Generation Y doesn't like courtesy pay, doesn't want your text messages, but does want educational print materials, according to focus groups conducted by the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues'Applied Research Institute think tank.

Oil hits record $110 per barrel. Gold prices explode and now exceed $1,000 per ounce. Storied investment firm Bear Stearns disappears over the weekend. The Federal Reserve dusts off arcane rules to create liquidity conduits. Real estate prices down by 33% in some markets.

Three credit union representatives shared their best practices on a variety of subjects in a Big Valley session.

Richard Johnson was the first corporate credit union CEO taking the helm at Western Corporate, then called California Central Credit Union, in 1976. He began with three employees, who were transferred from the California Credit Union League. At the time, corporates offered only one service: overnight settlement accounts.