Back in the day (20+ years ago) I worked at Sears while attending college and their layaway program was popular. Last night, I received an email from Sears announcing layaway is back. Today, a teammate sent me this link on layaway from MSN Money. Was thinking how layaway can promote thrift. Also thought that credit unions could help members with their layaway plans. I think we should allow members to designate their own layaway at the credit union by setting up a savings account, declare how much they need to save and what they are saving for, place a hold on the account until the goal is reached, pay a dividend on the account, and then pay it out to the member when they reach the goal. Instead of the retailer getting “free money” until the merchandise is paid for, allow the member to save while earning a dividend. This is essentially what the CU Warrior is trying to do with his “What are you saving for” campaign.

I recently had the privilege of being a participant in a half day session with Doug Hall, founder and CEO of the Eureka Ranch. I have pages of notes and would highly recommend you seize any opportunity to hear him talk. Here are three credit union thoughts to ponder:

1. If you are not unique you had better be cheap
2. Great credit unions have a soul and a mission
3. You had better be growing new members

The news is circulating about Zopa leaving the United States market and the impact it has on the six participating credit unions and their members in the Zopa program. FORUM Credit Union was one of six credit unions piloting the US Zopa model. Our volume has been minuscule and likely the lowest of the six participating credit unions. There will be no impact to the members participating in the program as their insured certificates of deposit and their personal loans will be transferred to the credit union for servicing. The decision to exit was made by Zopa and is not reflective of the credit union’s ability to participate. As credit union friend Sarah Mason from Affinity Plus Credit Union succinctly stated, “As one of the credit unions who were partnered with Zopa, I would like to clarify that we have no credit availability issues and have changed none of our lending practices. This decision was made by Zopa.” Well stated.

I have been quiet on the topic out of respect for Zopa and the potential for some type of credit union CUSO (not FORUM Solutions) or credit union centric type of organization continuing the program. While continuation might happen, it won’t take place without a gap in service. Zopa never could gain the traction they needed here in the US and I am sure the latest turn in the economic climate was likely the last straw and thus their quick decision to exit. They were prudent with their promotion of the program and the pilot program. I still believe there is a place in peer-to-peer lending for credit unions, especially if it is run by a credit union centric organization, preferably a CUSO, and credit unions could leverage select employee groups in the framework. Just not sure if the timing is right given the economic climate.

On October 1-2, we held our fourth annual Partnership Symposium at FORUM Solutions. We had 130+ attendees in town for the event and at least another 25 or so virtually via the Internet. The symposium originated as the TAPS Lending user group meeting. With our sale of TAPS Lending earlier this year we weren’t sure what to expect as far as attendance. We knew we had some momentum in building a relevant event, yet we also know how time starved everyone is and how many conference event options are available. We experimented with a slightly different format (thanks Ron Shevlin for the suggestion and delivering on the concept), streaming live over the Internet (thanks Brent Dixon for your help with this) and held over some components that worked last year. The team here at FORUM Solutions hopes those of you that devoted your time and energy found it to be a worthy pursuit. We don’t know if there will be a ‘09 symposium. We are working on an idea for next year so stay tuned for details and please contact us if you have suggestions. In the spirit of transparency here are the survey results and some links related to symposium content:

Couldn’t make this year’s symposium? Don’t fret we are streaming live on the web. Click here to not only follow but to participate – you can submit your questions and chat with attendees.

Taking the King’s Schilling by Chip Filson of Callahans. A thought provoking piece (part one of a three part series) about these interesting times.

On Thursday of last week, the ignite working teams met in downtown Indy to fine tune their innovations and prepare for their presentations at the Indiana Credit Union League. I must say the igniters rock as all four teams have implementation success stories to share. Stay tuned here for more details as we publish their innovation blueprints and their results. We were honored to have Ms. Myra Borshoff-Cook from Borshoff Communications speak at our meeting. Not only is she a successful entrepreneur, she was a key player in the city’s bid to secure the 2012 Super Bowl. I have two full pages of notes. Three quick hits related to credit unions are as follows:

Ben Rogers and Travis Carnahan pointed me to this post on lifehacker. Ben’s post on the Filene blog sums it up better than I can.

