1.   Nine keynote speakers, two Master Classes, insights from leading experts during the Industry Sessions and numerous opportunities to network and collaborate with the brightest minds of the credit union movement.

2.   Just like THINK, San Diego is the home of innovation and inventions: WD-40_® was invented in San Diego in 1953; the area is home to both the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and Charles Lindbergh started his trip across the U.S., and ultimately the Atlantic, on the Spirit of St. Louis from San Diego.

3.   Average High in May: 70 degrees.

4.   The conference site, Hotel del Coronado, is the second-largest wooden structure in the United States. It featured the first electric-lit outdoor Christmas tree in 1904.

5.   Average Low in May: 60 degrees. Ice only for cocktails.

6.   You might want to bring your skateboard, since San Diego is considered skateboarder heaven. Olympian Shaun White was born here in 1986 and the legendary Tony Hawk, THINK 11 speaker, was raised here, too.

7.   Applying the new formula for credit unions: “Innovation + Purpose = Opportunity,” THINK 16 will explore the many ways the credit union mission of “people helping people” has evolved in recent years, and how innovating around those changes is not only possible but critical.

8.   To access the conference site, Hotel del Coronado, you have to drive across the Coronado Bridge. Just like Ronald Reagan in 1969 when he was the first driver to open the iconic bridge.

9.   KC and The Sunshine Band will be closing out the conference during the beach party of the year. With sales of over 100 million records and three Grammy Awards, KC and The Sunshine Band is credited with changing the sound of modern pop music. Don’t be surprised when you spend the entire concert on your feet, dancing and shaking your booty.

10.   A free app to make your conference even more enjoyable: Surveys, polls, agenda, networking, Uber functionality and more surprises to keep you engaged and informed. Download at Google Play and iTunes.

11.   Nine years in, the THINK conference has become the industry’s flashpoint for new ideas, creative growth and expansive thinking. Evolving from a showcase of bright thinkers to a laboratory of sorts. Don’t worry: you can keep your lab coat and goggles at home.

12.   You might encounter a ghost at the Hotel del Coronado — a young woman by the name of Kate Morgan who checked in to the hotel in 1892 and was soon found dead on the premises. Room 3327, where Morgan was staying while she waited for her husband to return from a cross-country trip, has the most reports of ghostly encounters. Phenomena said to occur in the room includes odd noises, temperature change and even sightings of the woman herself. There have also been Kate sightings in hotel hallways and along the seashore. Another very “active” area is the resort’s gift shop, where visitors and employees routinely witness giftware mysteriously flying off shelves, oftentimes falling upright and always unbroken.

13.   You will experience firsthand a full slate of new initiatives to get credit unions involved and exercising their innovation muscles. And, as always, expect the unexpected. The magic of THINK happens within and between participants. Abracadabra.

13½.  Did we mention the average San Diego High in May is 70 degrees?

What opportunities will you find at THINK 16? See for yourself. For more information and to register, click here.