LAS VEGAS - How does a board of directors know whether management is really doing a good job?

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - One financial examiner is urging credit unions to take advantage of the growing trend of member business lending.

There is near unanimity among industry experts that during the next five to 10 years the number of credit unions will shrink from 8,400 to around 5,000. But what will it take to survive and flourish during the next decade?

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions Executive Director Cliff Rosenthal is advising mainstream credit unions to partner with their community development brethren to reach out to more of the underserved population.

WALL STREET - The recent meltdown in the mortgage market is presenting opportunities for credit unions, according to several analysts.

So what would you do in this scenario? You're about to take the stage before more than a 1,000 people and you're following a speaker who has turned an already pro-credit union crowd into a group of rabid CU cheerleaders, half of whom would have agreed to an Ed Filene tattoo right then and there if asked. Yet you don't completely agree with the previous speaker's message. Indeed, some of what you're prepared to say, if you actually go through with saying it, is going to feel like being the prohibitionist at the National Brewers' Convention, the tax proponent at the Libertarian picnic, the anti-needle guy at Barry Bonds' house.

LAS VEGAS - Not more than one minute after a large crowd of credit union directors here was giving rousing support to one CU's stand against a "hostile takeover," another person told the room they may have been too quick to applaud.

CHICAGO — North Side Community FCU, a community-development credit union, has come across a new way to expand on its niche of serving the underbanked.

ARLINGTON, Va. - Credit unions generally didn't jump on the subprime mortgage bandwagon, but that doesn't mean they won't get sideswiped as the wagon streaks downhill.

GrooverCar Adopts New Logo

DAYTON, Ohio - In an effort to promote member saving during the summertime auto loan season, Day Air Credit Union started a savings program that actually increases monthly auto loan payments.

NORTH HIGHLANDS, Calif. - Credit unions have long been known for their great auto loan deals, but getting the word out about their real estate products still has a way to go, so some credit unions have found a way to tie the two products together and help members get more bang for their buck.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - For credit unions that have merged or bought up someone else's loan portfolio, collections may have gotten a whole lot more complicated-and they probably don't even know it.

LAS VEGAS - Do you have a net worth plan? You should, says one CEO.

LAS VEGAS - Not more than one minute after a large crowd of credit union directors here was giving rousing support to one CU's stand against a "hostile takeover," another person told the room they may have been too quick to applaud.

LATHROP VILLAGE, Mich. - Michigan First Credit Union is putting the "auto" back in auto loans, using automated voice messages to boost turnout at its biannual car sale.

NEW YORK - Millions of commuters to Manhattan and upstate will be greeted by a new credit union pitch this fall, to coincide with International Credit Union Week.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - One financial examiner is urging credit unions to take advantage of the growing trend of member business lending.

TUKWILA, Wash. - Now is not the time for credit unions to bury their collective heads in the sand.

LAS VEGAS - Wings Financial is not here to defend themselves so I want to make it real clear-I'm going to trash them for all they're worth. -Tom Glatt