text:
Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont
Collection Overview
This collection contains large-scale maps of Burlington, Vermont produced to give fire insurance companies and underwriters accurate information about insured properties. The fire insurance maps provide a remarkably detailed record of the city's development in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The maps dating from 1885, 1894, 1900, 1906, 1912 and 1919 were produced by the Sanborn Company. The earliest set, from 1869, does not indicate a publisher, but it is very similar to other early Sanborn maps.
The 1869 maps show the commercial, industrial, and residential area from the Lake Champlain waterfront east to Church and Shelburne Streets and from Pearl Street on the north to Howard Street on the south. Coverage gradually expands to include the growing downtown, the University of Vermont and the manufacturing area at Winooski Falls to the east, and new residential and commercial areas to the north and south.
The colored 21 x 25 inch sheets show building footprints, construction methods and materials, size and number of floors, and uses. They also show streets, railroads, wharves and slips, property boundaries, street numbers, water systems and fire hydrants. Except for 1869, each map set includes an index sheet showing the mapped area and sheet numbers, a list of streets and addresses, a "specials index" of businesses and organizations, and a detailed key that lists the symbols used to indicate building features.
Later Burlington insurance maps (1926 to 1978) are available in UVM Special Collections - http://library.uvm.edu/sc/.
More information about Sanborn fire insurance maps is available here - http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/sanborn/.
Time Period Covered: 1869-1919
Parent Collections
Fire Insurance Maps of Vermont
Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont,
Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont, 1885
Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont, 1889
Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont, 1894
Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont, 1900
Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont,
Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont, 1912
Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont, 1919
Published: September 17, 2013, University of Vermont, Bailey/Howe Library, Special Collections
Rights: Requests to reproduce this item should be sent to the UVM Libraries' Center for Digital Initiatives at email@example.com. For more information, see http://cdi.uvm.edu/about/rights. More information.
Browse Options
- Fire insurance maps. [1]
- map [1]
- Burlington Drug Co. [1]
- Burlington Savings Bank Building [1]
- Burlington Steam Laundry [1]
- Burlington Trust Co., Building [1]
- Cathedral School (Catholic) [1]
- | 1 - 1 of 1 |
- Thumbnails | List
- | 1 - 1 of 1 |
- Thumbnails | List


text: People see the big assist numbers low turnovers and great coach-ability and they are infatuated with Calderon. But in Reality he is a 2nd string PG who ranks among the worst defensively in the history of the game. And these days he has a hard time even getting his shot off the bounce. All he can do is be an average spot up shooter.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Adam Jones doing his best Willie Mays impression
As Nick Markakis made his 1st career start today at first base, Adam Jones made this catch in center field.
WOW. Not to mention he went 3-4 on the day with the go ahead HR in the 8th. That man likes beating up on the Mariners, and it's quite amusing. He is the definition of a boss. End of story.
And if you're not already (for some odd reason), follow Adam on Twitter. @SimplyAJ10.
The Orioles managed to scrape the win today, going 1-5 on the road trip, but they come home for some games now that I'll be at. So that's a positive. Oh yeah, and they might win some of them, too. Let's hope for that.
Off day tomorrow. That is when I will finally post about the final 2 Royals games from last week. Since I may not remember much, it may just be some notes and pictures. But hey, pictures are still nice.
Oh yeah, and who wants to buy this hat (photo cred: @OnlyChrisjr29)?


text:
Strange news broke today that Sweden's Global Gaming Factory X AB had purchased The Pirate Bay, the world's largest torrent site. Among the internet's top 100 most visited properties, The Pirate Bay reportedly fetched a bounty of 60 million Swedish Krona or roughly $7.8 million. The site will be handed over to its new captain on August 2009.
Global Gaming Factory (GGF), owner of internet cafes and gaming centers in Sweden, plans to compensate copyright holders for the first time in the site's history. "We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site," said Hans Pandeya, CEO of GGF.
He elaborates, "The Pirate Bay is a site that is among the top 100 most visited Internet sites in the world. However, in order to live on, The Pirate Bay requires a new business model, which satisfies the requirements and needs of all parties, content providers, broadband operators, end users, and the judiciary. Content creators and providers need to control their content and get paid for it. File sharers 'need faster downloads and better quality.'"
In a related move, GGF also purchased a stake in Peerialism AB, a peer-to-peer technology firm. GGF plans to deploy Peerialism's data distribution and distributed storage based P2P solutions on the Pirate Bay in what some are dubbing "P2P 2.0". Reportedly the technology will allow for faster download speeds and more efficient content hosting.
The Pirate Bay's former owners, a group of Swedes, remain mostly enthusiastic about the move, viewing it as a necessity. Faced with mounting legal expenses from their fight in Swedish courts and potential lofty fines, they risked bringing down the site if they held on to it. Writes an admin in the site's blog, "We've been working on this project for many years. It's time to invite more people into the project, in a way that is secure and safe for everybody. We need that, or the site will die. And letting TPB die is the last thing that is allowed to happen!"
They warn, though, "If the new owners will screw around with the site, nobody will keep using it. That's the biggest insurance one can have that the site will be run in the way that we all want to. And - you can now not only share files but shares with people. Everybody can indeed be the owner of The Pirate Bay now. That's awesome and will take the heat of us."
That comment cuts to the heart of the issue. The Pirate Bay's new ownership and keep-everyone-happy scheme certainly sounds nice. However, details of how it exactly will work are scarce. Other P2P-turned-legit services in the past have floundered, as evidenced by early poster-child of the P2P movement, Napster. If the legit TBP can't make up for its content with advertising, who will it charge? And if it starts charging customers will people keep visiting the site that has lost the thing they loved -- piracy?


