By Frank J. Diekmann
Yes, it’s still about location, location, location, but for one recent credit union event the reason for the location was different than any other prior CU gathering.
While many event organizers like to talk about networking and agendas, the reality is it’s still location that drives attendance, especially if board members are involved. The location of the recent African American Credit Union Coalition’s meeting was also very much intentional, but in this case for what it represented.
As CUToday.info reported, the meeting was held at Stone Mountain, Ga., on whose face has been carved the largest high relief sculpture in the world, the Confederate Memorial Carving that features Confederate President Jefferson Davis and generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
“We intentionally selected to host our annual conference in Stone Mountain to see the mountain in a different light, specifically on perspective,” said Maurice Smith, the retired CEO of Local Government Employees CU and Civic FCU in North Carolina, who said there is opportunity to “heal collectively. I implore you to reflect on our rich history the challenges we've all come to encounter. History seems to be repeating itself and going backwards.”
Smith urged his audience to find resolutions and to prevail once more.
Coming Full Circle
There are few people whose life and career path have been affected by credit unions as Dr. Frederick Pellum. Pellum grew up in the Atlanta area and his mother was close friends with African-American Credit Union Coalition CEO Renee Sattiewhite, whom his own mother refers to as Pellum’s “bonus mama.”
When he was 17 he was asked by Sattiewhite to help stuff some bags for an AACUC meeting.
Today, Dr. Pellum has a background in digital media and taught for 11 years at the University of Miami before leaving because he believed significant amounts of information on finances and money were not reaching a meaningful population in the country, especially African-Americans.
And he was also a keynote speaker at this year’s event—where there were again bags waiting for registrants. Pellum shared, by the way, that the meeting’s location was indeed appropriate, as the first racial slur he ever heard when he was young was at Stone Mountain.
More information can be found here.
Reasons for a Lack of Trust
It was pointed out by Dr. Kimberly Brown-Pellum, a professor of U.S. history (and the wife of Frederick Pellum) that in the wake of the Civil War the U.S. government helped to set up banks for African-Americans and freed slaves, but a lack of support by the government led to failures that took some $3 million in deposits from 60,000 depositors, leading to an erosion of trust by many that lasted generations. You can read more here.
Going Up
Liz Ponder, EVP, chief retail officer with SRP FCU, observed during the AACUC meeting, “I am doing this work because I am hoping someone else will be sitting in this seat who looks just like me. I always say, ‘Send the elevator down because there is someone waiting for it’.”
A Rising Tide
Observed by Rear Admiral (Ret.) Annie Andrews during the AACUC meeting on the role credit unions and individuals can play in financial literacy: “If you didn’t come from a wealthy family, let’s make a wealthy family come from you.”
An Urge to Yak? Remember the Quack
During her recent remarks at the Global Women’s Leadership Network event in Vancouver, Sandra McDowell, a consultant and advocate for the “coach approach” to leadership, themed much of her presentation around the concept that if you are a leader, you need to stop telling people what to do and to especially do a better job of listening.
To remind folks of that whole two ears, one mouth thing, she distributed small, pink rubber duckies as a reminder to “shut the duck up.”
You can read more about what she had to say here.
Finding the Right Words
It can be among the most uncomfortable of situations: when someone has suffered the loss of a loved one and you’re struggling to find the right words.
During an interesting presentation at the World Credit Union Conference on “five habits” to develop that will help people to build better connections (and recruit younger members and employees in the process), author and consultant Riaz Meghji shared with his audience some advice on how to better deal with those moments.
He suggested that after saying “I’m sorry for your loss,” that you ask two questions of the other person, the first being, “What do you want me to know about them?”
“This question is such a beautiful, beautiful invitation for someone to share a piece of that person’s humanity and legacy,” Meghji said. “With every single person I have posed this question to--instead of trying to fix it—I hold space for them.”
The second question: “‘What do you want me to know about what you are going through?’ Every person I have posed this to has given me a beautiful glimpse of what they are going through and they have two words: ‘Thank you’.”
You can find more of what Meghji had to say here.
A Glassy View of the Member
During the World CU Conference, Shree Reddy of PenFed shared an interesting turn of a phrase about how that credit union views members and where they are in their life’s journey.
