Other industry newsletters abound with various themes, depending on their readership, whether front-office personnel, directors, CFOs or marketing staff. Some publications, such as CUNA’s Credit Union Magazine, cover a range of topics that cross all areas of interest, from leadership to technology and compliance.

Industry events, forums and seminars also provide an invaluable opportunity not only to network with fellow credit union professionals and financial experts but also to participate in first-hand discussion of topics that are both in-depth and relevant. While there are a growing number of trade shows and conventions across the nation, educational events are less frequent, and it certainly makes sense to take advantage of them as they occur. Such events are outstanding resources to help you keep up with regulatory and technology issues, as well as trends in balance sheet and investment management, pricing and marketing.

The better events are designed to enable participants to come away with tools and strategies they can put to immediate use. WesCorp will continue its tradition of hosting regional half-day investment seminars with approximately twelve of these on the schedule for 2004. Our third annual Credit Union Outlook conference will be held in Las Vegas in September. This conference focuses on the economy, interest rates, balance sheet management, and other timely issues facing credit unions. This has proved to be an extremely popular and highly anticipated event.

Online opportunities

Of course, there is no substitute for specialized, interactive training to meet specific needs. But the problem becomes a matter of how, when and where to receive that training. For most credit unions, it is impractical to send staff continually across the country for days at a time to attend a course. However, the growing popularity of live webcasts and online training suggests two viable solutions. Both essentially mean that you don’t even need to leave your desk to participate. A live webcast has the advantage of being current and is an unmatched way of keeping large groups of people up-to-date on a wide range of issues.

Webcasts are particularly suited for discussing timely issues, such as the economy and markets, or new developments, such as Check 21 legislation. The good ones are accompanied by visual presentations, which can be downloaded from an archive at a later date. WesCorp also hosts quarterly webcasts that focus on developments in the economy and how those might affect interest rates in the future. In addition, we will have special “as needed” webcasts this year should any significant changes occur in the interest rate outlook.

While less likely to cover up-to-the-minute issues, online training is suited better for acquiring and developing specific skills. Its chief advantage is that it can be obtained at any time you choose, again from the comfort of your own desk. WesCorp’s first offering of this type is a comprehensive Online ALM Training program. Collaborating with Sheshunoff Information Services, WesCorp’s ALM training program is designed to meet the needs of credit union management participants at all levels of the credit union. As an example, board members may need to understand how derivatives reduce risk on the balance sheet, but they may not need to understand how the actual transaction is executed and accounting issues are resolved.

The full online program is composed of twenty-six courses in six modules. Credit union participants can complete all of the courses or only those that affect their specific roles. The program is designed in a building block fashion—from the basics of the economy and interest rates to more complex issues such as interest-rate risk management and derivatives. More than 240 credit unions already have taken advantage of this useful, convenient tool.