Live from Tampa: It’s YES!

Welcome to Tampa, Fla.--home of the No. 1 U.S. airport in a 2008 Zagat poll released one week ago.

How about it, YES Summit attendees who flew in—what was your experience?

It’s nice to know that the 10,000 Zagateers who weighed in on this question felt that Tampa International Airport was tops, but guess what? Polls don’t count if you run into a rude gate agent or a disgusting Airside E restroom.

Credit unions had a 20-year run of first-place finishes in the American Banker’s annual consumer satisfaction survey. Yet it’s the daily treatment of individual bank customers and credit union members that has always been more important.

We’re here in Tampa to look at the “18-to-30 demographic.” But credit unions don’t exist to be No. 1 with a group. The movement was founded to be No. 1 with each and every member. That includes 18-to30s—in great numbers, if we’re lucky.

So, as we discuss and discover what Generation Y wants in financial service, let’s not lose sight of the experiences of the individual men and women who comprise that group.

That’s why we’re here in sunny Tampa—to find out how to design financial products for 18-to-30s in general and how to better serve the 23-year-old single mother of two at your teller window in particular. Stay tuned as the conversation unfolds.

Like last year, your friendly bloggers—Christopher “Daddy! Daddy!” Morris and Philip “The Bald Soprano” Heckman—will be reporting to you live on the YES CU Blog.

We promise that their live blog posts from the conference will go beyond merely taking notes. Besides posting the main points that speakers make, we’ll record attendees’ insights and reactions, bringing the dialogue to the credit union world as it happens. We hope to hear from attendees, as well as you, distant reader.

This year’s YES Summit lineup of 18-to-30 topics includes:

• Mark Schwanhausser, of Javelin Strategy & Research, on attitudes and behaviors

• Kim Crockett, Manager, of Common Wealth CU, on media and messages

• Sarah Shirley, of Consumer Federation of America, on savings and credit in the military

• Rodney Hood, of NCUA, on attracting and retaining young employees

• Claudine Oriani, of As If Productions, on developing human capital