“We see member experiences on the glass, above the glass and beneath the glass,” he said. “It’s about their experiences and lifestyles that we might not always take into consideration when digitalizing the experience. On the glass is what you are seeing. Behind the glass is the portions of their journey you don’t see. Above the glass is the holistic view of all those experiences. This will force you to put the member in the middle throughout your transformation journey. That gives you the true empathy and ultimately connects back to what leaders are looking for.”
Board Members, Change Your Seat
Observed by Amanda Wantke of First West Credit Union in openinig remarks to the World CU Conferrenc: "Board members, if you’re not sitting next to a young leader right now, find one and ask them for their perspective."
Thinking Outside, Well, You Already Know
In remarks to a general session of the WCUC, consultant James Taylor (no, not that one, as he wasn’t up on a roof) offered this advice: “If you want to think outside the box, don’t work in a box. Work in a circle.”
Taylor, who along with Alison Burns is an “ethical futurist,” also shared a couple of other observations worth noting:
- 61% of 25-34-year-olds highlight sustainability as a key consideration in where they choose to work.
- Great Western Credit Union in the U.K. has given employees the option of extra vacation days should they use a less carbon-intensive means of traveling, say a train vs. an airplane.
You can find more about what Taylor and Burns told credit unions, including about the “three D’s,” here.
Products & Services AND…’
When you’re exposed to the international credit union community one of the first things you will notice is how credit unions in some parts of the world see their role as being so much more than a financial services provider: they are about a holistic approach to making communities better places.
That was readily apparent during the Global Women’s Leadership Network event in Vancouver, when four women made their pitches for empowerment grants that are funded by the GWLN.
Making their pitches, and the proposals they made, were:
- Dorothy Mambulasa, Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives, Ltd., who made a virtual presentation on increasing access to both finances and solar energy products at Fincoop SACCO.
- Enkhchimeg Nergui, partnership specialist, Mongolian National Confederation of Credit Unions, who made a presentation on creating a local business ecosystem that allows credit union members that are part of yak and sheep herder communities to diversify their income and promote eco-friendly and sustainable cashmere production.
- Violet Ndungu, CEO, Muki Sacco (Kenya), who made a presentation on promoting the commercialization of dairy farmers through strengthening and capacity building, increased dairy production, promoting new feed production technologies, and improving access to savings and loans for women and youth on dairy farms.
- Polly Gathoni Waweru, Unisa Sacco Society Limited (Kenya), who made a presentation on creating a training program to promote women credit union empowerment by growing female membership, competencies’ building and leadership opportunities.
Room With a View
The World Council held its closing ceremony at the Vancouver Convention Center. As you can see here, if there is a similar facility in North America that offers a better panorama, I don’t know where it is.
Are You Sure You Work in Credit Unions?
Before one general session began at the World CU Conference I listened as a woman who said she was a branch manager at a credit union in the U.S. explained American credit unions to another woman from Canada. Hey, I understand education on broad issues related to credit unions probably gets sacrificed in all the AML and compliance training for branch staff, but wow! All I can say is if she’s ever on Jeopardy and U.S. Credit Unions is the category, she’ll be hitting negative numbers like that program has never seen.
‘I Need Arms’
Among those in “attendance” and moving about the World Credit Union Conference was Kadie Hochmuth, who wasn’t actually at the show.
Hochmuth was present via a mobile Beam bot, an interactive robot that is approximately five feet tall and that is manufactured by a company that is changing its name to GoBe Robots. The robot belonged to the Vancouver Convention Center.
The robot included an interactive video screen that allows Hochmuth to talk to attendees at the conference in British Columbia from her home in Madison, Wis.
As she is 32 weeks pregnant, Hochmuth was unable to attend. She told CUToday.info the experience is like being on a Teams call.
“I can screen chat. I can navigate. I can talk to people,” she said.
But there are a few disadvantages to attending a conference virtually via a robot.
“I’m very slow. I can’t open doors—I need arms,” said Hochmuth. “Otherwise, the technology is great and it’s really nice to be involved.”
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief of CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info. Mr. Diekmann is also author of several new book, including the brand new “The Last Lyric,” a humorous satire about a murder investigation at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in which every line of dialogue is either a classic pop/rock song title or lyric. Available on Amazon, Apple iBook, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Mr. Diekmann is also author of a non-fiction compilation of the very best & worst he has seen and heard in covering more than 500 CU meetings and conferences, “501 Name Tags: How Everything You Need to Know About Business Can Be Learned at a Conference & Forgotten in the Trade Show.” It is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Lulu, and Smashwords