The Boardcast

A Pecha Kucha Overview of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

My friends Gene Blishen, Tim McAlpine and William Azaroff are in the midst of organizing a wonderful symposium-like gathering to be held in Vancouver called BarCampBank British Columbia. BarCampBanks are gatherings of people who have a common interest and expertise in a topic related to technology and financial institutions, like credit unions. The informal organization leaves room for creativity and group initiated discussions. One side offering of BCBBC is a Pecha Kucha session. Pecha Kucha is a new form of slide presentation. It was developed by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham in Tokyo in 2003. Pecha Kucha was devised to give particpants a chance to highlight presentation design talents in a relaxed venue. It has a precise format focused on capturing the interest of the audience with its emphasis on brevity and creativity. This format consists in a 20X20 slide format which involves the use of 20 slides viewed for 20 seconds for a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. It challenges the creator's design strategies as well as their ability to provide a precise and focused explanation of the subject.

I decided to try my hand at a Pecha Kucha, my first, which I am featuring on the Boardcast. This was a challenge. Please feel free to comment on my efforts. 

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Do The Pecha Kucha from Ginny Brady on Vimeo.

Ufirst FCU Board Member Ginny Brady Featured on Current Issues in Credit Unions Podcast

Current Issues in Credit Unions is a monthly podcast that explores "...credit unions and the issues they face daily..." It is hosted by attorneys who work with credit unions and are advocates of the credit union movement. Rob Rutkowksi, of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A., was the host of this month's show. He asked me to join Faith Anderson of American Airlines Credit Union and Guy Messick of Messick & Weber P.C. to discuss the place of social media in the credit union world. CIiCUs has been online for over two years and is a wonderful source of information on credit union regulations and new practices that have an impact on credit unions on a daily basis. I was honored to be included in this episode and would like to thank Rob, Faith and Guy for their questions and interest in the Boardcast. Rob experimented with a new format for the podcast in this episode. He used a webcam to videotape a "behind the scenes" view of the discussion as it was happening. Here is the video and the interview:

 

Current Issues in Credit Unions #28 Behind the Scenes. from Rob Rutkowski on Vimeo.

If you are unable to see the video on your computer and you would like to listen to the interview go to CIiCUs and use the "pod" player in the post.

Board of Directors Meeting - 7/15/2008

The UFirst Board of Directors met for their monthly board meeting at the operations center on Rugar St. on Tuesday, July 15th. Our meeting began with a report from Director of Marketing Jody Carpenter who reviewed the Ufirst community promotions and activities for the first two quarters of the year. Jody has been very busy launching and overseeing the UFirst Youth Progams. Ufirst FCU is committed to providing financial education to all age groups and in 2008 special emphasis has been placed on youth. The NEFE (National Endowment for Financial Education) program implemented at Plattsburgh High School had a successful conclusion on June 16th which featured a presentation by Jody on Identity theft. Students received UFirst bags in recognition of their accomplishments. Jody has already made contacts in other area schools in order to expand the reach of financial literacy.

Jody was pleased to report that the new Youth Share programs have become popular among our young members. A combined 33 new share accounts were opened through the Burghy's Kids, Teen Cardinal and College Savings initiatives.

Jody has also been busy at local elementary schools where she has spread the credit union message of thrift. UFirst FCU and Peru School FCU joined forces to provide students with over 1000 Cash Kit & Caboodle Kits designed to make saving fun. Jody hopes to bring other area schools on board next year to extend the credit union ideal of thrift to more area students.

The winners of our 2008 UFirst Scholarships were announced and the board extends congratulations to PHS graduate Morgan McKinney who will be using her award at Wellsey College, PHS graduate Kimberly Jones who has enrolled in the nursing program at PSU and Saranac graduate Kevin Cross who is headed to the State University of New York at Brockport. UFirst FCU is proud of the achievements of these graduates.

UFirst FCU will be hosting the Chamber of Commerce After Hours at our operations center on Rugar St. on Thursday, August 21st. This is the first time that UFirst has hosted a Chamber gathering and we are excited to welcome members of the business community to our credit union. UFirst FCU will also be participating in additional community activities this summer like cleaning up Rugar St. through the Adopt-A-Highway program.

Concern over the rise in heating oil costs has filled the local news. The Town of Plattsburgh is hosting an Alternative Heating and Energy Fair at the Plattsburgh Town Hall on Banker Rd. on Saturday August 2nd. The board is excited to announce that UFirst will be joining other local businesses and governmental agencies to provide critical information on alternative heating sources and ways to cut the cost of home heating this winter. 

The UFirst Board of Directors congratulated Jody and Office Manager Shari Seney for completing the rigorous training offered by Jim Aho at the CUNA Financial Management School.

Members are encouraged to post comments to the Boardcast. This is your chance to have a dialog with the UFirst Board of Directors about your credit union.

Members who would like to propose items to be placed on the meeting agenda are welcome to contact Linda Bourgeois, a member of the Board of Directors or email the Boardcast at ufirstbod@gmail.com.

Is Your Money Safe?

The collapse of IndyMac has caused credit union members to wonder how safe their money is. I planned on writing a post to address this concern but instead I am providing a link to the Coors Credit Union Blog in Golden, Colorado. The post entitled "Is Your Money Safe?"gives a complete and clear explanation of the NCUA Insurance Fund and how it protects credit union accounts. Thank you to Celeste Murphy, post author, for her excellent coverage of this topic.  