text:
By the numbers: Princeton 'Profile'
Sept. 19, 2011 12:56 p.m.
The 2011-12 edition of Princeton's "Profile" publication is now available online, answering frequently asked questions about the University and highlighting many of the diverse resources available on campus, including many academic, cultural, recreational, economic and community activities.
The "Profile" also can be purchased in Princeton University's Office of Communications at 22 Chambers St., Suite 201. The following is a sampling of information contained in the publication:
- Chartered in 1746 as the College of New Jersey, Princeton University was British North America's fourth college. In 1896, when expanded program offerings brought the College university status, it was officially renamed Princeton University in honor of its host community.
- Fully coeducational since 1969, Princeton for the past academic year (2010-11) enrolled 7,731 students -- 5,149 undergraduates (754 of whom are New Jersey residents, representing almost every county in the state) and 2,582 graduate students (degree candidates only). The ratio of undergraduate students to faculty members (in full-time equivalents) is 6 to 1.
- Living up to its unofficial motto, "In the Nation's Service and in the Service of All Nations," the University has educated thousands of individuals who have dedicated their lives to public service, including two U.S. presidents (Woodrow Wilson and James Madison); hundreds of U.S. and state legislators (the House of Representatives, for example, has housed a Princeton alumnus every year since it first met in 1789); and 44 governors, including 11 New Jersey governors.
- Each year, more than 2,500 members of the student body, faculty, staff and local alumni volunteer in community service projects throughout the region.
- Princeton's main campus in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township consists of approximately 9 million square feet of space in more than 180 buildings on 500 acres. Including Springdale Golf Course, Lake Carnegie and roads for which the University owns the right-of-way, Princeton owns 759 acres in the township and has 214 acres in the borough.
- The University, with approximately 5,940 benefits-eligible employees, is one of the region's largest private employers. It plays a major role in the educational, cultural and economic life of the area by bringing 815,000 visitors and approximately $2 billion in economic activity to the region.


text:
Share your dreams for the children of Syria
Throughout the month of October, we're turning the spotlight on the Syrian refugee crisis. And we're connecting it to our global #Dreamshare campaign - asking our friends and supporters to visit our microsite and share their dreams for the future of Syria and its people and refugees.
Today, blogger Stephen Brewster shares his dream for the children of Syria: the chance to be creative.
* * *
Last week, I came home from work after a crazy, completely exhausting day. My twin girls, Hope & Grace, were walking around the house with a guitar, writing songs. According to Hope, Grace writes kiddie songs, but she writes big kid's songs. So even though my desire arriving home was to sit on the couch and decompress, I knew I'd spend this night writing songs with my twins.
Now, these songs will never make a record, but they were platinum hits at home and for a few minutes that night we got to share a little creative wonder. For those few minutes, I was living a dream that I want to share today – a dream I have for my kids to remain in the creative innocence that youth provides. I want them to be engulfed by imagination and wonder for as long as possible. I want this so much that sometimes I wish they could pull me into their world for a little while.
Have you ever thought what it must be like to be a child in Syria right now? There's just no space for creative innocence or imagination.
You can't play. You can't explore. You can't follow your imagination on adventures that will stretch and challenge your creativity to new heights.
Instead, kids in Syria wake up every day and wonder if it might be their last. They're not dreaming and imagining what life could be, what possibilities exist, what creativity looks like for them. They're worried about survival … and that's sad.
Right now, there are parts of Syria where children can't even go back to school. Their lives have been brutally interrupted. They have nothing, which may be the best place for creativity to live, but sadly, that place may include the loss of hope.
There's nothing like getting the chance to embrace your childhood. I know I want my kids to stay young and free for as long as they possibly can. I want them to dream, I want them to explore, I want them to imagine things that are so ridiculous and so much fun. The last thing I want my kids to worry about is if they're going to make it to lunch without seeing someone killed, or worse, dying themselves.
Kids deserve more. They deserve innocence and they deserve wonder. It gets so easy to take creativity and the freedom to be creative for granted. If I'm honest, I complain if my "process" gets interrupted, let alone my life. So today, I'm taking a minute, stopping, and praying that kids in Syria get the chance to be creative today.
I'm also partnering with a campaign called #Dreamshare – a partnership with World Vision to return creativity to kids who have lost everything. World Vision is working with refugee kids to help them get back into school, get caught up, and regain some of the normality that will provide them the space to be the creative monsters God created them to be.
#Dreamshare has created a microsite where you can visit to share your own dreams, or you can post on social media using #dreamshare. This campaign is dreaming to inspire two million uses of the hashtag.
Today, I dream for kids to have the ability to stay creative, especially kids in Syria. What dream will you share?
Make a one-time donation to help World Vision provide emergency assistance for Syrian refugees. Your gift will help us deliver basic hygiene kits and food vouchers for refugee families, as well as support initiatives like the remedial education program, helping refugee children continue their education away from home.
Please join us in prayer for all World Vision staff members working around the world, particularly in this region of conflict.


text: I agree. They need to start spending more if anything. All the best teams spend a lot of money. Most of the teams who make the playoffs are paying luxury tax. The Raptors management needs to put up or shut up with this "we are about winning" crap. They better spend the full MLE or else, simply put, they're full of it.


text:
CalTrend Leather Seat Covers JP162-08LD
- Our Price: $293.86
- Shipping:FREE SHIPPING
- Part Number: JP162-08LD
- Rating: (44)
Front Row Leather Seat Covers
- Part #: JP162-08LD
- Bucket Seats, with Separate Headrests, with Driver Side Manual Lumbar, with Power Seats
- Light Gray
$293.86Free Shipping
Select your vehicle details above to ensure item compatibility.
- Dress your seats up with the beauty, comfort, and style of CalTrend Leather Seat Covers
- Custom-fit to your exact vehicle with precision computer-cut patterns
- Sitting surface crafted from real top-quality leather - vinyl leatherette covers all other areas
- Excellent looks and premium comfort without the expense of factory leather
- Foam-lined at body contact points for extra comfort
- Headrest and armrest covers included, when needed
- No-tool installation - uses cords and hook straps
- Available in Black, Beige, Charcoal, and Grey
- 2 Year Warranty
Give your ride the same comfortable, soft interior as the finest of luxury vehicles. Cal Trend Leather Seat Covers wrap your seat's sitting surfaces in premium, smooth leather, while the rest of your seats are covered in a high-quality, vinyl leatherette. Giving you the look and feel of leather seats, without the high cost of factory leather packages. They're custom-cut to your exact vehicle for a factory fit and smooth classy looks.
Cal Trend Leather Seat Covers are built to be as durable as they are good-looking. Reinforced edges and UV-treated panels ensure a long life without splitting or fading. Foam lining at key body contact points gives you total driving comfort and support in all the right spots. Installing your CalTrend Leather Seat Covers is a breeze, using the included hook straps and cords. You'll be dressed up in premium leather in just minutes, without any tools.
Cal Trend includes armrest and headrest covers with your Leather Seat Covers, where applicable. Your CalTrend Leather Seat Covers are backed with a 2 Year Warranty.
Note: For an easier installation, add an Installation Kit at checkout!
Note: Due to variations in computer monitor settings, colors viewed on the web may not display as intended. If you have questions about the color of a particular CalTrend Seat Cover, please call and we will be happy to assist you.
CalTrend JP162-08LD fits:
- 2006-2010 Jeep Commander
There are no reviews for this application.
See All CalTrend Leather Seat Covers Reviews.


