CHICAGO – BAI Retail Delivery, the largest conference hosted bythe Bank Administration Institute, it attracted more than 3,000attendees from around the world this year.

Perhaps surprising to some, more than 100 credit unions wereamong the financial institutions represented here. What's more,many credit unions sent multiple employees. Credit union attendancetended toward the larger shops, with most having assets of $500million or more.

CU Times spoke with Dan Kinne, director of informationservices for $1.1 billion First Entertainment Credit Union ofHollywood, Calif. Kinne said he started attending BAI RetailDelivery in 2000 or 2001 when he was a member of the CUNATechnology Council executive team.

Kinne said he came to Chicago to research two upcoming FirstEntertainment initiatives.

“We're looking at moving to a full-blown enterprise contentmanagement system,” Kinne said, “so that's my number one missionthis week.”

He added that he is speaking with his three top ECM vendorcandidates over the next two days, saying the face-to-facecommunication is invaluable. Kinne is also doing research for ateller automation initiative.

According to Kinne, BAI Retail Delivery is an ideal conferencefor credit unions.

“You get to meet a lot of vendors you don't see at creditunion-only shows because these vendors work mostly with banks,”Kinne said. “And quite frankly, I've discovered that these vendorsreally love working with credit union because our time to decisionis so much faster.”

Kinne said that, in his opinion, there is potential value forany size of credit union that attends BAI Retail Delivery.

“If your credit union has a strategic plan and is looking tofill a void, you should probably be here,” he said. “If you comehere without a plan, you could easily get lost.”

BAI Retail Delivery continues through Friday at Chicago'sMcCormick Place convention center near the shore of LakeMichigan.