There are plenty of opportunities for credit union CEOs to be recognized for their individual accomplishments. But none of the current competitions for top CU CEO honors is free of sometimes intimidating nomination procedures. Or without some sort of catorgorization. Or completely devoid of organizational politics. That's why Credit Union Times editors decided to launch their own Credit Union CEO of the Year recognition. Being the only completely independent publication targeted exclusively at the credit union market allows our program to be simple and straightforward, with no regard to any consideration other than selecting the most outstanding credit union CEO each year. Since our CEO of the Year award was announced in the February 25th issue, several credit unions have actually made an effort to "enter" the competition. Sorry. There is no entry form, fee, size requirements, organization affiliation, or procedure to be followed. Our editorial staff has regular and frequent contact with credit union CEOs on a daily basis. They quickly become aware of the brightest and most successful from rubbing shoulders with them and by doing research on their credit unions for news and feature articles. Sometime prior to the November 17, 2004 issue, in which the winner will be featured, our editors will put their heads together and come up with a single name of a credit union CEO who in their judgment should be chosen as the Credit Union Times 2004 Credit Union CEO of the Year. It's that simple. [email protected]