text:
Things move pretty fast in in the world of high technology, and the seesaw patent battles among the largest players are no exception. The last several weeks have produced a number of developments involving some of the big fish in the space, including Microsoft, Samsung and Apple. And, while their patent wars have produced a lot of noise, there have been other big stories in the world of intellectual property, including the launch of a potentially game-changing IP network and a clash of heroic proportions over a geeky trademark. For the scoop on these stories, click through the slideshow and click the embedded links for more information.
Microsoft sues Samsung
Microsoft is suing Samsung in a battle over Android patent fees. Microsoft says that the South Korean electronics giant has failed to make scheduled payments for the use of its intellectual property. "After spending months trying to resolve our disagreement, Samsung has made clear in a series of letters and discussions that we have a fundamental disagreement as to the meaning of our contract," wrote David Howard, Microsoft's assistant general counsel. The disagreement stems from Microsoft's purchase of Nokia's assets, and Samsung is taking aggressive action itself, looking for the Korean government to intervene and threatening to sure Microsoft for infringement.
Apple and Samsung vs. patent trolls
Common enemies can bring even the fiercest of rivals together, and this seems to be the case for two leaders in the high-tech – and patent litigation – space, Apple and Samsung. The two tech giants have become targets of the Luxembourg-based non-practicing entity known as Enterprise Systems Technology (EST), which owns several patents that once belonged to Siemens. EST claims that both Apple and Samsung make mobile devices that infringe on these patents. The troll is also targeting HTC, LG and others, with Microsoft having already decided to settle with the company rather than go to court. For now, at least, the big companies have a common foe.
Samsung, Apple reach patent détente
Having a common enemy to hate is one thing, but actually deciding to a truce is something altogether different. Now, Apple and Samsung have decided to scale back their ongoing patent war. The two tech companies released a joint statement indicating that they are dropping all suits against one another in countries other than the United States, including Australia, Germany, France, the U.K., Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and South Korea. "Apple and Samsung have agreed to drop all litigation between the two companies outside the United States," the joint statement said. "This agreement does not involve any licensing arrangements, and the companies are continuing to pursue the existing cases in U.S. courts."
Trading on IPXI platform begins
Touted as the world's first financial exchange for the licensing and trading of intellectual property rights, Intellectual Property Exchange International (IPXI) has successfully closed its first two initial offerings involving license rights. The offerings are based on patent rights to prepared stored value card technology owned by JPMorgan Chase. Buyers can purchase unit license rights (ULR) that cover the patents. These operate like shares in a traditional public offering, and buyers and investors can use them like a traditional patent license or trade them via IPXI's platform. Each ULR represents the rights to produce 100 cards and they have been priced at $5 apiece with 750,000 expected to become available.
Comic-Con clash
While the world's biggest comic book convention, Comic-Con International: San Diego (or the San Diego Comic-Con or SDCC) just wrapped up a week of pop culture mayhem, the organizers of the event are just getting warmed up. Lawyers representing SDCC have sent a cease and desist letter to the organizers of the Salt Lake Comic Con, accusing them of trademark infringement. SDCC was previously denied a trademark for "Comic Con," although it does own a trademark on they hyphenated version "Comic-Con." Previously, it has tried and failed to block the Chicago Comic Con from using the term. No word on whether the Guardians of the Galaxy plan to get involved in this kerfuffle.


text:
Sean's House Party
Have you ever had one of those insanely weird dreams, where one part flits into the next and it seems impossibly unreal but absolutely amazing at the same time. Well editing the footage for this View From, was like i was in control of this surreal dream. Cutting at the truly bizarre and merging into the wonderfully sublime. I'm not really sure if i could accurately summarise the video here, like i normally do and still do it justice. I can't really think of a suitable word to describe it. I always keep coming back to Wow.
So there you have it. Wow.
Normal service will now resume.


text:
Hsin-Nien Tao: Translation & Interpretation Student Ambassador
May 28, 2012
Hsin-Nien Tao '12
Undergrad: National Taipei University
Major: Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics
Hometown: Taipei, Taiwan
What is your favorite place in Monterey?
My favorite place in Monterey is the coastline from Fisherman's Wharf to Lover's Point. I like going for walks or bike rides along that path. It's beautiful!!
What internships or jobs have you had while attending MIIS?
I'm currently working as an enrollment assistant in the enrollment office so I can answer all your questions about T&I enrollment!
What are your career aspirations?
I want to sit in the simultaneous interpretation booths in the United Nations as a conference interpreter one day.
Do you have a personal Mantra or quote you live by?
"Just keep swimming." – Dori
Fun fact about you:
I've had scoliosis surgery but that doesn't stop me from playing volleyball!
If you were a food, you would be:
Chocolate covered sea salt caramels. Yum.
What has been the highlight of your MIIS experience thus far?
Meeting all the wonderful people here and making friends.
And one last thing:
I love music. I have to have music playing almost all the time and this can be a bit of a problem when I should be listening to my own recording or practicing simultaneous interpretation.


text:
|My Cart- 0 item(s)
|Qualir = Quality + Reliability
QL-GMC721 will make your road trips fun. The seven-inch screens coupled with the built-in GPS – gives you a prime route without looking at the paper maps. Choose to watch the movie from your disc collections or opt out to iPod/iPhone connection. It features multiple AV jacks that can be configured as inputs or outputs. The built-in radio is another way to comfort your trip. So what are you waiting...
Model:QL-GMC721See All AVEO Navigation
This unit comes with everything you'll ever need from a car media system to keep you and your passengers entertained to the max. The built-in GPS navigation lets you get to your desired destination on time and stress free. You also get integrated Bluetooth, which offers handsfree calls for safer driving , as well as an iPod connection to enjoy your iTunes and a USB connection for flash drives. The SD car slot can...
Model:QL-CRZ725See All CRUZE Navigation
Your Recent History
After viewing product detail pages ,you can simply navigate back to product pages you are interested here.See what's on promotion >>
Customer Services
Company Info


