By Lisa Hochgraf
I guess I've been thinking a lot about professional development lately, including why I don't think you should cut it from your budget.
Still, I'm a realist. You might have to back off of spending on professional development right now, especially if it involves travel. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't still have a plan for your learning this year. And execute that plan.
A great deal of learning can be done on line in tight budet times. For example, my colleauges Christopher and Laura coordinate and host superb Webinars on a variety of topics. The CUES Experience Webinar series is literally an online conference. Playbacks of many of the CUES Webinars are available, so you can still "attend" even if the live presentation date and time don't work for you.
In addition, more and more conference reporting is being done using social media outlets such as Twitter. Christopher tweeted from our recent CUES Annual Convention. And interesting discussions take place among professionals on LinkedIn.
Take a moment now to connect with CUES and other CUES members on LinkedIn. Also follow CUES on Facebook or http://twitter.com/TheRealCUES for the latest conference updates and executive education highlights! Keep on learning, even in these tough times. You'll be poised to take your credit union to new heights when the economic skies brighten.
Lisa Hochgraf is board/operations editor for CUES' Credit Union Management magazine and edits the CUES Tech Port e-newsletter, News to Go.