I attended the Indiana Credit Union League’s Annual Convention late last week and this weekend. On Friday morning, Governor Mitch Daniels, spoke to the attendees for about thirty minutes. He spoke candidly and took open questions from the audience. I was impressed with his knowledge of credit unions, he is a member of two, and his desire to enable credit union awareness and powers during this financial situation. He remarked that credit unions are a bright spot in the current situation and act as a counter balance to the other players in the financial services sector. He specifically mentioned he felt it was time to expand the ability for credit unions to conduct business lending. The Credit Union Times reported on the appearance and local CBS affiliate, WISH TV, interviewed John McKenzie, President of the Indiana Credit Union League, and Rick Rice, CEO of Teachers Credit Union.

This video from CNN is circulating credit union land so I thought I would post the link here. Click on the “click for QuickView above the text body to launch the video. Was watching W’s speech tonight and when he was touting the safety of the FDIC insurance I was hoping that credit unions might get a mention. Not to be – maybe another day. I have heard that CUNA is lobbying for more press coverage about the NCUSIF when the FDIC coverage is mentioned. You might want to check out Dan Mica’s video on the CUNA home page.

I am all for making my wallet obsolete. No, I am not talking about the ongoing financial situation, but instead new technology potentially impacting the traditional wallet. Less to carry and less to keep track of would be a nice convenience. This article by Steve Hamm from BusinessWeek outlines First Data’s initiative to replace cards with pea-sized chips. Wonder if merchants and issuers will embrace the technology or perhaps I should say “when will they”?

The CEO of Zopa, Doug Dalton, appears on CNBC to shed some light on Zopa and promote the credit union relationship. Doug does an excellent job in this video explaining the concept especially considering the short window he was given and the questions presented to him.

I recently tuned in to Nala Henkel’s first Cuckoo Podcast and was surprised to hear her speaking to her 13 year-old daughter about the financial institution that her daughter was considering. Come to find out, she wanted to join this particular FI because of the color of their debit card… I read a lot of blogs and see many in the CU industry talking about what products and services we can offer to differentiate ourselves, define our niche, be the preferred financial institution…you get the picture. Now one thing I haven’t seen (maybe I am not reading the right blogs), is how organizations are making product decisions based on “how cool their debit card looks to a 13 year old” (this is Gen Y folks!)… This teen didn’t care what the bank offered, just that she could use the debit card and that it looked cool when she was with her friends. Something to think about…

For Better Banking, Check Out a Credit Union written by Brett Arends of the Wall Street Journal. Some great stuff in the article and credit unions are grateful for the coverage. One suggestion that credit unions should consider – developing a better web site for readers and potential members to check out the concept of credit unions and/or to find a credit union. In my opinion the creditunion.coop website is lacking the image and substance we want to portray when we get such national coverage.

I’ll be finishing up a soda provided at the refreshment break of the Partnership Symposium and getting ready to engage in the event’s first ever Idea eXchange. The cool thing is that the participants actually get to do the talking…Don’t get me wrong, a conversation line up including a Warrior, a Skeptic and someone excited enough in today’s economy to talk about the joys of being Young and Free in the same context is truly some exciting stuff; however, talking with bloggers, speakers, credit union space veterans and novices alike about topics of interest in today’s world is pretty exciting too. So, will you be there with us to engage in the conversation? Space is still available to sign up for this year’s Symposium so click the link to register and be thinking about what you are looking forward to trading info on at this year’s Idea eXchange…(note: even if talking isn’t your thing, just wait until you see what is happening at Dinner on Wednesday…Guitar Hero and Rock Band return with a night of fun, games and good conversation…with a little bit of Oktoberfest, FORUM Solutions style.)