text:
Outfield, pitching depth headline White Sox system
Hawkins, Thompson and Mitchell among top five prospects for South Siders
By Zack Meisel / MLB.com
The future success of every Major League team lies largely in its Minor League pipeline. With that in mind, MLB.com is looking at each team's farm system, from the Top 20 Prospects to under-the-radar types.
Courtney Hawkins performed the Draft-day backflip, but he isn't the only White Sox outfield prospect poised to garner attention this year.
Three of the club's top five prospects roam the outfield, as Hawkins checks in as the organization's No. 1 youngster, followed by outfielders Trayce Thompson at No. 2 and Jared Mitchell at No. 5.
Hawkins, the team's first-round selection in last year's First-Year Player Draft, batted .284 with eight homers, 33 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in 59 games between the club's Rookie-level team, Class A Kannapolis and Class A Winston-Salem.
Thompson, a second-round Draft pick in 2009, slugged 25 homers and drove in 96 runs in 136 contests, mostly with Winston-Salem. He also saw brief action at Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte. Overall, he batted .253 and swiped 21 bases, though he did strike out 166 times.
Whiffs have also been an issue for Mitchell, a former two-sport athlete (football) at LSU. A first-round Draft selection by the White Sox in 2009, Mitchell missed the 2010 campaign with a torn tendon in his ankle, an injury that he said served as a blessing in disguise.
"Having a setback, a moment of adversity, it helps a whole lot in shaping you and helping you realize that it doesn't always happen the way you want it to happen," Mitchell said.
Despite piling up 402 strikeouts in 293 career Minor League games, including 179 in 130 contests last season, Mitchell has demonstrated an ability to reach base and effectively use his speed. He only batted .237 last year at Birmingham and Charlotte, but still reached base at a .358 clip. He also tallied 24 doubles, 13 triples and 21 stolen bases.
"It's still not where I want it to be," Mitchell said, "but at the same time, it's not like I go up there any at-bat and think, 'I don't want to strike out here.' You know it's going to happen. It's part of the game. It's not something I'm going to worry about. I try to make sure that in my everyday progression and work, I'm doing what I need to do to become a better player."
Top 20 prospects
After the slew of outfielders stacked atop Chicago's list of top prospects, pitching reigns supreme. Erik Johnson (No. 3) and Scott Snodgress (No. 6) pace the pack of hurlers ranked among the organization's best young up-and-comers, before a run of pitchers occupies spots nine through 15 on the list.
Johnson, a second-round Draft choice in 2011, posted a 6-5 record and 2.53 ERA in his first full professional season. The right-hander averaged nearly a strikeout per inning.
Snodgress, a lefty, went 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA in eight starts following a promotion to Winston-Salem, where he fanned 44 batters in 42 frames.
top white sox prospects
|Courtney Hawkins
|Trayce Thompson
|Erik Johnson
|Carlos Sanchez
|Jared Mitchell
Andre Rienzo, a right-hander, compiled a 7-3 mark and 2.53 ERA in 18 starts between Winston-Salem, Birmingham and Charlotte. He checks in as the ninth-ranked prospect in the White Sox system.
Nestor Molina, acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays for closer Sergio Santos prior to last season, went 6-11 with a 4.55 ERA in 23 games for Birmingham and Charlotte. In 2011, the right-hander dazzled to the tune of a 12-3 record and 2.21 ERA. He is rated the No. 10 prospect.
Under the radar
Ryan Kussmaul, RHP: The 26-year-old has pitched admirably at every stop on his Minor League journey. He posted a 2.51 ERA with 88 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings for Winston-Salem in 2011, and boasted a 1.11 ERA and 13 saves in 37 appearances for Birmingham in 2012.
Michael Gunter, RHP: The sample size is small, but Gunter, a 22-year-old from Birmingham, Ala., performed well last season. In nine appearances, he logged a 2.70 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 10 innings. He ended the season pitching at Double-A in his hometown.
Hitter of the Year
The White Sox will be doing backflips if Hawkins can take his production from an abbreviated first professional season and repeat it over a full schedule in 2013. The 19-year-old played for three different teams in 2012, and could vault up the Minor League ladder again this year if he continues to hit.
Pitcher of the Year
Snodgress dominated in his eight starts at Winston-Salem, and the imposing southpaw can back up his No. 6 ranking in the White Sox system by continuing that effectiveness on the mound. He finished the 2012 season with a 7-3 mark and a 3.00 ERA and 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
Zack Meisel is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @zackmeisel. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
ESL FCU Pays $7.25 Million Owners' Dividend
The $4.3 billion, Rochester, N.Y.-based ESL Federal Credit Union distributed a $7.25 million owners' dividend to more than 199,000 members and 2,600 business partners via direct deposit in January, the credit union announced.
The 2013 payout — ESL FCU's 17th annual — brought the credit union's total dividend distribution amount to more than $94 million since 1996, ESL FCU said.
To determine each year's payout amount, the credit union said it adds its average monthly balance on share accounts to its average monthly balance on loan accounts, then multiplies that by a percentage determined by its board of directors.
"ESL remains committed to providing exceptional service and value to our loyal customers and business partners," said CEO David Fiedler said. "Our top priority continues to be delivering a superior banking experience and the owners' dividend is just one of the many unique ways we accomplish this for our customers and business partners."
Founded in 1920, ESL FCU serves approximately 310,000 members worldwide.


text: Games Press is the leading online resource for games journalists. Used daily by magazines, newspapers, TV, radio, online media and retailers worldwide, it offers a vast, constantly updated archive of press releases and assets, and is the simplest and most cost-effective way for PR professionals to reach the widest possible audience. Registration for the site and the Games Press email digest is available, to the trade only, at www.gamespress.com