The Boardcast Makes the News

The Boardcast was featured in the current issue (July 9th) of Credit Union Times. Senior Staff Editor Myriam DiGiovanni interviewed board member and Boardcast Moderator Ginny Brady and Merrimack Valley Federal Credit Union Board Director, Luis Barros. Mr. Barros's blog, creditunion2zero, was launched recently and is the second credit union board of directors blog which has gone live. The article gives a detailed description of the history and purpose of both blogs. Thank you to Ms DiGiovanni for her thorough coverage.

A few weeks ago I blogged about a video I had produced on thrift as an entry to audition for a speaker's position in the 2008 Partnership Symposium sponsored by Forum Solutions and Trabian. I want to publicly thank all those who participated in the voting. My video, Thrift 3.0, came in a respectable second garnering 30.7% of the vote. The winner is Matt Davis (the CU Warrior) who came from behind and won with 41.3% of the votes that totaled 417. Congratulations to Matt!. In case you missed the videos they can be viewed here.

Inside Congress

Those of us who remember Government 101 know that the United States Government consists of three branches: Legislative, Judicial and Executive. Congress embodies the Legislative Branch and even though it purports to be more personally connected to the people it still remains a mystery to many of us. We know that our representatives and senators spend a large portion of their time in Washington enacting legislation but it isn't until recently that we could get a window into the way ideas, values and practical initiatives become laws. In fact, we can now have a virtual seat in the gallery of the Senate and the House of Representatives by logging onto a website called Open Congress.

About Open Congress

In evaluating a site like Open Congress, it is important to first turn to the "About Page". The moderators of the site go into detail regarding the mission, information sources and sponsors of the site. Open Congress describes itself as a nonpartisan, free web source designed to bring together multiple sources of information on the activities of Congress. It utilizes Thomas which is the official Library of Congress site as well as news stories and blogs from a variety of sources written about legislation, members of congress, campaign contribution information and scuttlebutt surrounding pending laws and those who formulate and write them. A clearinghouse like this is only possible on the internet. It provides an opportunity for site visitors to dive into legislation in as much depth as they desire.

The Power of Registering

The power of Open Congress comes in its ability to track legislation that has some personal significance. Like other social networking sites this requires that the visitor sign up and create an account in order to personalize the site. Registering on the site is as easy as giving a login name, password and email address. Users can also give their Zip+4 in order to receive updates pertaining to their Congressional District.

A Glimpse of Open Congress

Open Congress can be used and explored whether you choose to register or remain a visitor. Legislation can be searched in a number of different ways. I couldn't remember the number of the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (CURIA) that was introduced in the House in March. I was able to search by Industry (credit unions) and issues. I was able not only to get an explanation of and information on this legislation but also to discover the more recent Credit Union Regulatory Relief Act (CURRA) as well as another piece of pending legislation which affects credit unions. A feature of Open Congress that I found of particular interest is the "Hot Topics" section which highlights issues that are currently causing a stir in Congress and the country. Since I work full time as an Employment and Training Counselor I was very interested to see that Open Congress listed legislation that was passed (and other legislation that is pending) on an extension of Unemployment Insurance as one of the current hot topics. This page has had over 22,000 comments and it has been viewed over 5,500 times in the last week. Now, when someone comes into our agency and asks about this legislation I can point to Open Congress as a breaking source of information. In addition to the status and the voting record for each bill, Open Congress points to news articles, blog posts and comments that give a view of the legislation from both inside and outside the Beltway. Site registration provides a personal account which can be used to track bills of interest. Open Congress also has its own internal social network which provides a forum for sharing information with other users on social networking services, such as Facebook.

I don't identify myself as a political junkie but Open Congress is a valuable bookmark for those who are interested in holding our legislators accountable for the votes they cast. Open Congress provides a user friendly format to explore the inner workings of our government.

 

Education and Strategic Planning - Vital Board Responsibilities

Twice a year the UFirst Board of Directors spends an extended period of time meeting with the management team and a professional facilitator. This semi annual planning and educational sessions took place last week on Friday afternoon and evening, 6/27 and Saturday morning 6/28. The UFirst Board is a volunteer group of people who come from a variety of backgrounds (see Board Profiles). Each of us brings our own areas of expertise, gifts and talents but we are not experts in financial institutions. Each member takes our board responsibilities seriously and so we spend time reading information provided by our NCUA examiners, the management team, our consultants and other credit union professionals.  This material along with educational and planning sessions help us to develop the knowledge we need to fulfill our role as responsible board members. We have been fortunate to have Phil Frani to assist us. His background in bank management and knowledge of credit union operations through his work with the Credit Union Association of New York has provided us with invaluable guidance for over five years. This year Phil provided us with an outline for understanding the concept of Asset Liability Management as well as helping us to formulate our strategic plan.

NCUA, the government regulator for all credit unions, recently revamped their examination process to emphasize areas that they believe are critical to credit union operation. One of these areas is Asset Liability Management. All credit unions are required to have an ALM Committee made up of both board members and credit union management. This committee is requred to report to the board on a regular basis, so the entire board must have a clear understanding of ALM. As you might imagine, this is not an easy concept to grasp. It requires an understanding of how all parts of the credit union operation work together in balance: Capital, Income, Loans, Shares, Assets and Liabilities. It is in this balance and the management of each component separately and together that our credit union remains on firm financial footing. The board spent Friday afternoon and evening reviewing these concepts as they apply to UFirst.

Saturday morning was spent reviewing our strategic plan which has become a working document for our credit union. We began by reviewing the credit union financial reports. In addition we examined and discussed a variety of products and services which we plan on initiating during the next year. I'm certain if you asked each member of the board they would tell you that we emerge from these sessions revitalized in our commitment to the success of UFirst and the financial health of our members.