By Lisa Hochgraf

We're talking a lot in the credit union world about innovation. And I'm all for new ideas. Still, something that happened to me last week made me reflect on the value of products that meet basic needs.

I went shopping last Thursday evening, ready to spend money on new walking sandals (my old pair hurts my feet). Not cute ones, not pink ones, not flip-flop ones, not jewel-studded ones, though these all have their place, but sturdy, leather brown ones that I won't trip in when I chase my 3-year-old around the yard.

By Suzanne Boniface

By Nicole Anderson

There is weapons-grade ammunition in your retail space to help you generate brand advocates. We just need to harness the power.

This was such a great takeaway from the CUES NEXUS Conference that I wanted to share it.

By Lisa Hochgraf

This  week at CUES Nexus Conference, CUES staff members kept telling me how excited they were about the Fairmont Dallas' turn-down service.

Now this got my attention because most of the time turn-down service, where the housekeeper comes in and folds back your sheet and puts a chocolate on your pillow, isn't really the kind of thing that seasoned traveling staff jump up and down about. They've seen it a thousand times before.

By Lisa Hochgraf

Picture a bald guy holding a hair dryer next to his head. The caption reads: "He doesn't buy it."

Mark DeBellis shared this image and anecdote yesterday at CUES Nexus Conference during his session, "How to Steal From the Post Office ... Legally!" in which he outlined strategies for reducing costs on direct mailings.

By Suzanne Boniface

The weather today in Baku, Azerbaijan was about 50 degrees with light wind. But five credit union CEOs and the chairman of the Azerbaijan Credit Union Association and the deputy director missed that cool damp weather. They were here, in the United States, enjoying 70 degrees, party sunny. More exactly, they were sitting in sessions at the UMass Five Credit Union in Amherst, Mass., learning about the operations of U.S. credit unions.

By Lisa Hochgraf

I was in a cab this morning en route to The Fairmont Hotel, Dallas, and tomorrow's launch of CUES Nexus Conference, when I saw this notice, a sticker on the window next to me:

"The method used to authenticate credit card transactions for approval is not secure and personal information is subject to being intercepted by unauthorized personnel."

Huh? Was this some wireless system with no security?

By Mary Auestad Arnold

With margins tight, growth slow and competition mounting, credit unions are surely at a crossroads. Maybe the most critical intersection since the '70s when deregulation plunged S&Ls and credit unions into direct competition with banks. I wasn't yet in the movement to witness it, but it's obvious that a great many CUs were up to the challenge. As a group, credit unions have experienced enormous success during this period, while the savings and loan industry has virtually vanished.

By Doug True

By Lisa Hochgraf