The new American Bankers Association president took the spotlight Monday with a plea to bankers to back the trade group's image campaign.
William T. McConnell used his first official appearance as top banker to ask his colleagues to help rid the industry of its increasingly unpopular image.
"This is going to cost some real money," said Mr. McConnell, chairman and chief executive officer of Park National Corp., Newark, Ohio. "But it's the best money you'll ever spend."
Walter A. Dods Jr., the outgoing president, launched the media campaign this year. It features two commercials, which ran for several weeks on CNN, touting banks as high-tech, innovative institutions that help people invest their money.
Mr. Dods urged his colleagues to contribute $500 per $100 million of assets for the ads, which the trade group plans to test market in two cities this year.
"Who loves banks these days? A new ABA study shows it is older, less- educated, low-income people," Mr. Dods said. "We must have a customer base much broader than that."
Mr. Dods' campaign got a big boost at the convention from KeyCorp chairman Robert Gillespie, who urged his colleagues to pony up for more television ads.
"If we really had our heads together, wouldn't we spend $20 million ... to get people to think differently about bank-based financial services?" Mr. Gillespie asked.
Mr. McConnell shared the stage Monday with his fellow newly elected officers, a group of bankers who will quietly wait in the wings for their turn at the top spot. He and his three colleagues all hail from community banks.
R. Scott Jones, president-elect, is chairman and chief executive officer of Goodhue County National Bank, Red Wing, Minn. Hjalma E. Johnson, first vice president, is chairman and CEO of East Coast Bank Corp., Dade City, Fla.; chairman of Bank at Ormond By-the-Sea, Ormond Beach, Fla.; managing director of Synagen Capital Partners Inc., Orlando; and president of Investment Advisors Inc., Dade City. Harley D. Bergmeyer, the new treasurer, is president, chairman and CEO of Saline State Bank, Wilber, Neb.
Mr. Dods ended his tenure as ABA president the way he began it-in a Hawaiian shirt.
After Mr. McConnell formally took over, Mr. Dods began undressing on stage. Off came his suit jacket and tie. Then came his dress shirt, which revealed the colorful, flower-patterned shirt beneath.
"How intelligent is it to start the day tying a noose around your neck?" he asked the crowd as he removed his tie. "Now, by God, I don't have to do that anymore."
The end of Mr. Dods' term is bad news for the airline industry. The president of Honolulu-based First Hawaiian Bank flew 277,000 miles in the past 12 months and visited half the states.
Golf was the predominant theme in the exhibit hall at this year's ABA convention. At least seven vendors offered bankers the chance to swing a club. MCI Communications Corp. offered the most high-tech version, using point-to-point teleconferencing to allow a golf pro in Washington to analyze the swings of bankers here.
ABA's mini-golf course also got rave reviews. Bankers got a free sleeve of golf balls for each putt they sank. Of course, the green was full of bumps and humps that made the shots nearly impossible. ABA general counsel John J. Gill missed three straight putts, although his wife went three for four.
Then there was Omega Performance, a consulting firm on banker training. It simply offered bankers the chance to putt into a metal cup over the convention floor's carpet. "At least we are giving away the putter," Omega's Peggi E. Smith said. "Everyone else is taking their equipment home with them."
Paddleballs provided by Executive Risk, a liability insurance company, also were a hit. "I've got a granddaughter, and I'll give that to her," said Joseph M. Henry of Exchange Bank in Louisiana. "It is a good gimmick."
GE Capital had the most mouth-watering exhibit-a large chocolate cake with white frosting-while National Commerce Bank Services - which creates supermarket branches-offered bottled water and pens in the shape of vegetables and fruits to represent the shopping experience.
Edward Jones, the investment firm, wasn't looking to sell anything. "We're here to recruit bankers," said Robert F. Fairbanks Jr., an investment representative in the company's Fitchburg, Mass., office. The company declined to discuss whether it had any success.
The 2,200 bankers at the convention turned downright gleeful when the ABA replayed a recent "20/20" segment slamming Senate Banking Committee Chairman Alfonse M. D'Amato's plan to limit ATM surcharges.
ABC reporter John Stossel told Sen. D'Amato: "You make it sound like ATMs are like heroin. People are addicted to them." To which the New York Republican responded: "That's right."
Less effective was a report via telephone from the Supreme Court steps by ABA deputy general counsel Michael F. Crotty. He was updating the convention on the just-argued case over credit union membership practices. The ABA leadership apparently hoped the live report would build grass-roots support among bankers, which will be critical when Congress begins looking for a legislative solution to the credit union industry's legal troubles.
The ABA ended its annual confab on a high note. For $70,000, it booked a special performance by the Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart. "The reason we can afford it is because so many of the other events were paid for by sponsors," an ABA spokesman said.
