If a Government Agency Blogs Why Can't Your CU?

The next time a nay-sayer mentions that blogs or social networks aren't safe for credit unions thanks to regulators, negative publicity, or that they're not worth the effort you can point them directly to a new blog unveiled by the Transportation Security Administration... wait... the TSA?

Yep! The TSA has unveiled a new blog to better communicate why they do what they do. Check out the following article to learn more about the TSA's efforts and don't forget to take a look at the blog itself.

Why does this matter? This shows that if a government agency is willing to put themselves out on a limb a little, then more credit unions can do the same... not simply with blogs but with other "risky" propositions such as targeting young adults with new and different products that better serve their needs.

How Can CUs Use Web Widgets?

We've touched on Web widgets before, thanks to Christopher's Blogging 102 post. But I'd like to take the coversation on widgets a bit further. You see, widgets can be used for more than just blogs.

What are widgets, exactly? Basically they are bits of code embedded in html to customize a Web page. A user selects them from a third party and installs the ones they like. RSS feeds are an example of a widget. Countdown timers and quiz results on individual social network profiles are also widgets.

To learn more, check out the following post on the Project New Age blog. There you'll find a good description and several useful examples. And if that doesn't do it for ya, there's always the following wikipedia entry. Want to know how to make a widget? Here's a really cool resource (albeit very technical) from the World Wide Web Consortium

Okay, so why could this be important? Well, widgets are popular with a lot of Web users, but especially popular on social networking communities such as Facebook, which are heavily populated by the 18-t0-30 crowd. Come up with a widget that someone likes, and they'll spread it around to their friends, and their friends friends like... well, like a virus. It's good ole' fashioned viral or word-of-mouth marketing on a new stage... if you do it right.

It all sounds great, but a few words of caution...

1. Most widgets I've seen aren't commercial, or meant to advertise a service or a product. They are simply to make a user's experience unique, fun and they become another way for users to interact with eachother. For example, you find out that your friend Sarah is also a fan of the Muppets, or that you have 30 friends who have scored higher than you on the sports trivia challenge. So, you'll have to be creative in figuring out a way to develop a widget that "sells without selling" if you want to use a widget to bring traffic to your credit union
   
   With that said, there are an ever increasing number of "widgets with a purpose" (as I like to call them) being added on social networks and Web sites alike.
   
   In fact KeyPoint Federal Credit Union is a prime example of a credit union using widgets in this fashion. They've developed a Facebook widget that allows users who are on Facebook to access their KeyPoint account online. Of course, just to confuse the matter, Facebook calls widgets "apps" (as in applet). Essentially, they're the same thing... bits of code used to customize a Web page, or individual user profiles in Facebook's case.
   
2. This isn't the answer to all of your young adult worries at your credit union. This, just like a MySpace profile or any other initiative is simply a step in the right direction. There are many other steps needed to reach your destination.

But don't let that stop you! Get out there and come up with some great widgets. Get some input from young adults at your credit union and make it happen.

Second Life Opportunity for Credit Unions?

There's some interesting stuff happening with the online economy over on Second Life. In fact, an article on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal spells it all out.

Before I get to the whole economy issue and what this could mean to credit unions... let's do a quick run-through of Second Life.

In short, it's an online world where users create a character, fly around to different communities/areas of interest, and interact with other users. It's an incredibly in-depth environment where users can truly create a second life. Among the many activities, users can create their own businesses, find virtual jobs for their Second Life persona, and purchase items for their online home. Want more info, check out Second Life itself, or visit this Wikipedia entry.

So the folks behind Second Life, Linden Labs, created a virtual economy with it's own currency ("Linden Dollars") that's convertible to and from U.S. dollars in order to help facilitate all of those fun interactions mentioned above. And as Biggie used to say... "More money, more problems."

Those problems started when Linden Labs had to shut down 12 unregulated and unchartered financial institutions/banks that accepted Second Life deposits and offered interest bearing accounts. More troubles followed when one unchartered bank lost $750,000 in U.S. dollars.

As a result, Linden Labs has now decided that only legitimate, chartered financial institutions will be allowed to operate on Second Life. According to the WSJ article, it appears as though banks have little interest in serving the needs of this online community.

This begs the question... is this an opportunity for credit unions?

Our friends at Filene have an i3 group looking into the matter, check out a recent blog post and YouTube video explaining what they have in mind.

There's also a bit of discussion on this issue floating around the blogosphere. See what's being said here at iContract ... and here at Digital Alchemy.

A New Year Brings New Conversations...

Hello loyal YES CU Blog readers.

First, happy new year! Second, I apologize for the lack of posts.

After the excitement and work on the actual YES Summit, Josh and I have been feverishly busy working on our own projects for CUNA that require a lot of attention.

And then we find ourselves spending the rest of our time on the increasingly popular YES CU Community, the social network unveiled at the Summit to facilitate dialogue around the issue of better serving young adults.

The community is just shy of three hundred members now (!) with recent discussions focused around:

• Debt Consolidation Loans
• Student Credit Unions
• Socially/Environmentally conscious youth
• Credit Building Loan Programs

Other conversations are happening in the targeted groups on the site (staff under 35, University credit unions, etc) and on each other's profile pages via commenting back and forth. If you have something on your mind relating to young adults, members can even blog about it from their profile page (I've posted a few items recently too).

If you haven't joined, it's free and easy! Just visit the site (http://www.yescucommunity.com/) and click "sign up" on the right. Note that to keep the conversations secure and relevant, membership is open only to personnel from credit unions and related organizations.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't link to another new credit union blog out there that also talks about better serving young adults - cutomorrow.org from Filene. Check it out!