experience economy” is all about “theater” in retail services, as you can read here. The one place he said that theater is most lacking and where credit unions have an opportunity is at the ATM, an otherwise dry, transactional experience. So here’s your chance, all of you frustrated writers and directors who have always dreamed of one day making it on the very small screen.
Misunderstanding the CU 'Ownership' Thing
One-hundred-million Americans may now belong to credit unions, but that doesn’t mean that more than a little misunderstanding doesn’t remain. Christopher Bruno, CEO of McKesson Employees FCU, said he was at a sponsor company event and upon meeting him someone remarked, “Hey, we bought a credit union, that’s great.”
Call & Ask For A Go-Cart Loan
That kind of misunderstanding goes on inside credit unions, too, especially about what the member experience is like. For that reason, Eric Cotter of CU Direct offered this challenge. “How many of you have walked the member path? (No hands were raised.) Walk the path of your members. Walk the path of a payday loan. Call your loan center and say, ‘I’d like to get a $75 loan for a go-cart,’ and hear what they say. Innovation is not some magic, fancy word. It’s about knowing your member so well that you can empathize with their problems. I try to live by that. We believe at CU Direct if we do that and we inject that time and time again, we all win.”
And If You Can Do That...
House Financial Services Committee member Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) made an appearance at a session on supplemental capital and the need for legislation. Sherman did not have particularly good news about the prognosis in Congress, btw, as you can see here. But he did draw laughs after suggesting that one thing that might help CUs would be if the movement could partner with banks on certain legislation. But then he added, “And the two people who are able to do this will then go to the Middle East and negotiate peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”
Honorees Are Recognized
- A number of people were honored during the California and Nevada league meeting.
They included: Eric Bruen and Joe Schroeder, as winners of the Distinguished Service Awards; Herb Long and Grant Mickins, as winners of the J. Alvin George Outstanding Volunteer Award; Jason Mertiz with the Tomorrow’s Star Award; and Shon Wellborn and CU*Northwest with the Kim Bannan Eternal Flame Award.
- The league’s highest honor, the Leo Shapiro Lifetime Achievement Award, went to Vern Elliott, who during his career worked or volunteered at San Diego County, TRW, Cal Bear, Tiger Federal, Western Federal, Raincross, and Pacific Community CU. He also worked for California league and originally sold idea of a credit union ATM network, now known as CO-OP.