The April CUaware Triad social took place on Thursday, April 18th at Foothills Brewing in downtown Winston Salem. 16 credit union employees representing the area's credit unions gathered to take a tour of the brewing operations at the hometown pub! Afterwards, attendees viewed the live streaming of Chuck Purvis, CEO of Coastal FCU, as he presented to the Triangle CUaware in Raleigh!
On February 21, thirty of the Triangle’s coolest Credit Union professionals met at Tyler’s Taproom to kick off the first CU Social of 2013. Attendees participated in a “speed networking” exercise. They quickly got to know many of their new CU friends and discussed their backgrounds, interests and love of the CU industry. Thanks to everyone who came out, and we look forward to seeing you at our next event! Remember to encourage your co-workers to sign up for our e-newsletter at www.cuaware.org to stay informed. If you are looking for an opportunity to enhance your leadership skills within your organization, the Southeast Regional CUNA Management School offers a premier learning opportunity for credit union managers of tomorrow. This year, The Georgia Center will be hosting the event June 7-14 at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. The mission of the Southeast CUNA Management School is to provide students the opportunity to develop their leadership capabilities so that they can contribute to the success of their credit unions. Scholarship opportunities are available for eligible candidates to attend the school. Funding for this scholarship program is provided by the North Carolina Credit Union League and the Southeast Regional CreditUnion Schools. Download the application below!
Both the Triangle and Triad groups had a great time last night connecting with old and new faces at the last CUsocial of 2012. Thanks to everyone who came out! Here’s a recap of what went down…
CUaware Triad had its first event in Winton Salem at the Fox in the Hound. A great time was had by 16 credit union professionals from five different credit unions (PACU, Summit, Coastal, Members and Truliant). Appetizers, good company and great conversations were enjoyed until almost 8 p.m.! The group also kicked off their first community outreach program—a toy drive for Brenner Children’s Hospital. There is an opportunity for each credit union to have an “elf” to collect toys for the children’s hospital. All toys will be collected by December 17 and delivered in time for the holiday. If you’re interested in being an elf, please contact Jessica Dillon. [[email protected]] The Raleigh event took to a new location—Bolt Bistro. About 20 folks had the entire upstairs, and enjoyed great appetizers and drinks until about 8 p.m. Representatives from Coastal, LGFCU, the League and SECU all chatted about the CUDE program, GAC and shared their great stories from both. Both groups are taking December off to enjoy the holidays. We’ll reconvene on January 18 with two awesome events in Raleigh and Greensboro! Event: Raleigh Rescue Mission, August 25, 2012 This event post will be a bit different then previous post. In the past, we simply stated what occurred during the event, how much fun we had and invited you to join us. In this post, I want to mention the credit union principles and philosophies and how we are using our hands to demonstrate what our mouths speak. In our volunteer efforts, we are showing care for our community. We have worked hard to develop a good rapport with the staff and we want to make sure that when they think “credit union,” they think “CUaware.” We are receiving appreciation from the Raleigh Rescue Mission staff. When we arrive, the staff is happy to see us. We hear comments like “Y’all rock!” “I’m so glad you’re here!” and “Thanks for coming to help us!” They know that we are hard working, fun and able to get the job done. What they don’t know is that we are from different credit unions with different visions and corporate goals. CUaware sets that aside to practice cooperation among cooperatives. We aren’t Coastal and Local Government and State Employees at our events; we are simply Credit Unions. The comment I love the most is always “See you next time!” That’s making a difference. The most important pieces of the RRM event are the residents. Every time we are there, they thank us, profusely and sincerely. But this past Saturday, they remembered us. The fact that we’ve made enough of an impact with our service that the residents recognize the name “CUaware” is a huge thing. Here is some perspective for you: the residents are served 3 meals a day, 7 days a week and since we’ve started volunteering in February, they have had 462 opportunities to be served by other organizations… We’ve been there 3 times and they remember us? That’s making a difference. So far all of the past CUaware volunteers, thank you! Thank you for taking the time out of you busy lives and pouring that into someone else. Thank you for being willing to work for someone else and experience something new. Thank you for realizing the value of a smile and how far kindness can go. Thank you for being willing to grow. And for those who haven’t made it out yet, I invite you to share this experience. Walk the talk and use your hands to demonstrate what your mouth speaks. I promise it’ll be fun, but even more important, you will have shown you commitment to making a difference. FYI: In 3 events, we have had 29 volunteers and 92 volunteer hours at the Raleigh Rescue Mission Volunteers: Allen Kannan, Joe & Alison Mecca, Karita Robins, Fran Donovant, Pam Haven, Doug & Kathy Lintelman -Karita Robins David Jamshid, a Business Analyst with Coastal Federal Credit Union, recently returned from a credit union immersion program through WOCCU that sent him to Guatemala for an International Credit Union Leadership Program. The Program is designed to facilitate idea exchanges, promote foreign language skills development, enhance cultural diversity and improve problem-solving skills as they relate to credit union development and management on a global basis. David was one of nine young credit union professionals from five U.S. states. Participants were hosted by Guatemala's largest credit union system, MICOOPE, to learn about the growth strategy that led it to reach more than 1 million members today. David presented a review of his trip and shared some of the 'out of box' thinking making credit unions successful in their respective markets at the CUaware event in Raleigh on August 16. The presentation is below. For a recap from WOCCU, click here.
