MADISON, Wis. — Making new use of viral marketing “to generate a little buzz”, CUNA this month is adapting a bit of humor and fun utilizing videos of its top elected officers to promote its big June meeting, America' Credit Union Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.

“The CUNA staff is showing the credit union community some new uses of viral marketing as cutting edge techniques and I was quite happy to join in,” explained CUNA Chairman Allen K. McMorris who stars in one of the film clips in which he dons a flight helmet in a spoof on the typical button-downed conference attendee

The 30-second videos also featuring CUNA Vice Chairman Tom Dorety and Doug Fecher, president/CEO of Wright-Patt Credit Union of Dayton, Ohio are being distributed via e-mail to past attendees and others expected for the June 3-6 conference at Caesar's Palace.

McMorris, who will be serving as a kickoff speaker and also is president/CEO of Oakland County Credit Union, Waterford, Mich., took time from his GAC duties last year to film his video portion in a Washington hotel joined by Dorety.

Dorety's video portion plays on the “high power” conference theme with the CUNA vice chair and president/CEO of Suncoast Federal Credit Union in Tampa, looking to get ready for the conference and then suddenly packing aviator goggles with Fecher putting on a flight suit.

CUNA officials said the emphasis on flight fits into the “high powered” message that CUs in the future will be delivering state-of-the-art products and services.

Jill Tomalin, CUNA senior vice president-association services, said another theme of the Las Vegas program is that top CU executives “really need to start targeting young audiences” which have such affinity for the Web and viral programming like YouTube and MySpace.

“Credit unions need to break through the traditional clutter and our goal is to show them that it can be done,” said Tomalin.

As for Fecher in the videos, “he's pretty well known in the credit union community as a forward thinking guy,” said a CUNA spokesman.

Commenting on the videos, McMorris said “we really need to know how to deliver” this kind of material and this kind of conference can be a guide. “I know we need to do more of it in our shop.” McMorris is no stranger to putting on a helmet. He's a regular weekend Harley Davidson motorcycle rider.

Todd Spiczenski, CUNA vice president and representing its Center for Professional Development, said the Las Vegas conference will attempt to show senior management “the need for being a little edgy: in our marketing.”

One of the headliners for the Las Vegas conference will be Christopher Gardner, whose life story was depicted in the Academy Award-nominated film, “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Gardner, who was homeless and raised his son as a single parent, is CEO of a Wall Street investment firm bearing his name.

Other keynoters include Lincoln biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin and author Daniel Pink, author of “A Whole New Mind.”

About 1,000 are expected for the conference matching last year's attendance.

As for this year, it's a sure bet “there will be more surprises,” promised Spiczenski. –jrubenscut@aol.com

Instant Insights /

CUNA Brass 'Stars' in Videos Hyping Its Debut of America's Credit Union Conference & Expo

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