text:
A groin hernia is abdominal tissue or fat pushing through the abdominal wall. There are 2 main types:
- Inguinal hernia (most common)—appears as a bulge in the groin (or scrotal area when in men)
- Femoral hernia—appears as a bulge in the groin, upper thigh, or labia (when in women)
A hernia can trap a section of intestine, leading to blockage or problems with blood flow. This is called strangulation. It is a medical emergency and requires care right away.
The abdominal wall wraps around your middle from the bottom of your ribs to your pelvis. It helps to contain and support your abdominal organs and tissue. When this area is weakened, these internal tissues can press through can create the hernia. The weakness may be caused by a problem with the abdominal wall development before birth, injuries, or wear and tear of the muscles.
Risk Factors
Inguinal hernias are more common in men and femoral hernias are more common in women.
Abdominal wall weakness is more common in older adults. Other factors that may increase your chance of abdominal wall weakness include:
- Obesity
- Wear and tear on abdominal wall from frequent lifting of heavy objects, or prolonged coughing or straining
- Previous surgery in the abdominal area
- Family history of hernia
- Peritoneal dialysis
Many times, there are no symptoms with a groin hernia. In those who do have them, the symptoms may include:
- A bulge in the groin area when standing or straining
- A bulge in the upper thigh area
- Pain in the groin area when straining
- A bulge that may extend into the scrotum in men or the labia in women
- Pain and/or a heavy feeling or discomfort in the groin area
More serious symptoms may need emergency care:
- Severe pain in the groin or abdomen
- Fever
- Abdominal swelling
- Nausea
- Vomiting
You will be asked about your symptoms and medical history. A physical exam will be done. Imaging studies are only done if the diagnosis in not clear by physical exam.
Watchful waiting is an option for those with inguinal hernias who do not have symptoms. This means you and your doctor will monitor your hernia for growth or the appearance of more serious symptoms. Femoral hernias are at higher risk of strangulation. Watchful waiting is not advised, especially for women.
Femoral hernias and inguinal hernias that cause symptoms are repaired with surgery. The abdominal tissue will be pushed back in and the opening will be closed. Sometimes, a mesh material will be placed to help support the area.
To help reduce your chance of a groin hernia:
- Lose excess weight.
- Exercise regularly to keep abdominal muscles strong.
- Learn to lift properly. Ask for help with heavy weights.
- Talk to your doctor about quitting smoking, especially if you have a chronic cough.
Revision Information
- Reviewer: EBSCO Medical Review Board Marcin Chwistek, MD
- Review Date: 03/2017 -
- Update Date: 03/16/2015 -


text:
In his prepared remarks during Wednesday's House hearing on government-sponsored enterprises, Capital Markets and GSEs subcommittee Chairman Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) blamed the housing market meltdown on "bad mortgages."
Garrett further defined bad mortgages to mean subprime mortgages to risky, low-income borrowers that were purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Dodd-Frank regulations don't address the cause of bad mortgages, Garrett said. Rather, bad mortgages were the product of federal housing policy that intended to increase homeownership among low-income borrowers, coupled with "loose money from the Federal Reserve."
"Those are the areas where we must focus reform," Garrett said.
Could House Republican reforms that limit or eliminate guarantees on mortgages to low-income borrowers effect credit union lending?
Yes, said CUNA Chief Economist Bill Hampel. Tighter secondary market standards could indeed affect credit unions that serve riskier borrowers, which Hampel said would be "a shame because not all loans to riskier borrowers are 'bad mortgages'."
Credit unions held most of their new mortgages on their books pre-crisis, Hampel said, which resulted in lower loss rates.
"This suggests credit unions were successfully lending to all types of borrowers," he said.
However, interest rate risk makes holding any significant amount of new mortgages on the books "perilous," Hampel said.
"This is why it is so important that credit unions have unencumbered access to the secondary market, to be able to lend when interest rates are too low for loans to be funded by shares and deposits," he said.


text:
If you want to copy or move messages, specify the
HyperNews path of a destination forum or message that all messages
will be copied or moved to. The destination must already exist, so
maybe create it first.
Path of Destination (a Forum or Message): (e.g. "test")
Notify Subscribers at destination
Delete Messages
[ Edit This Forum ]