I had the amazing opportunity to attend America's Credit Union Conference hosted by CUNA and CUNA Mutual (great editorial on the conference by the smart and demanding CU Times Editor Sarah Snell Cooke), as well as be a member of the Cooperative Trust's Crashers. It was an amazing experience for a number of reasons: the people, the content, the will to make changes, and last, but not least, the weather. I will especially appreciate that constant 70 degree weather as my hometown goes into the triple digits. So, looking back, here's my latest Top Ten List of Things I Learned at #ACUC 10. I'm very glad that Bill Cheney is head of CUNA. His keynote and breakout session with the Crashers prove he understands the need to be more clear on a unified vision for credit unions and he and his wife are very hands on with CU initiatives. Can't wait to see what CUNA will release by the end of the year. 9. Cooperative Trust has really got this YP thing moving. There were a great group of YPs working together all week to come up with a solution to serving the underserved. Every idea, thought, joke was greeted with forthright acceptance, interest and humor. Makes it easy since we were all brilliant, clever and hilarious. 8. I'm a fantastic salsa dancer 7. Meg Ryan was actually in Top Gun despite @itsjustbrent and my insistence this wasn't the case (the bar scene in top gun was filmed at a bar across from the hotel). 6. San Deigo is a beautiful, fun city. I want to go to there (again). 5. CUs must be concerned about sustainability, or as more commonly referred to as the triple bottom line. This will be a more and more critical differentiator and right in line with CU values. 4. I apparently can use twitter as my notes...and I took a lot of them. 3. We need to be aggressive with our message and stand behind it. Check out the UK's Cooperative Bank's ad with it's message combining financial services and sustainability. 2. We need to reach out to the underbanked. They have a unique set of problems and needs and with estimates of $88 million Americans falling into this category, it makes for a very valuable market. Crash the ACUC was focused on this issue and with the help of a lot of great folks came up with the Tru Account, which we will pilot with a willing credit union shortly. 1. Filene, CUNA, CUNA Mutual ae all great partners for CUs and YPs. Thank you for all your support. On Saturday, June 23rd, CUaware partnered with the Raleigh Rescue Mission to lend a helping hand to Raleigh’s community in need.
Our four hour shift began with introductions, as we had several people from different credit unions join us for our event. We had representatives from Coastal and Local Government Credit Union and even some kids and significant others of employees… I love that we are spreading the word of “People Helping People!” and getting others to take part in our events! With a record number of nine volunteers, we worked with the kitchen manager to bring a hot dinner to the residents of the Mission. Dinner was a smorgasbord of tastes from hamburger steak to BBQ chicken and lasagna to donated Chik-fil-A sandwiches. We had mashed potatoes to go with the steak and green beans, butter beans, and field peas to round off the vegetable choices. We had a blast serving the residents and truly enjoyed the kindness and gratitude they showed us for being there. After dinner was served, we assisted the staff with cleaning the kitchen and spent a few minutes talking with the kitchen manager about the difference the RRM makes in the lives of people in need. The RRM is a great organization that works solely off of donations. It’s truly amazing the things they’ve accomplished! Be on the lookout for our next volunteer opportunities coming up! We have another event scheduled with the RRM in August and a DeConstruction event with the Wake County Habitat for Humanity sometime this fall! Thank you to those who volunteered and took time out of your busy schedule to share a smile with people who need one! Volunteers: Brad Miller, Brenda Harrington, Karita Robins, Bianca Deluca, Annette Sinclair, Sigrid Olsen, Andy, Sander Casino, and Alex Sabol - Karita Robins, CUaware Triangle Volunteer Coordinator |