See you in October…

A few years ago CUES published a report with the help of Decision Strategies International entitled 2010 Scenarios for Credit Unions. If you can get a copy, I highly recommend reading it. One of the scenarios involved rampant disintermediation of financial services. Or in other words unbundling (unlike the cable and telco companies are trying to do with their services) of services to best of breed providers. I believe we are on the cusp of this in the financial services world with more and more non-traditional financial companies entering the financial services arena with unique and compelling services. Might I say, unique and compelling services that can make the financial lives of consumers easier. Last week, I was reading my Springwise trend spotting email and there was another fine example in Facecard. An offering directly targeted to young consumers. You might want to check out their YouTube videos. I am hoping Jim Bruene does a review on Facecard. Something to think about as you enter your 2009 planning sessions.

I was reading the July edition of the Callahan’s Credit Union Report and there on page 6 was a great credit union friend of mine, Diana Dykstra – CEO at San Francisco Fire Credit Union, with a piece she wrote on an idea she has – Member Capital Accounts. First, a little story about Diana one of the smartest and most innovative people I know in any industry. Eighteen years ago I was a young whipper-snapper just in my second year at the credit union and out of college. I was trying to learn all I could about consumer lending and Diana was frequently in the credit union trade publications with fresh ideas and talking about the success she was creating as the person in charge of lending at Golden 1 Credit Union. Well, I had an upcoming conference in San Jose that I was attending and not being the bashful type I called her up and asked if I could stop by for a visit to meet her and see what I could learn from her. I didn’t expect this busy executive and credit union icon to say “yes” to my request. Well, was I wrong. She said come on out and then proceeded to spend an entire day with me answering my every question. Wow, what an experience that I haven’t forgotten about to this day. She continues to amaze me with her leadership and her innovation. Now, back to the article and another great Diana idea.

I am a loyal Fast Company reader and I am talking cover to cover reader and the magazine comes to the house instead of the workplace. Read a lot of stuff on the Internet and in electronic format, but something about Fast Company makes me want to read the paper version. In this month’s issue on page 80 is Matt Davis, aka the CU Warrior, with his what are you saving for program. Love it. Have been waiting for a credit union innovation to be featured in these pages and Matt delivered. Oh and by the way, the CU Warrior will be hosting a session at our symposium – just another reason to come to Indy on October 1-2. Bring your magazine and I am betting he will sign it.

Each week I read the Indianapolis Business Journal and I have been following the start-up ventures of personal financial management offerings like Mint. The two intersected last week as I read the August 4-10 edition of the IBJ and specifically Jim Cota’s review of Mint. It is a solid review and like many Mint users Jim was impressed. The only thing that I wish Jim would have pointed out is Mint’s revenue model. The fact Mint earns revenue from financial service providers that make offers via recommendations in Mint should be fully disclosed. Users should understand this as they sort through the offers. Yes, they might getting a better deal than what they have which is a good thing. You just have to wonder if they are getting the best deal they could or if all of the offers are in the consumer’s best interest?

Here is a post on the NACUSO blog regarding a conversation I had with Jim Jerving earlier this week. I am not an expert on the topic of innovation – just trying to add value to our members here at FORUM – anyway I can. I invite you to join the conversation – we all need to get better in serving our members – our future depends on it.

My teammate, Andy, placed a one page handout from the book, Winning at Retail: Developing a Sustained Model at Retail Success by authors Willard Ander and Neil Stern on my desk a few minutes ago. I just got back from a productive meeting and read it while I redocked my laptop. I enjoyed the read – quick and to the point. There are five “EST” areas in which a retailer can excel.

1. Cheap-Est – winning with price
2. Big-Est – winning with dominant assortments (inventories / services)
3. Hot-Est – winning with fashion (forward positioning)
4. Easy-Est – winning with solution-oriented service
5. Quick-Est – winning with fast service

Note to credit unions – smiley-Est was not one of the five. My take?

