OVERLAND PARK, Kan./NAPERVILLE, Ill.–The Heartland Credit Union Association and the Illinois CU League jointly hosted their first ever dual-league, multi-day, virtual convention.
The event, called “Boost,” attracted more than 750 credit union representatives from 91 credit unions in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.
“Boost was the result of two leagues working together to bring the best experience to credit unions in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois,” said Brad Douglas, president/CEO of the Heartland Credit Union Association. “Shifting an in-person convention to an online environment is no easy task, and our leagues worked together to make it happen.”
Tom Kane, president/CEO of the Illinois Credit Union League, added, “Congratulations to HCUA and ICUL on the spectacular success of the virtual Boost Conference! It was a unique and engaging event resulting from both teams’ amazing talent and collaboration.”
The Speakers
Among the speakers to the meeting were Dr. Rick Rigsby, Dr. Mary Kelly, the National Credit Union Foundation's Gigi Hyland and CUNA Mutual Group’s Angela Russell, in addition to Dan Meers (aka KC Wolf), the Kansas City Chiefs mascot.
In addition, the associations said Boost hosted nearly 25 other speakers that included focused deep dives and diverse demos, plus an exhibit hall with 40+ exhibiting companies. A joint lunch session allowed deep, small-group conversation using Zoom’s breakout session feature, the associations said.
While credit unions were able to participate in joint sessions together, each league also hosted several league-specific sessions.
“This helped personalize the event to each league, but still offer lots of opportunities for connection,” the associations said. “With Boost being a dual-league Convention, some traditions from past Conventions were reworked or eliminated. Pricing was different too - credit unions bought a promo code based on their asset size and were able to register all their staff and volunteers for one price.”
No Crash For Crashers
The Crasher program worked virtually and hosted 20 young professionals representing all three states, the two leagues said.
Boost was created when ICUL was forced to cancel its annual convention because of the uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, and HCUA decided to change their traditional in-person convention and annual meeting to a virtual event.