CO-OP Financial Services Gives Credit Unions A Different Kind Of Conference

THINK 2008 and its Unique Speaker Roster Receive Rave Reviews

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (May 5, 2008) – THINK 2008, recently held at the Westin Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, Calif., featured expert speakers from inside and outside of the credit union industry, who addressed eclectic topics such as “How to Become the Next Starbucks…with Locations on Every Street Corner,” “Finding Success in an Industry Downturn” and “The Evolving Role of Shared Branching in a Technological World.”

“The conference provided a tremendous breadth and depth of pertinent information on topics impacting the entire industry,” said James Gukeisen, Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union manager, ATM Operations. “The speakers, from Mr. (Howard) Putnam (former CEO of Southwest Airlines and Braniff International) on, gave honest and sincere presentations that thoroughly addressed their professional challenges and the various approaches used to reach the pinnacle of their respective industries. I found this event to be easily worthy of the time and travel invested to attend.”

THINK 2008 speakers included Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer; John Moore, director of national marketing for Whole Foods Market and former retail marketing manager of Starbucks; Ken Schmidt, former director of corporate and financial communications of Harley-Davidson; Brad Lewis, producer of Pixar Animation Studios’ Academy Award®-winning Ratatouille; Howard Putnam; Mary Lou Retton, Olympic gold medalist and 15-year ambassador to Children’s Miracle Network; Carroll Beach, president/COO, CO-OP Shared Branching; Barry Smith, fraud and risk consultant with BFS Consulting Inc. and others.

“We wanted credit union executives to think about our industry in a new way and, more importantly, uncover fresh solutions to old problems,” said Samantha Smyth, CO-OP Financial Services vice president, marketing. “Seeking advice from bold brands outside the credit union industry challenged our audience to push beyond their boundaries and be different. THINK 2008 speakers offered attendees valuable case studies and real-world examples that are workable and immediately actionable for credit unions.”

According to self-proclaimed “tough customer” Carlton Howard, e-Business solutions vice president at Coastal Federal Credit Union, “The speaker lineup was quite possibly the best I’ve seen in my 27 years of attending conferences. Steve Wozniak and John Moore were two of my favorites.

“The two main things I look for in employees are curiosity and passion, and Wozniak was a great example of both – his passion is infectious. Moore shared a lot of valuable insights, including the notion ‘astonish employees and they will astonish customers.’ It makes me want to attend next year’s event, which is a well-deserved first.”

Selected presentations are available to CO-OP member credit unions for download at www.co-opfs.org/think.

About CO-OP Financial Services
Established in 1981 and located in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., CO-OP Financial Services (formerly CO-OP Network) is the nation’s largest credit union service organization. Wholly-owned by its credit union shareholders, CO-OP provides volume discounts on products and services that include ATM network access, ATM processing, debit/card services and shared branching. With nearly 3,000 credit union members, more than 25,000 surcharge-free ATMs (including 6,500 deposit-taking), 120 million-plus monthly transactions and 26 million cardholders, CO-OP Financial Services is the No. 1 credit union EFT network and processor in the U.S. financial services industry. CO-OP Financial Services’ membership has access to 800,000 ATMs worldwide through links to NYCE, STAR, Cirrus, Pulse and Plus.

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