By Frank J. Diekmann
With the calendar officially in the fourth quarter, we continue our tradition of scrolling back through the pages of the Reporter’s Notebook and sharing any item where we have been able to decipher the handwriting. We think.
AI Is Watching. No, Seriously
You’re no doubt intrigued/following/frightened/trying to ignore AI, but if you haven’t yet watched/avoided this demo by ChatGPT and its new image recognition functionality that lets it “see,” here’s a video for you to view/make you shudder.
So Much More Than Deposits & Loans
Among the most fascinating of presentations to listen to each year are made by the finalists for the Empowerment Grants from the Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) during WOCCU’s annual meeting, which took place in Vancouver.
What makes them fascinating is getting to see just how embedded credit unions are in certain places and cultures and how they go far beyond being just a deposit and loan business.
At this year’s meeting, for example, Enkhchimeg Nergui gave a presentation on her proposal to create a local business ecosystem in rural Mongolia 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.
Nergui shared, incidentally, that there are three-million people in Mongolia--and 70 million livestock.
And then there was Violet Ndungu, who presented the ways her SACCO would use the grant dollars to promote 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.
More Than One Kind of Wellness
Ndungu’s project also touched in financial literacy, including how to acquire a cow, which can be a contributor to a person’s financial prospects—especially for women—and is one of the few instances of capital that makes for both financial and physical wellness.
“As a woman I had to find ways to finance education. When you are knowledgeable, you are empowered,” said Ndungu. “But that is not enough. You cannot keep the knowledge to yourself.”
As an added tip, Ndungu shared, “We learned from men you must hide some of your money.”
Do You Mind if We Vote First?
As you may have read here, the recent rejection by members of New York’s Saint Lawrence FCU of a merger with SeaComm Credit Union marked one of the rare times members have nixed such a proposed combination. One member of St. Lawrence FCU raised a point on the credit union’s Facebook page that has frequently also struck me, noting the press release about the merger treated it “as if it is a done deal.”
It was refreshing to see a member irked by the presumption. I have to say I see this all the time, as well, with statements announcing intent to merge including statements like, “the credit unions will begin operating as one” on such and such a date.
But every once in a while, they don’t.
Thanks to members actually sometimes participating in the democratic process, you can’t always count your chickens…
The New Way of Saying Hello
Having logged a few-dozen-plus credit union meetings and conferences this year, I’d like to offer a resolution for 2024: find a new way to introduce yourself.
I’ve lost count of the number of times (although I wasn’t actually counting) I’ve heard credit union pro’s and volunteers alike who’ve just met one another and are making small talk say to each other, “We’re a $2 billion credit union…” or “We’re a $500-million CU…” It’s always about the assets.
Hey, I get it; it’s an easy way to strike up a conversation with a stranger, the cooperative community’s version of talking about the weather. But imagine what a difference it would make if the good credit union folk instead introduced themselves by saying, “Our credit union saved members $X dollars this year” overall, or “The average member benefits from membership in our CU by $X every year.”
Given that this is very often board members having these discussions, it would make for a great competition on this criterion, and a constant refocusing on why the credit union was chartered in the first place.
As an aside, in Vancouver I sat near a board member who was a bit too eager and proud to repeatedly introduce himself as a director at a $2-billion credit union, as if he had built the whole shop himself, right up until one person responded, “Oh, that’s very nice. We’re about $11 billion.”
But none of that should matter.
Grab a Seat
Speaking of volunteers, one young CU leader, Amanda Wantke of Langley, B.C.-based First West Credit Union,” said in remarks at WOCCU’s annual meeting, “Board members, if you’re not sitting next to a young leader right now, find one, and ask them for their perspective.”
At the same meeting on the same stage, the CEO of a Canadian credit union observed that while he was being recognized with an award for his professional accomplishments, during his career there had actually been many “Oh shit, what just happened?” moments.
Cheaper by the Half-Dozen
Larry Davey, CEO of Access Credit Union, shared that he and his CU have gone through six mergers in last two and a half years. “It’s a significant amount of change,” he said, before adding, dryly, “We thought it was best to do it during COVID.”
Another Episode in ‘Just How Do They Do It?’
For a little over three hours recently, I was working in a hotel lobby and sitting within earshot of the front desk. While I have long expressed my admiration for flight attendants and their restraint in not just swinging at passengers, I have to say hotel front desk clerks are clearly taking the same Xanax-like medication every person working in these kinds of jobs must start their days with.
Over those three hours I listened to people wanting to check in early, like way early, six hours in one case, and then requesting late checkouts. People wanting their beds changed—not the linens, the actual physical mattress—“They’re all the same, sir,” the guest was told. I watched and listened as one mom shared that her young daughter wanted to borrow the stapler on the front desk, which she promptly used to staple together a bunch of tissues there for guests.
There were people who wanted the breakfast buffet 35 minutes after it closed. I heard multiple maintenance requests, people complaining about the hotel’s location (as if they were assigned the hotel and didn’t make the reservation), and one request for enough towels to clean up what had to be a homicide, and more.
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