WASHINGTON-Has CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) reached the status of political conventions and G8 meetings?
In one regard it has. A group of approximately 30 young credit union staffers from around the country looked to "Crash the GAC" this year. The group, many graduates of the National Credit Union Foundation's Development Education (DE) program, and many of whom also host a variety of blogs on credit union-related topics, however, essentially attended the meeting as registrants. And what began as an informal, loose effort eventually even produced a rather formal and full agenda.
The Crash the GAC group members approached CUNA about attending the meeting, and officials eventually agreed to provide complimentary registrations. During the meeting the Crashers attended some of the GAC sessions, but also hosted their own "Crash sessions," including "The Global Impact of Credit Unions" with World Council CEO Pete Crear, "Getting Real About Credit Union Differentiation" with the Filene Research Institute's George Hofheimer, "The Future of Credit Unions" with NCUA board member Gigi Hyland, and "From Good to Growth: Growth Strategies with a Conscience" with Lois Kitsch of the National Credit Union Foundation.