Read with interest about the new service offered by an Amsterdam based bank offering a private banking service where wealthy clients keep their receipts in a shoebox and then a courier picks up the shoebox and brings it to the bank for the banking representative to track the transactions from the box contents. When I was an active member of Filene i3 I was in a small group that discussed this idea and how we could implement at the credit union. Instead of focusing on wealth though we were trying to figure out how to offer this convenience to members who were doing most of their financial business with the credit union. We ultimately picked another idea to pursue, yet I still frequently think about this idea. I even thought that this would be a business opportunity for an entrepreneur. Collecting and tracking this information for consumers – not offering advice, simply collecting and tracking. Many people despise the task. Plus, I have seen some overstuffed wallets and purses with receipts flowing everywhere out there in society. There is an obvious need as consumers are time starved and often don’t know where to start in tracking their financial lives. Tracking is important for the sake of efficiency and making sound money decisions. I think the secret is in the simplicity of the shoebox.

Throughout the last five years or so I have been blogging about an idea I worked on while a member of the Filene i3 group called MoneyWorks. When asked for a one sentence explanation of MoneyWorks, I would always reply that it was Tupperware parties for credit unions. The MoneyWorks program was implemented at FORUM Credit Union as Common Cents and has now morphed in to a program called the Unofficial Spokesperson or USP for short.

I recently heard a USP update from Andrew Spirrison, retail delivery guru here at FORUM CU, and asked him to write a quick update post for this blog. Here are his words…

I guess I should have entitled this just gold, silver, bronze since the Olympic games are in full swing, but Olympic commentary is not the purpose of this entry. Want Olympic commentary? Okay, that Michael Phelps guy is good, really really good. Instead the purpose is to remind you that we would be honored to include you and your company as sponsor partners for our upcoming symposium starting on October 1 and to let you know it is not too late to participate as a sponsor. Here at FORUM Solutions we think it is tiring to see the multi-levels typcially labeled with precious metals as sponsor opportunities. We prefer the simple customized approach here. If you are interested just let us know how you would like to be involved and how much you would like to contribute and we will make it happen. For example, want to offer a prize to the best Nintendo Wii Rock Band competitors at the symposium? Please join great company in ServiceCorp, “filinx,”http://filinx.com/ The Members Group, and New Ground and help us continue the fine tradition we have going at the symposium. You can contact us at the bottom of our web site.

Ever wonder what the "Branch of the Future" will look like? Perhaps you already have the perfect prototype in your mind - at least in your humble opinion... With your input and a little help from our friends at NewGround, we will be slowly constructing a large-scale model of the "Branch of the Future" through-out this year's Partnership Symposium. Wouldn't you like to throw in your two cents? Come on, what are you waiting for? Sign-up for the 2008 Partnership Symposium, we'd love to see you there!

CU Warrior earns his name with a come from behind effort to take first place and win the guest spot at this year’s symposium. The final results are as follows:

417 unique voters:

• CU Warrior – Matt Davis claims 41.3% of the votes
• The Director – Ginny Brady had a strong showing with 30.7% of the votes
• The Vendor – Thrifty CU from Jwaala came in with 18.9%
• The Loop – Andy LaFlamme claimed 9.1%

With 342 unique voters the race is as follows:

• Audition 1 – The Vendor – Thrifty CU – 22.5%
• Audition 2 – The Director – Thrift 3.0 – 36.8%
• Audition 3 – The Loop – Andy Laflamme – 7%
• Audition 4 – The Warrior – Matt Davis – 33.7%

If you have been in the undecided space, now is your time to move and cast your vote. We appreciate all who have voted and followed our own little exciting election. Stay tuned for the final results.

With 302 unique voters the race is as follows:

• Audition 1 – The Vendor – Thrifty CU – 23.5%
• Audition 2 – The Director – Thrift 3.0 – 35%
• Audition 3 – The Loop – Andy Laflamme – 8%
• Audition 4 – The Warrior – Matt Davis – 33.5%

Folks, only four votes separate first and second in the polls. Your vote counts – stay tuned for updates.

With 260 unique voters the race is as follows:

• Audition 1 – The Vendor – Thrifty CU – 26%
• Audition 2 – The Director – Thrift 3.0 – 30%
• Audition 3 – The Loop – Andy Laflamme – 8%
• Audition 4 – The Warrior – Matt Davis – 36%

A close race – only 16 votes separating first and second. Keep them coming.