text:
Big Ideas from the CU Water Cooler Symposium: An Audio-Visual Roundup
The CU Water Cooler Symposium has always been about more than just sharing ideas but actually acting on what you've learned and the connections you've made during the two-day event. The goal is for attendees to return home armed, psyched and ready to implement even just one small change.
That's what we've tried to do with our CU Water Cooler Symposium coverage this year.
We hope you enjoy this quick video before you head on into the more in-depth coverage of the event held Oct. 4-5 in the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, Tenn.
We also have to give a huge thanks to everyone behind the scenes at the CU Water Cooler Symposium and especially Tim McAlpine, president/creative director at Currency Marketing for all the photos.
Have Credit Unions Lost Their Souls?
Have credit unions lost their souls?
That's just one of the questions Keith Leggett, vice president and senior economist at the American Bankers Association, said the industry as a whole had to consider.
In his talk to the CU Water Cooler Symposium, he lauded credit unions for their brand of "you belong" but challenged them to really think about what that means?
"What is the value of ownership in a credit union?" said Leggett during his session at the two-day CU Water Cooler Symposium. "What is it you get to exercise as an owner outside of voting for a board of directors? When you look at that ownership stake you can't transfer it, can't sell it, can't take it with you. So while you give a great PR line that you own us I don't see anything being concrete with regard to ownership. On top of that do you treat your members as owners?"
If members were truly owners, he challenged credit unions to voluntarily disclose a material event, significant loss in loans or regulatory enforcement action.
"Publicly traded banks have to make these disclosures if they have 2,000 shareholders," said Leggett. "How many credit unions here have 2,000 or more members? So what happened is that you are really keeping members in the dark, treating them like mushrooms. So 'you belong' is great PR but you don't go further and treat them like owners."
In a survey conducted by the ABA, while consumers generally trusted credit unions more than banks and felt like a person rather than a number, their perception was also that in terms of convenience and access credit unions were "worn rugs rather than marble floors," Leggett said.
"In an earlier session it was said credit unions had to be the expertise providers," said Leggett. "How are you going to become that if people perceive you as being the worn rugs, which I took to mean that credit unions don't offer that type of sophistication that people would need or would go to get advice."
He further suggested that the tax exempt status has actually been holding credit unions back from serving their members more effectively in a relevant way.
"Whenever you have a bank and credit union industry get together the conversation always turns to the 800-pound gorilla in the room: taxation. For our Canadian friends, since 1974 recognize that it is just part of the cost of doing business," said Leggett.
"CUNA loves to say credit unions are tax exempt because of their cooperative structure, they are democratically controlled and their volunteer board members. They cite a finding by Congress from the credit union membership act however they seem to forget about this finding has a conjunction 'and' in there when talking about tax exemption," he said.
"It's that you are providing credit and meeting saving needs of consumers especially those of modest means. They never want to talk about that, their social mission," Leggett said.
To Leggett, the credit union industry in the U. S. already has a regulatory tax, in the form of limitations.
"Look at business lending. The is now the fifth Congress in a row where the credit union industry in the U.S. looks to get expanded business lending authority. Its odds are 98% against this legislation ever becoming law in this Congress," said Leggett.
He suggested the industry has been headed down the same path as the savings and loans some 60 years ago when they lost their tax exempt status.
"When you say anyone with a heartbeat can be a member for $10 or $20 'donation', you've lost your souls because it's a movement away from the core value of credit unions. There is no common bond in a $20 bill," said Leggett.
"Our view is that the vast majority of credit unions, the smaller ones in the U.S. should preserve tax exemption because they are more likely fulfilling their public policy mission. "
Here are the ways Seattle Metropolitan CU stands out as a cooperative authority in the community.
Now is the Time to Stress the Cooperative Difference
Now is the time to live and play up the cooperative nature of credit unions was the message delivered by a few speakers at the CU Water Cooler Symposium.
Since 2008, Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union has been distinguishing itself from other financial institutions by playing up that it's a cooperative.
According to Andy Wright, assistant vice president of marketing at the Seattle credit union, aligning the culture, marketing and living the seven cooperative principles has helped grow networks and reach different audiences.
"It can be a great differentiator but it has to line up with reality. It can't just be something made up by marketing," said Wright.
A "Co-opalooza" event, designed to celebrate community and co-ops, has helped build awareness not just of SMCU but also of co-ops in general. Some 20 co-ops participated in the event which included music and special kids activities.
"It's helped us communicate in a different space because of we share the same values," said Wright. "Just be ready to become the lender of record for other co-ops."
Gene Blishen, general manager at Mount Lehman Credit Union in British Columbia, said that cooperative spirit can also help small credit unions think big.
"Make the seven cooperative principles a part of your DNA. Every credit union has a core of people who understand," said Blishen. "Stand for something, know who you are and understand your history. Be authentic and know your market and members. Dealing with people and money gets stressful so you've got to have fun otherwise it becomes problematic."
He added that smaller credit unions need to find more opportunities to collaborate to create new experiences for old products or even to think more in terms of delivery.
"The good credit unions do is fragile and must be protected. You can mitigate risk by defining your own terms and changing your perspective," said Blishen. "Don't be afraid to fail, because that just gives you an opportunity to do something in a different way. I'm just a hired gun. A huge element of this understanding of your membership is talking to them and listening. You don't always have to listen to the experts because you've got resident experts. Filter your decisions by using the seven principles and maybe consider what could be an eighth. Is seven enough? "
Gene Blishen is with Mount Lehman Credit Union in British Columbia.
Be Young and Free, But Don't Be Cheesy
The generation that grew up watching their parents hanging up on telemarketers isn't interested in being overtly sold to.
Two of Currency Marketing's Young & Free spokesters – Austin Chapman and Kylie Keene – shared a few insights into reaching the next generation.
Forget about youth programs that span from 13 to 25.
"High schoolers don't want to hang with junior high kids and college students don't want to be grouped with high school or junior high kids," Chapman said of the one size fits all approach.
In addition, mobile is huge said Keene, especially for college students.
"Our schedules are crazy and the ability to see instantly where our money is going is most important, but it's got to be easy. We don't want to have to jump through hoops so just keep it simple," said Keene.
While credit unions still suffer from the perception that it's a place for parents or grandparents, Keene and Chapman agreed that there is hope.
"If you can get past the noise or the idea that you are just selling to us or trying to scam us, once we understand that there is a difference we'll share that with our friends," said Chapman.
Games People Play
When Tim McAlpine, president/creative director of Currency Marketing and man behind the Young & Free program, opened the CU Water Cooler Symposium, it was literally game on.
So this year, the 125 attendees gathered at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts were issued a gaming challenge for prizes ranging from Brent Dixon's new "Cradle to Cradle" album and variety of cool gadgets, to an interactive badge granting access to SXSW.
The true top prize? Becoming a CU Water Cooler editor, who in addition to blogging, sharing their daily links of what they're reading, will have the opportunity to speak at the next symposium.
The true goal? To get people exploring, thinking and networking/collaborating in a new way to get things done; basically living the whys behind McAlpine and Matt Davis, director of innovation at Filene Research Institute launching the CU Water Cooler and Symposium three years ago.
For Davis, it was also a great way to demonstrate the opportunity that game thinking presents as a way to engage consumers and solve problems.
