BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Management at the $80 million Service OneCredit Union decided a year ago its annual meeting might be a goodvenue to bolster financial education and build up its image andhopefully draw in crowds. To do that the CU had to have somethingtangible to offer in free services. Sure enough, the day-long"Financial Fair" dubbed "A Fair to Remember" turned into a huge hitbringing in 500 individuals for free seminars and vendor displaystouting everything from credit cards and insurance to investmentadvice and cookbooks. The free services included document shreddingand coin counting. And there were also raffles, a "Crack the Safe"contest with a $1,000 prize and a popular Internet caf plus gamesfor kids. "We were particularly pleased that the Financial Fair gotfrequent mentions on local radio and TV stations as public serviceannouncements," said Leila Matthews, vice president of marketing."We had live interviews from the stations all week and we figuredon that we got $20,000 of free advertising." The estimated totalmarketing expenses for the Fair held March 17 in a Bowling Greenconference center ran to about $7,500, said Matthews. There were 10vendor booths with CUNA Mutual and the Kentucky Credit Union Leagueamong participants along with the Kentucky offices of the SmallBusiness Administration. Also hawking services were investmenthouses and an attorney group with the League promoting politicalaction and selling cookbooks. Topics for the free seminars includedidentity theft, long term home health care for the elderly, creditscoring and tips for first time homebuyers. "The idea for holdingthe Fair really started with an undergraduate college studentworking for us on a class project who suggested there might becreative ways to promote financial education to the public," saidMatthews citing continued concern over rising delinquencies andloan write-offs Brainstorming began among the staff and before longthe idea of holding the all-day Fair was launched, she said. Theactual annual meting began at the end of the day preceded by areception. Service One stipulated that reservations were required.In promoting the Fair, Service One sent out a mailer to memberstelling of the "Crack the Safe" contest. The mailer included acombination to the safe inviting each member to visit the fair totry their combination. The Fair was also promoted on the ServiceOne Web site, via e-mail, through in-branch ads and direct mail.Service One's marketing staff spent time informing SEGs about theevent including its primary chartering organization, WesternKentucky University, in hopes of appealing to faculty, staff andstudents, said Matthews. A free credit report was provided to allattendees at the "Understanding Your Credit Bureau Score" seminarand attendees at the "First-Time Home Buying" session received avoucher for $150 off closing costs. Matthews said Service One staffshredded more than 1,000 pieces of paper and rolled nearly $3,500in coins. The Internet caf provided the opportunity for attendeesto log onto the CU Web site, check e-mail and ask questions aboutInternet security, said Duane Dedman, vice president of informationsystems for the CU. "Many of the people we talked to have hugemisconceptions about the Web and how to protect themselves," saidDedman and on that "I know we really helped a lot of people thatday." All in all, said Valerie C. Brown, president/CEO of the15,000-member CU, "we were thrilled that our members and thecommunity responded to this event through their attendance."Service One has long made financial education a high priority andthe Financial Fair helped to meet that goal, she said. "We wantedto get our members excited about belonging to a credit union andbelieved that offering free seminars and free information in anopen-house atmosphere would appeal to many people," said [email protected]