We now have 174 unique voters who have made their voice heard. I like Ron Shevlin’s descriptions for the contestants so here are the current voting results:

• Audition 1 – The Vendor – Thrifty CU – 26%
• Audition 2 – The Director – Thrift 3.0 – 30%
• Audition 3 – The Loop – Andy Laflamme – 4%
• Audition 4 – The Warrior – Matt Davis – 40%

As you can tell we have a hot race for the guest speaker spot. Keep the votes coming and we will keep you updated.

Brisk voting towards the end of the week and this weekend has brought the following results after 60 voters (remember one member – one vote):

• Audition 1 – Thrifty CU – Jwaala – 12%
• Audition 2 – Thrift 3.0 – Ginny Brady – 53%
• Audition 3 – Andy Laflamme – 5%
• Audition 4 – CU Warrior – Matt Davis – 30%

Polls are open until July 11 so please take the time to vote.

When Ron Shevlin speaks – we listen here at FORUM Solutions. Ron will serve as the host of the upcoming FORUM Solutions – Trabian Partnership Symposium and has been a big supporter of the event since attending and speaking at last year’s event. Ron suggested that we open up the selection process for the open speaking slot to you, ala American Idol. At the present time, we have four stellar entries to choose from. If there are others out there then please let us know. Please visit this page to view the video auditions and cast your vote. This is important stuff here so take your voting privileges seriously. Just ask Tim McAlpine. We want you to vote for the candidate that will add the most value to the symposium and not just the cleverness of the video – they are all exceptional so focus on the value. We also don’t want any hanging chads or Michigan and Florida delegate issues so we are asking you to enter your name and email address to validate the vote after you choose your candidate. We also wanted to avoid bots being written to vote non-stop in an attempt to sway the democratic process. Stay tuned for the results as we will post them periodically. Rock the Vote!

This post was originally a live blogging of an Indiana Credit Union League event entitled, The Power of the Network presented by Randy Karnes, CEO of CUAnswers. Then work got in the way so now three days have passed. The nuggets of wisdom are still fresh and are as follows:

Like Lending Tree, but for deposits – MoneyAisle. This is another example of an innovation that changes the consumer’s experience in conducting their financial affairs.

If you have time, please check out my guest post on the Open Source CU blog as I would welcome your feedback. Please know that this post is an expression of my opinions and should not be reflective of my employer or teammates here at FORUM. I probably should type out some legally correct way of saying that, but I wouldn’t do that to you. Also, don’t think for a second that I am calling out credit unions across the land and saying everything is perfect from where I sit. We have our own challenges and intense competition we are dealing with. What I can say is that I absolutely enjoy a great environment to contribute to the success of the credit union and attempt to offer innovative and relevant offerings for the good of the membership. Thanks Open Source CU team for the opportunity.

All of the speakers at the upcoming FORUM Solutions/Trabian Partnership Symposium are encouraged to submit a guest post to help promote the event. Being the not-so-subtle, highly over-exposed credit union marketer that I am, I thought I would just cut to the chase with an old-fashioned sales pitch. Here goes (best read with a high-energy, monster-truck-loving announcer voice).

Have you registered for the FORUM Solutions/Trabian Partnership Symposium yet? No? What's up with that? This is the hands-down best emerging technology conference in the credit union space. Here are five reasons that you need to stop what you are doing right now, mark your calendar for October 1 and 2, 2008 and register now!

Thanks to the Gail and Laura at the Kentucky Credit Union League as well as the participants at the annual conference, I felt right at home in Louisville during my one day stay by the river for their annual conference. I appreciate the opportunity to host the conversation on future lending trends. The participation level was great, especially at the first session. As promised here are the links to some of the sites we discussed: SpotYa , Zopa , Virgin Money , Fynanz , Prosper , Red Frog , Home Equity Share , Life Changing Loan , CU Realty Services , and NetBanker . Thanks for the opportunity and please reach out to me if you have any questions or would like to continue the conversation.

