Archive for Other Fun Stuff

| May 6, 2013
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Why Aerating Wine Is Like Implementing Predictive Analytics

Guest post written by Kristin Locklear, wine enthusiast, avid fan of Sonoma, new believer in aerating, and Account Executive for Credit Unions at SAS, the world leader in predictive analytics. 

SAS is the NAFCU Services Preferred Partner for Business Intelligence, Predictive Analytics Software & Risk Assessment.

Sonoma. The backdrop for some of the nation’s most beautiful scenery and wine was also the backdrop for this year’s NAFCU CEOs and Senior Executives Conference.  And what a backdrop it was! With pristine rolling hills, deep green valleys, and row after row of immaculate vineyards, it was hard to not feel as if you had just stumbled upon pure heaven on earth.

As more than 120 of us gathered to discuss such topics as regulation and leadership, it was hard to suppress my excitement for the scheduled group activities at hand. On Day 2, several buses departed for the ever-so-popular wine tour. What was expected to be just a day sipping fine wines, turned into a day of unexpected education (coupled with a little wine-sipping of course).

One of the ideas my tour group seemed to get hung up on was aerating (or letting the wine “breath” to enhance flavors), and for my sake, I’m glad they did. As it turns out, many of us had been doing it all wrong! Our tour guide, Heather, was a wealth of knowledge on this subject matter. She enthusiastically walked us through our lesson on what makes for good aeration and why it is often a necessary step to enhance red wine. Read more

Category: Growth & Retention, Other Fun Stuff | Tags: , , ,
| April 1, 2013
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Great Strategy and Great Wine

great-strategy-and-great-wine

Originally posted on CUInsight.com

No, this is not a post about how strategic discussions can be improved with fine wine, although that is probably true, and it would be fun to test the hypothesis. This post is about the best of both worlds, and combining a vocation with an avocation.

I love my job, which often involves thinking strategically on behalf of credit unions and with our Partners, and have also become a fan of wine, in particular California Cabernet. My chance to blend the two and share with all of you as well is coming at the NAFCU CEOs and Senior Executives Conference (Sonoma, CA, April 24–26, 2013).

NAFCU Services sponsors a welcome reception every year at this Conference. Given that we are in wine country, we wanted to do something special that would be a more interactive and interesting experience than just having house wines for a “typical” reception. We’ve all been to plenty of them, where you grab an anonymous glass of non-descript wine and look for the next hors d’oeuvres tray.

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Category: Other Fun Stuff | Tags: ,
| February 14, 2013
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113th Congress Faces Contentious Issues

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Originally posted on CUInsight.com

Guest post by Dennis Zuehlke, Compliance Manager, Ascensus

With the photo-ops and swearing-in ceremonies over, and the presidential inauguration now a memory, the 113th Congress is hard at work facing a number of contentious, but familiar, issues, one of which is tax reform.

To avoid a U.S. default on its debt obligations, the House of Representatives approved an extension of the debt ceiling. The Senate passed the measure shortly thereafter and President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. The legislation suspends the $16.4 trillion limit on government borrowing until May 18 to give Congress time to reach a broader deficit reduction deal.

Next on the agenda, Congress and the White House must reach an agreement on nearly $85 billion in targeted spending cuts to avoid the automatic across-the-board cuts that would kick in March 1 if a deal is not reached. Agreeing on $85 billion in spending cuts will not be easy and reaching that figure means that potentially everything—including retirement savings incentives—is on the table. As Congress looks for ways to reduce the deficit, tax incentives for retirement savings are especially susceptible because they cost the Treasury more than the deduction for home mortgage interest and are second only to the exclusion of employer healthcare contributions. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the exclusion of pension contributions and earnings in defined benefit and defined contribution plans will cost the Treasury $100 billion this year alone.

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Category: Other Fun Stuff | Tags: , ,
| December 20, 2012
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Tips for Smart Holiday Spending

tips-for-smart-holiday-spending

Guest post written by Barrett Burns, President and CEO at VantageScore Solutions

The holiday shopping season is now in full swing. Malls and other retail outlets have their decorations up and holiday music playing, enticing us all to shop for our friends and family. And as inevitable as hearing “Frosty the Snowman” is the chorus of checkout clerks asking shoppers if they’d like to open store credit cards to get a discount on their holiday hauls. Sometimes the savings are quite enticing, and depending on personal financial circumstances, they can be a good option. However, there are some issues to consider before signing on the dotted line.

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| December 18, 2012
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Credit Union Industry Experts: What’s in Store for 2013

credit-union-industry-experts-whats-in-store-for-2013

Originally posted on CUInsight.com

I like to say that one of a visionary leader’s most important functions is seeing over the horizon and recognizing opportunities and threats before anyone else does, and then shaping the strategy and tactics of the organization accordingly.

So for our year-end blog post I asked our Preferred Partners to tell us what they see coming over the horizon, from their perspective, that credit union executives need to be focused on and/or prepared for as we head into 2013. Looking back a year, I see some common themes—revenue issues, economic uncertainty, regulatory uncertainty, and political uncertainty. From that perspective, not much has changed as we look forward to 2013. Here is what a few of them said:

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Category: Growth & Retention, Management & Operations, Marketing, NAFCU Services, Other Fun Stuff, Security | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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