SCMS New Faculty On Board for Summer 2010 Session

Fresh faces are on board to join the Southwest CUNA Management School faculty team and challenge students forward:

· Matt Davis  (AKA "The Credit Union Warrior") partnered with Filene Research Institute, Matt joins Denise Gabel for the 1 1/2 days of Innovation classes with 2nd & 3rd year students.

· Julie Ferguson, JRF Consulting Services brings a wealth of credit union and business development background to Grad School.

· David Goldsmith, MetaMatrix Consulting Group, Inc., is about to have a book published on strategic planning. He’s the final class for 1st year students, charged with sending them out challenged and future focused.

· Mike Petrone, CFE, CFSA joins us from CUNA Mutual Group (CMG) for the 1st year Risk Management course. In 2002, Mike was honored with the 2nd annual Michael G. Hallinan Risk Management Choice Award.

· Shawn Temple (one of last year’s Award of Excellence recipients), Bossier FCU, joins the team to work with students on the project (a two-year strategic business plan) requirements.

· Amanda Vega,  Amanda Vega Consulting brings real world experience to help second year students make strategic decisions related to social media and their  credit unions.

 

For a complete faculty team and course listing, scholarship information (deadline this week), and school application, visit www.scms.coop.

Excitement mounts as registrations come in for this year's first year class. To give you an idea of what students looks like:

• They are coming from Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and possibly Africa.

• They hold titles ranging from President, Manager, Director, COO, VP, Accounting, Business Services Representative, Branch Manager, to E-Branch Manager and more.

• The credit union asset sizes range from under $20 million to around $1 billion

• The students range in age from early 20's to 50's. They have 2 to 28 years service in credit unions, with 2 to 33 years in the financial services industry.

• Education backgrounds range from Masters Degrees to High School Grads.

Thank you Bossier FCU for enrolling three in the first year class and to numerous credit unions who continue to enroll credit unions year after year!

 

TechMecca Live Stream - Jason Marshall

Aaron (aka @acm1985) just wrapped up his session with Jason Marshall at TechMecca about mobile banking.

Be sure to follow along and check out the latest live streams from TechMecca here.

Mobile Banking – Putting Your Credit Union in Your Member's Pocket

Kent White, VP of Marketing from Amplify CU, discussed the ins and outs of mobile banking and how your credit union can extend its brand and reach into the most personal electronic device consumers own.  He also discussed how mobile banking paves the way for the future of remote transactions.

Watch the interview with Ken below with key mobile banking insights:

Did You Know? Now That You Do- How Will This Affect Your Credit Union?

Very interesting video on change and where the world is going. Now that you do know, how does this affect your credit union? Do you know? Blog back and tell us how!

Can your members find you… on GOOG-411?

How many times have you been out on the road and needed a phone number or help finding your destination.  In the past, you had only a couple options. 

1. Stop and use a pay phone – better have quarters… do they even exist anymore?
2. Ask the gas station clerk – hope it’s not at night in a bad part of town
3. Call 411 on your cell phone – you just burned a dollar or two

Of course times have changed and 411 is so old school … which is why it is ranked up there with the other two.  411 has gotten more expensive over the years to use.  Depending on your carrier, it can cost you a dollar or more to look up a phone number or directions. 

Now there is a new way to find the info you are looking for when you are out on the road.  It’s called GOOG-411 and is brought to you by no one other than Google.

Who would have thought that a search engine company would expand to a FREE 411 service?  Plus it is totally voice automated and gives you more than just a phone number. Watch the video below to learn more.

As Google expands their market reach outside of the search engine computer based world, GOOG-411 is helping to expand their brand.  This was such a creative and innovative way for them to reach a new market.

With that being said though, can your members find you on Goog -411? I was out the other day and needed to call a CU I was visiting and let them know I was running a bit late (thanks to Houston traffic).  So I whipped out my Motorola Q9c pocket PC phone and called 1-800-GOOG-411.  I spoke the info but the service could not find the CU. 

I thought that’s weird, it is giving me all these other CUs around them in the same market but not the one I need.  This is what inspired this posting.  From a member service stand point, as members become more technology savvy, it is important that your CU be found through all possible channels.

So check out GOOG-411 today and see if your credit union can be found.  Just call 1-800-GOOG-411 and follow the voice prompts.  If your CU can not be found, GOOG-411 uses listing information provided by Google Maps. To edit your information in GOOG-411, please refer to the editing instructions for Google Maps.

Other options for mobile solutions that will help members find info they need on the go are mobile banking.  This does not mean you need a full blown mobile web site with interactive banking but can be just a very simple informational mini web site with basic information such as phone numbers, atm search, etc.  This gives your members what they need when they are out on the road.

We would love for you to share how you are currently helping reach mobile customers while they are on the go.  Share your thoughts and ideas below.