You have to fight for your right to parttttyyyyy – Beastie Boys. A recent Wall Street Journal article by Jennifer Levitz, entitled “Hi, My Name Is Fred, And I’m Addicted to Credit Cards” brought my attention back to the idea of credit union’s hosting Tupperware like parties on the topic of financial thrift. I believe the article validates that there likely is consumer demand for knowledge pertaining to how to improve one’s financial life, specifically how to ween oneself off of the credit card addiction that so many Americans suffer from. Personally, I believe the Filene Research Institutes i3 idea called MoneyWorks could be modified to serve this need and make a real difference for credit union members.

Another reason to get fired up about being a part of the conversation at the symposium in October is to see what Tim will share with us. The invitation is yours. I promise the event will be worthy of your time investment. I am willing to bet that Tim won’t let Larissa come with him to Indy because he knows she will scorch him in Guitar Hero.

Yes indeed, there is more than corn in Indiana as Tim McAlpine is coming to the Hoosier state on Wednesday, July 17 to host the Indiana Credit Union League’s Marketing Roundtable. As you may know, Tim is a friend of FORUM Solutions and will be back again in Indy for our partnership symposium on October 1-2. If you haven’t yet had a conversation with Tim, now is your time and I would encourage you to come to both his session on July 17 and back to our symposium in October. I am sure he will talk about Young & Free and Red Frog. The bigger question is… is he bringing Aidan to visit the world’s largest children’s museum?

At our second meeting last week with the igniters the four teams gave presentations on how their innovation projects are progressing. The teams exceeded my expectations. The goal for the four teams is to have their idea implemented for at least one credit uniona and provide a blueprint for other credit unions on how to implement their idea by the September Indiana Credit Union League Annual Conference. This meeting was a check-up and a chance to solicit feedback and assistance from the other teams. Read more on what the The Combustible 5, iCITTE, Taped Crusaders, and Perspective are working on here in Indiana – the hotbed of innovation and home to the 2012 Super Bowl.

Last week the igniters gathered at the FORUM Conference Center for their second meeting. They provided updates on their innovation projects which I will be posting about here later today or tomorrow. One of the components of the ignite meetings is to have a guest speaker outside of the credit union space to come in and talk about their business and how they innovate in their business to be relevant to their customers. We were blessed to have Mr. Lyle Feigenbaum, Owner of the Scholars Inn Bed and Breakfast in Bloomington and the Scholars Inn Restaurant in Indianapolis come talk to us about his businesses. What an amazing person and story he has to tell. Please read more about the nuggets of wisdom I jotted down during his talk.

We have received another video entry for the guest speaking slot at the symposium. This one comes from Andrew Taylor, CTO at Jwaala. Andrew is on the left. We like what Jwaala is doing in the market and this video ties in to our thrift theme. Thanks for the entry. Please keep them coming and please join us at this year's symposium on October 1-2.

Last year we started a tradition with our symposium in that we opened up a guest speaker slot by the way of a video audition contest. You know kind of like the auditions for American Idol or Survivor? Tim McAlpine from Currency Marketing was our inaugural winner and set the bar in a high place. On Friday, Brent posted on Open Source CU, our first two entries for this year’s guest speaker. The two videos inspired me and made me realize how fortunate we are to have such passionate people that want to be involved with the symposium. Check out the entries from Ginny and Andy here. Come on, a Board Member and a young professional, both passionate about credit unions – it doesn’t get any better. If you want to be considered for a guest speaker role, please get your entry to us by June 30. If you haven’t made up your mind yet to come to the symposium this year, then just watch the videos and look at the lineup we have assembled – you will realize that you owe it to yourself to come enjoy great fellowship with people who share your passion.

