Are Credit Unions LOST?
by: James Robert Lay, Grower of Relationships, PTP NEW MEDIA & CU*SWAG
Take a moment. Close your eyes. And imagine this.
You are on a plane flying through the air. Suddenly and for no reason whatsoever, the plane falls out of the sky. Oxygen masks drop down and you black out.
The plane crashes on a remote island with no hope of rescue. You are one of the few survivors.
You are LOST.
What do you do? How will you survive? Will you work with others or will you try to go it alone?
Then, someone steps up. A doctor named Jack takes charge to inspire everyone with the following speech:
A Different Perspective But Same Story
Think about your credit union. Think about your board of directors. Think about your management team. Think about your members.
Instead of an airplane crashing, it was the economy. What if Jack shared the following words with the survivors…with you? Can you relate?
“It’s been four years. And we are all still waiting. Waiting for things to get better and go back to the way they were before the economy crapped out. But what if it doesn’t get better?
We have to stop waiting.
We can’t do this. Every credit union for himself is not going to work. It’s time to start organizing. Collaborating. Cooperating. We need to figure out how we are going to survive here.
Now, I found new ideas. Fresh ideas. We will take a group in at first light. If you don’t want to come, then find another way to contribute.
Last week, most of us were strangers. But we’re all here now. And God knows how long we’re going to be here.
“But if we can’t live together, we’re going to die alone.”
Are credit unions LOST?
In February of 2002, during his sophomore year at San Jacinto College, James Robert founded PTP NEW MEDIA from his bedroom. Since then, PTP NEW MEDIA has helped credit unions build relationships with members with the help of offline, online, internal and external marketing channels. Their work has won many state and national marketing awards. He is also behind the movement to help make credit unions fashionably cool with CU*SWAG and was named the first “CU Times Trailblazer 40 Below” of 2012. James Robert completed his MBA in 2006 and has enjoyed speaking at many different credit union conferences and events. www.ptpnewmedia.com www.cuswag.com