Looking at the success of Farmville, Weight Watchers, Biggest Loser and Nike+, Davis said it boiled down to an understanding of the gamification loop, which starts with a point system and letting players know what they need to do. From there they are given challenges, win conditions, leaderboards to know how they are doing in comparison to others, badges to encourage/reward play and social network and it all combines and results in status.
"That's powerful. So a lot of us might have made fun of people who played Farmville but 83 million people played it," said Davis. "They made a game about farming, which I can tell you, from personal experience there is nothing fun about farming. So how can credit unions use game thinking and fun to apply to financial services?"
With credit unions doing a really bad job of capturing people's attention, Davis said, gamification represents an opportunity to deliver more value to members.
"If you want to engage members, solve problems, do it by having fun at the center of it all," he said.
According to Davis, it's in the creation of the gamification flow channel that credit unions have the potential to make the most impact.
"It's the connection between skill and challenge level. So we try to create solutions in financial services that treat everyone as if they are at the same level so everyone has the exact same experience. The truth is we are all very different, with different skill levels," said Davis. In games, at each level the challenges become progressively harder because the players skills should be improving.
"This is where our head should be at in terms of gamification," said Davis. "If we can do a better job of matching skill sets with challenges that are just out of reach, it gets people to work harder to be better and their skill set goes up without them being anxious or bored.
"So often the onboarding process is thought of in terms of how can I get deeper share of wallet. What I suggest to you is to find what the skill level is and walk through the description of product and service sign up as a way to understand and maximize the value of what they are getting."
Each task was assigned a range of points, and while for the most part honor-based, ultimate verification happened on Twitter. If it wasn't posted, then it didn't happen. During the two-day event, the #cuwcs hashtag was used more than 4,000 times said McAlpine.
The winners were as follows:
Team Green won Brent Dixon's new Cradle to Cradle album with 3,705 points. With 760 points, Adam Monteith won an Apple TV; 870 points landed Rebecca Alcorn a set of Bose in-ear headphones; Blake Reynolds' 1,130 points earned him a Jambone Jambox. With 1,210 points Charles Parr will be headed to 2013 SXSW and Amy Etheridge was the grand prize winner. She had 2,015 points and as a CU Water Cooler editor will speak at the 2013 CU Water Cooler Symposium.
In addition to Etheridge, with former editors Carla Day, Christopher Morris and Kelley Parks retiring, Matt Monge, Rob Rutkowski, Shari Storm and CU Times Editor/Publisher Sarah Snell Cooke were unveiled as new CU Water Cooler editors.
Brent Dixon on Transformation and Thinking Big
Thinking on a larger scale was the overarching message of Brent Dixon's session that kicked off the CU Water Cooler Symposium at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in October.
The Austin, Texas-based founder of The Cooperative Trust shared quite a few facts but the one that seemed to strike a chord with attendees most was that there are more payday lenders in the U.S. than Starbucks and McDonald's put together.
In addition, it turns out that one of the top reasons why people go to payday lenders is actually in a roundabout way because of the fees.
The upfront, clearly spelled out charges, even if they are predatory and making the choice to do so, seems preferable to dealing with a financial institution where fees will be snuck in, Dixon said.
"There's an opportunity to disrupt the current credit union system gatekeepers of Experian, Transunion and Equifax to grant access to credit," Dixon added. "FICO is a really bad risk assessment tool so how do we come up with new models?"
He pointed to Zest Finance as an example of a new approach to underwriting. Using large-scale, big-data analyzing variables from financial information to technology usage has resulted in the ability to extend credit to 25% more Americans, Dixon said.
He added that the anti-banking industry sentiment has not moved on and that before credit unions laugh thinking it's banks, credit unions are included in that group as people don't distinguish between credit unions and banks.
"Finance, consumer finance can be a transformative tool. And credit unions with their structure and philosophy can be a tool bucket in which you can use some of these exponential technologies and use consumer finance to solve some of the world's biggest challenges. And that has to be the future of consumer finances," said Dixon. "Things are broken and we are the people who are called to fix it."
With access to capital as the lubricant to the economy Dixon pointed out that people have come up with new ways of doing that from peer-to-peer lending, which is essentially a technological take on the credit union model, crowdfunding like Kickstarter.com and alternative currency like time and expertise being traded for mutual benefit.
"A friend of mine needed $5,000 to launch his album. He put it on Kickstarter and had a series of goals matched to donation amounts and in one week got $5,000 he didn't have to pay back," said Dixon. "In New York, alternative currency where say a nurse would give an hour of me being a nurse in exchange for an hour of you being a plumber, became so popular they tried to tax it as income."
For Dixon, the World Council of Credit Unions has been a picture of what development and transformative work looks like in credit unions.
"Opportunities exist to increase access. 2.5 billion people are unbanked, there's one simple opportunity to positively impact access to credit, savings peace of mind," he said.
He added that kind of thinking shouldn't just be limited to underdeveloped countries and there has been a demonstrated need present in developed countries as well.
Also sorely in need of a large-scale makeover? Collaboration among credit unions in the U.S.
"Desjardins in Canada has helped credit unions claim 40% of market share in Quebec," said Dixon. "Compare that to our fragmented collaboration in the U.S., which has 6% of market share. There's opportunity to do more. The Occupy movement was a disruptive tool for social change. We all want to change something. Credit unions have the ability to change something in consumer finance if we act on what we say we are built upon. So what does the future of consumer finance look like? Are credit unions positioned to make it happen?"
It's All in the Delivery
Don't be quick to write off humor or underestimate the power of a joke in telling a story or making a point.
What if the secret to getting someone as member started with a joke?
For Jimmy Marks, creative media director at DigitalMailer in suburban Virginia, the roots of his appreciation for humor sprang from the loss of his grandfather when he was a child.
To help his son smile again, Marks' father told him a pig joke and he laughed. Fast forward to his first acting gig in "The Music Man" at 8 years old, one standing ovation later, he was hooked and became a student and some would say now, master of humor.
"Every laugh you've ever laughed, you laughed in the face of death," said Marks, recognizing that it was a bit of a downer. "The scariest thing is the door that needs to be opened and the laughs remind us we are alive. It energizes me and gives me a good feeling."
Some of the simple lessons of humor such as audience is everything, can also be applied to delivering the credit union message more effectively perhaps with even more authenticity.
"Timing matters as is recognizing when it is and isn't appropriate for a joke. In a play you can't be in every scene so you have to make your scene count," said Marks. "In improv you're not allowed to reject what's given to you in a scene. You can't shoot down an idea you have to build on it. If you can, go to a local college and have an improv group to teach you something. Humor helps you socialize, remember details of life and makes you aware."
Whether it's writing, a project or an idea if it's never shared or shown to others what good is it? Marks said if no one shows up or responds to it then it wasn't geared to the right audience.
I would not be standing here if not for Twitter," said Marks. "I think about 60% of the time Facebook is ridiculous and I don't like LinkedIn or Pinterest but Twitter, that was the place I could be goofy. If it runs longer than 140 characters, either write a blog, delete or edit to make it fit."
When Joan Rivers started doubting herself and wondered if she should change her act because she was a woman and was not widely accepted, Bill Cosby advised her not to change because if only 1% ofAmerica loved her she'd fill stadiums for the rest of her life. Marks said the credit union industry and individuals alike can benefit from that lesson of having the commitment and fearlessness to stay true to themselves.
"My heroes were outsiders. Comedians break patterns all the time," said Marks. "Dave Chappelle walked away from $50 million to stay true to himself. He's still performing his way without all the roadblocks to doing that. To be a comedian Bill Murray said 'You've gotta go out there and be completely unafraid to die. You've got to be able to take a chance to die, and you have to die lots.'"