This year marks my 20th here at FORUM. When I have the privilege of speaking at credit union events, I have to provide an introduction. I don’t like doing this as it always makes me feel uncomfortable. The last thing you want to do is bore people with a list of stuff you have done before you get up and try to be relevant to them for the next one to eight hours depending on the engagement. At the same time, you want to provide a glimpse in to who you are and why you deserve the audience’s attention. Humility is a trait that I admire and respect and I want to live by it. I usually just tell the unlucky person who drew the short straw to do my introduction that I am a credit union lifer. My parents opened my first credit union account shortly after I was born at the former Naval Avionics Credit Union, now called Family Horizons Credit Union. And my one and only career upon graduation from college has been at FORUM. Credit unions have been in my life. FORUM is a great place to work and one validation of that statement just came this past week when FORUM was named as one of the Best Places to Work in Indiana by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Thank you to the Wisconsin Credit Union League for the opportunity to speak at your annual conference this past Friday. Jennifer and Linda from the League were awesome to work with and I appreciate their hospitality. I also appreciate the participation involved with my two sessions. The first one – A Lending Timeout – was great conversation and special thanks to Focus CU for the courage to join me up front and talk about your credit union. I was very impressed with their ability to carve out a niche and make it a reality. Plus, their name and logo are snazzy and fresh.

Later this week I am headed to the Wisconsin Dells for the Wisconsin Credit Union League’s 74th Annual Convention and Exposition. The event takes place at the Kalahari Resort. I am told that the Dells just might be the waterpark capital of the civilized world. I think I visited the Dells or drove through them once as a young child, but I really can’t remember. I am presenting two topics both on Friday afternoon.

As you may know we have been involved with Zopa since before the official US launch here at FORUM and we remain proud to be a part of the Zopa community. Zopa has been receiving some accolades recently including best in class and best in show at the recent Finovate StartUp show in San Francisco. They competed with 40 start-ups in the financial sector. In addition, Zopa has been mentioned in the national press.

Here at FORUM we are supporters of the United Way and many other local charities. On Friday, we are launching our Pennies for Change progam with the United Way. Our members will be able to enroll in this program where for every time they use their debit card with a signature the transaction will round up one penny and this penny will be donated by the member to the United Way. A simple way to make a difference for the United Way – one penny at a time. Our FORUM Solutions teammate, Nathan, is the man behind the scenes making this process an efficient one for all involved. This program opens many doors for the credit union to work along side the membership to make a difference in our local community.

Here at FORUM, we are in the process of implementing a new interaction solution with Adapt and Interactive Intelligence. We are internally calling it an interaction solution as it is much more than just a phone system. This solution truly impacts how we interact with our members via multiple delivery channels such as phone, chat, email, audio response, etc… At one of our first meetings with key stakeholders we talked about what the ultimate delivery solution would look like and we tried to steer clear of ideas like call queues and phone trees. One way to begin looking through a different lens at such a solution is to look outside the financial service sector for ideas. What interactions do you like as a consumer and how can such experiences translate in to what we are trying to build?

It's not everyday that a company can celebrate two milestone birthdays back-to-back. Fortunately for us here at FORUM Solutions, that is the case. Today one of our teammates, Mike, is celebrating his 50th birthday! Hopefully one of his presents is a pair of scissors...

One of our teammates, Paul, has a milestone birthday today - really the first one that can be considered a milestone in your working years - and this is the love he received from the team. No measurements on how large the foil ball is that is being formed from the clean-up and then recycling.

The Credit Union Journal has reported on the formation of a new CUSO focused on developing an industry-wide metric to gauge and measure credit union member loyalty. FORUM is excited to have Michelle Bloedorn, the CUSO’s executive director and former marketing executive at Baxter CU, and Diana Dykstra, CEO at San Francisco FCU, as speakers at this year’s Partnership Symposium.

If you haven’t seen it yet, please check out the announcement on the Open Source CU blog related to our 2nd annual speaking audition contest for our upcoming Partnership Symposium. Skeptical (not CU Skeptic skeptical, but somewhat skeptical) that this is a golden opportunity? Then talk to Tim McAlpine and he will tell you his experience. We know you are out there and want to be a part of this fun and thought provoking event so get your camera rolling.

Hey there you are… thanks for turning the page from True Story to the FORUM Solutions site. Notice the cleaner look over here and you don’t have to worry about that scary picture in the frame staring at you now. Indeed, the timing is right as we are working on many exciting projects here at FORUM Solutions and you will be able to hear about them here and from the teammates that are working on the projects.

