BankThink

The July 31 issue of The Credit Union Journal featured an article entitled, "How to give paper, microfiche the COLD shoulder." This article overlooked the benefits of workflow as part of an enterprise content management (ECM) system. Once known simply as document imaging and COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disk), ECM is a term that has evolved to include a wide variety of applications common to most credit unions such as document imaging, workflow, electronic document management, COLD/ECM and records management-all important applications for a credit union of any size.

For 75 years, the American credit union member has been defining himself and herself without the assistance of bankers or government. And it has been our modest assessment that we are a "working class of people" who raise our families, grow our communities, pay our taxes, and honestly tend to the general welfare of our nation. This modesty does not mean we are a class of shrinking violets. To the contrary, bankers, business and government have repeatedly relied upon us to bail them out from the immodest excesses of power, privilege and money. We have even carried them through their cyclical loses in business confidence, put up with their alligator tears about how difficult their tasks are and how little they are compensated for their hard work. And all the while, we have successfully raised the bar on our modesty by becoming a larger, smarter and more prosperous economic force.

Over the past several years, I have not only subscribed to The Credit Union Journal but have had the opportunity to work with The Credit Union Journal on numerous technology related articles (in particular, Kevin Jepson). I want to express my appreciation for the content improvements and professionalism that I've seen over the past year.

The Credit Union Journal's redesigned website includes a survey that changes periodically. Not only does the survey help track credit union views on current events, it will also be used to help The Journal's editorial staff determine what is important to readers.

Regulatory demands - they affect all of us, but the impact varies dramatically depending on the size of the organization. The regulatory burden falls disproportionately heavier on smaller credit unions than it does on larger CUs. This is especially true for credit unions with less than 20 employees. The Office of Advocacy, a part of the Small Business Administration (SBA), suggests in a 2005 study that smaller businesses spend approximately $7,650 per employee complying with all federal regulations. Larger businesses, those with 500 or more employees, in comparison spent approximately $5,280 per employee.

How often has someone asked you, "Have you seen that TV commercial...," before they launch into a detailed description of the spot's storyline? The problem: they have no idea which advertiser created and paid for the commercial.

I wish you had known him.

Boiled peanuts, sweet tea, NASCAR, and pickup trucks-you know you're in the South. On a crisp October day I took a three-hour drive from Atlanta through the rolling hills of western Alabama to Limestone Springs Golf Club to attend America's First FCU's Annual Charity Golf Tournament.

Another debit provider offering "big incentives" has just approached my credit union! What should I do?

So here's how the trip started: 3:30 a.m. wake-up call in order to get to Orlando airport, catch a nonstop to Vegas and avoid a layover in Atlanta. At 6:05 a.m. the captain's announcement welcomes everyone aboard "our flight to Atlanta." Turns out it's what airlines call a "through-flight," meaning the aircraft continues on to Vegas and the flight number doesn't change. When I ask a flight attendant about it, she cheerfully informs me it's a "one-stop non-stop." Oh. On the Atlanta-Vegas leg I'm two seats from a guy reading a book I see being read by at least one person on every flight to Sin City: "How to Beat The Vegas Casinos at their own Game." Well, obviously, they're taking such a beating they continue to build new, billion-dollar casinos because they're gluttons.