GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.–Some 35 entries have been submitted to CU*Answers’ 9th Annual Video Contest.
The 35 entries were across three contest categories: 17 entries for the best video idea, 14 for the best 30-second spot idea, and four for the best complete video. The theme for this year’s contest is “Online Retailing 2.0: Redefining Everything Credit Union.”
For the best video idea and 30-second spot idea categories, a committee will review the submissions, select winners, and work with Grand Rapids-based Fulvew Productions to professionally script and produce the winning entries. The winners for all three contests will be announced and debut at the CU*Answers Annual Leadership Conference in June.
Winners will each be awarded $1,500 for their credit union and receive a customized version of their video. The videos will be made available to watch on www.cuatv.com after the CU*Answers Leadership Conference. Past winners and a collection of videos produced by CU*Answers and Fulvew can currently be seen on the site and are available to any credit union to use on their website, lobby monitors, or in some cases, as television spots.
Separately, CU*Answers held its second annual Data Investment Symposium, a focus group event to brainstorm on new investments the CUSO should be making in data. Present were 20 credit union and CUSO leaders and data analysts from across the country, who joined in a conversation with key CU*Answers leaders to contribute their ideas to developing new strategies at the CUSO.
CU*Answers facilitators Randy Karnes, CEO, Jody Karnes, CIO, and Dawn Moore, VP writing team/product design, gave a progress report on projects initiated at last year’s inaugural focus group event, and discussion centered about investments the CUSO is planning to make on new tools for data analysts as part of its CU*BASE core processing system, as well as the strategic plans for future investments in data being considered by the CUSO and its client-owners.
Deb Slavens, director of information technology for Honor Credit Union in St. Joseph, Michigan, shared some techniques her credit union has adopted over the past year to change her organization’s culture when it comes to using and acting on data, and the results they have seen thus far. “In 2014 usage of CU*BASE analytical dashboards averaged around 50 visits per month from five team members. In 2015 we saw over 400 visits per month by 30 different team members!” said Slavens.