COLUMBIA, Md. – Now that the respective memberships of the Maryland and District of Columbia credit union leagues have given their okay to the merger of the two organizations into a new association – the Maryland & District of Columbia Credit Union Association (MDDCCUA)- the two boards have been working on designing their new logo and Web site. The new logo was designed by Visions, Inc., Clinton, Md, which has worked with credit unions including the Maryland and D.C. leagues, for over 25 years Company president Maggie Fielding said the new design is very different from the Maryland Credit Union League's current logo and "reflects the new direction the organization is taking. It's bold and bright, and shows the joining of the two leagues into one. We are very pleased at the positive response that we've gotten." In coming up with the new logo design, Fielding explained that, "We knew it had to be a very strong symbol that would give both entities equal weight to show it was a union of two equal partners. We also knew there would be a lot of cooperative energy coming out of the new organization." One of the most important elements in the new logo is the ampersand that's intertwined around the two "D's". Fielding called that "the crowning glory" of the new logo and explained that the ampersand "is symbolic of the union and future focus of the new organization since the word `and' means there's more to come." Arriving at the final logo design was a two-month design process. Visions started out with 10 initial designs of which some were rejected "for different reasons." The designs were further narrowed down to three and from there were consolidated to two. By the time the new logo design was presented to the joint board, there was just one design remaining. All together, Fielding said Visions worked up about 25-20 design versions. The merger of the two groups will be effective Jan. 1, 2006, but the new Web site – www.mddccua.org – was expected to be operational by the end of last week. At that time, the organization also began to officially use its new name "even though the merger will not be hard and fast until the beginning of next year," said Maryland Credit Union League President Mike Beall. "We are introducing the new logo now and beginning to communicate to all the credit unions in Maryland and D.C. using the new logo as we lead up to the January 1, 2006 date so credit unions can get used to it and comfortable with it, especially as we approach the dues mailing season in early to mid-October." Beall said the Maryland League has already begun adding some educational sessions to its calendar for this year in the fall and is allowing D.C. CUs to attend those and use other services as well. Kirk Fox, MDCUL/MDDCCUA's Vice President of Compliance and Webmaster is in charge of overseeing the changover to the new Web site design. "Any credit union that's done a Web site change knows that it takes time to test and ensure that the updated version will be completely functional once it's online," he said. "We are also changing our emails at the same time. We want to make sure that communication with the league remains intact and that the `back office' changes are virtually invisible to our members." In related news, the D.C. League Nominating Committee has named four nominees for three seats on the MDDCCUA Board. The board will be comprised of 13 seats which will include the 10 people on the current Maryland League Board and three new seats to be elected by D.C. credit unions. Nominated to the MDDCCUA Board were: Miguel Boluda, president/CEO, PAHO WHO FCU; Roger Gilbertson, director, Department of Commerce FCU; Charles Mallon, EVP, Congressional FCU; and Joan Moran, president/CEO, Department of Labor FCU. Mail ballots will be sent to D.C. League-affiliated CUs in mid-November, and election results will be announced at a special meeting of D.C. League members on Dec. 14. – [email protected]