Ten years – what a ride. In five short words this is the best way I can think of to communicate the time in which I had the privilege of working along side my friend and FORUM Solutions co-founder, Cam Minges. If you haven’t heard, Cam Minges has accepted an executive position at Vantage Credit Union in St. Louis.

Last year I agreed to take on Ron Shevlin live to debate the issue of Net Promoter Score. I am very passionate about this amazing metric because it provides actionable data (and reliable data) that will help you improve your credit union’s reputation and build loyalty. Remember loyalty?

This year, I’m excited to hear my friend Diana Dykstra, CEO of San Francisco Fire Credit Union and a self-proclaimed Net Promoter Score zealot, share her success with NPS at the FORUM Solutions Trabian Partnership Symposium.

Have you been keeping up with the Currency Marketing podcasts? They are up to 5 now, with the latest featuring our own Doug True.

This year I'm speaking at at least three conferences. I'm exited about each one of them, but I'm starting to think of the first two as a lead in to the third one, which is the one I'm most excited about. In each of my conference presentations, I am exploring topics of social marketing, corporate social responsibility, social media and credit unions, narrowing in on the essence of the story I'm trying to tell. In each one I'm getting a little closer to a greater truth: That credit unions can improve our communities directly through our work as local financial institutions.

I attended a luncheon today in which Congressman Dan Burton spoke primarily about the importance of the US gaining fuel independence from foreign countries and how this ties to national security. At the conclusion of the Congressman’s prepared remarks he answered questions from the audience, made up primarily of small business owners. The questions were pretty routine, except for one that really sticks in my mind. The question from this small business owner was (in summary), “businesses can no longer call or e-mail our prospective customers. How are we supposed to get our message out and how can we gain support from Congress in these efforts?

The news is out that TAPS® has been sold to Akcelerant Software. Make no mistake, the decision to sell all rights to future sales and servicing of the software was not an easy one, but one that in the end is the right decision to make.

You’re all familiar by now with organized peer to peer lending structures like Zopa and Prosper, but many residents and business owners in Vermont are going back to true community lending, in its purest form.

Yes, it’s finally happened! A credit union executive has been named GonzoBanker of the Month. Even better, it’s FORUM’s own Doug True taking home the honors. Congratulations, Doug, on truly deserved recognition for innovation at FORUM and for sharing your ideas and insights with credit unions across the country.

Australian-based Fosik is the latest peer-to-peer lending site to spring up. It’s messaging and layout are similar to other P2P sites – enticing borrowers to “bypass the banks and get a better rate.” They also promote their site as a way to formalize lending among family members.

The hype for the 2008 Partnership Symposium is starting early this year! Our speakers are talking about what they will share with the group and you can hear the excitement in their posts. Attendees – speakers are open to your suggestions on their topics so read their blogs and share your thoughts before they take the stage.

Have you heard about Jott? It’s being marketed in an interesting way. Take a look at some of the YouTube videos promoting it. I like the one promoting Jott as a way to be safe in your car – don’t text and drive, “it’s so unsafe.” I also liked the video of the young man saying Jott would be great for his parents – he just hates it when they call him while he’s out with friends.

Over the past several months we have shared several innovations Canada’s largest Credit Union, Vancity has launched. There’s another credit union and credit union innovator in Canada you should really get to know, if you haven’t already. It’s Mount Lehman and its leader Gene Blishen. In contrast to Vancity, Mount Lehman has 1,800 members and 10 employees. But as their leader, Gene Blishen, will tell you, size is relative.

FORUM’s friends at the Mid-Missouri Credit Union are hosting a lending conference March 12 – 13 at the Thousand Hills Golf Resort in Branson, MO. FORUM is happy to participate in the conference, sharing our involvement with bringing social lending to our members through Zopa.

On the heels of the 2007 Partnership Symposium – view some of the feedback videos – the team at FORUM Solutions is already looking forward to collaborating with forward-thinking peers in 2008!

My name is Matt Fagala and I was invited to do a “guest post” on the Forum Solutions blog and share some results about a large effort my credit union implemented recently. You may have heard about it…it’s called the “Roundabout” and it’s something we’ve been developing together with Forum Solutions for the past couple years.