The same could be said for credit unions. To be bold enough to identify their community and the people they want to be in touch with and vice versa. The same sense of belonging that serves as the foundation for an inside joke can play into more meaningful, engaged interactions.
"Funny takes work and sincerity is fuel for the fire. I don't put anything on Twitter that I didn't want to be there and that is manicured. There's a lot of stuff I don't put on Twitter," said Marks. "Hank Williams said what makes country music so successful can be explained in just one word-sincerity. It's the same with humor, it has to go deep in the gut sincere. It doesn't just fall out of the sky. If you can't be funny, then be sincere. Sincerity was the reason behind my father telling me that pig joke. He just wanted his son to stop crying. So what if the key to telling members a concise, understandable story that they could connect with and relate to actually started with a joke?"
This represents the new moment of opportunity for credit unions to add value with new products and services that members actually want.
Turn Your Business Model on its Head
Credit unions interested in thriving, distinguishing and differentiating themselves in the financial services arena must turn their current business model on its head.
"The current business model is dead, dying and you need a new one to reboot for the 21st century," Ron Shevlin, senior analyst at the Boston-based Aite Group, told attendees at the CU Water Cooler Symposium.
He pointed to declining return on equity, which for the financial services industry as whole has hovered at about 8% since dropping from an industry high of 13-15% from 1993-2007. For credit unions in particular there has been a decline in overall gross income, with revenue falling nearly 4% during a period when membership was actually growing.
"Those are warning signs and growth, cost reduction and pricing changes aren't going to cut it," said Shevlin. "I don't think today's business model is going to provide the engine to get us back to historical levels of ROE. We as a society have changed and the paradox here is as we become a more highly educated, affluent, self-service do-it-yourself, few of us are actively managing our financial lives."
According to Shevlin, across the generations three in 10 have simply not been involved in their financial lives. Gen Y at 33%, turned out to be the most highly engaged in their financial lives, he said.
He added that over the next few years there will be three big changes in the financial services industry: the death of checking accounts, separation of production and distribution, and a refocus on financial performance.
"For the first time in 60 years, it's not a given that when individuals reach adult age they will open a checking account. There is a new set of consumers, highly educated consumers who are working or if they aren't working it's because they are still in school, choosing to opt out of the traditional banking system, which includes credit unions," said Shevlin.
"I call them the debanked. So while you are patting yourselves on the back for the 650,000 consumers who switched during Bank Transfer Day, there are 15 million who have left or are about leave. There's a need for a new type of account."
For example, Movenbank created the concept of CRED as an alternative to a FICO score, so consumers have a single account that evolves based not on their credit worthiness but debit worthiness. Blending prepaid, credit and debit capabilities, as their CRED score goes up, customers get additional capabilities that grow with their needs.
He added that credit unions need to think beyond the old moments of opportunity under the save and borrow focus such as having a new baby, or needing a car loan to the new opportunities emerging from a new focus on advise and perform. Given the availability of technology and a new more highly engaged generation, the financial services industry can add more value.
"We couldn't get to that advice reform of quantifying how consumers are doing in their financial lives before now," said Shevlin. "We need to get beyond just personal financial management to financial performance management. People need to know how much have you helped them save and tracking that, how is their money doing and what should they do with it? "You have an important decision to make: What is your credit union business model going to be for the 21st century because today's business model isn't working."
Below, Ron Shevlin of Aite Group makes his case at the CU Water Cooler Symposium.
Filmmaking Lessons on Leadership
An underlying theme at the CU Water Cooler Symposium was challenging attendees to think in new ways about common challenges through discussions of seemingly disparate concepts.
William Azaroff, director, business/ community development at Vancouver, British Columbia-based Vancity, continued along those lines with leadership tips drawn from filmmaking.
The essence of filmmaking boils down to creativity within limits.
"If you say go innovate, it's paralyzing," said Azaroff. "Setting that one limitation maybe business model or geographic region can free up so many ideas so you can innovate to get to what your trying to do in your organization.
"Give people a safe place to take risks and yes there will be failures along the way. You couldn't make a film and not expect to be bad takes."
The difference between films that got made and those that didn't was the drive of the people involved, Azaroff said. He said he found that people worked their best on a project they believed in, the same holds true for credit union staffers.
"Our mission is an advantage. People want to do interesting work and be a part of an organization steeped in mission," said Azaroff. "People need clear direction you've got to communicate beyond the page. You always hear 'hire people who are more talented than you.' I say hire those who are differently talented, who offer different perspectives. Bring creative and tech people together to collaborate and work to solve problems."
Azaroff shared a story about a friend he recently reconnected with ho was still pursuing a dream of being a screenwriter after more than 10 years of failing.
"I thought how sad, she's just deluding herself. Then a few years ago, one of her scripts was bought by a really well-known director, and then another got picked up and now she's being hired to write an original screen play. So what looked to me like delusion turned out to be persistence. How does the credit union industry strike the balance between delusion and persistence?"
If every story has a villain, then apathy has been the credit union industry's greatest villain, Azaroff said.
"Inspiration comes from long slogs. Something that looks easy comes from long thought. I got advice to make the films you want to see. So what's missing from your marketplace?"
Branding Gives Way to Storytelling Gives Way to What?
Forget about branding, storytelling or whatever the next marketing trend may be.
According to David Baker, principal of consulting firm ReCourses Inc., the process has become so watered down that in most cases it's become just a service term geared toward getting money more than delivering results.
"Over last five years have you heard more about branding from marketing firms or farmers," said Baker to attendees at the CU Water Cooler Symposium. "Have you ever seen farmers brand their cow? Unless your firm or your client smell burning flesh or burning hair and someone is screaming, real branding is not taking place. I believe in a brand but branding as a discipline is dead. Very few do it in a way that matters."
He added that the brand is important and storytelling may be even more important as it's emotive and tells the fact in a way that consumers are more likely to absorb and connect with. but that only a few people are investing the time and continuous effort that goes into it.
What matters most is for credit unions to think of themselves as not being in the service business but rather the expertise business, Baker said.
"There are three dry cleaners in my neighborhood and if my dry cleaner ticks me off then I'll just go to the drycleaner around the corner. The point is that the only time I care about or notice those in the service business is when they screw up," said Baker. "If you are in the expertise business that means you are as an institution doing what's right for the consumer even if it means you don't make as much money. So members aren't headed to your credit union just to park their money but because they need answers to something that's important to them."
One way for that shift to happen starts with having people in the organization who believe in and live the mission.
"With all the homogenous offerings how can financial institutions get back to thinking differently about specialization?" Baker asked. "You want to change the world? Start first with your significant other, next your children, then friends and fourth the people you manage. Very few of us have a huge platform but change how you manage your people and you'll find that those people do a much better job of representing your credit union than any marketing."
He added that educating consumers in financial literacy is a good start to being in the expertise business as most consumers still aren't able to navigate their finances.
Marketing to Technology: Let's Get Together
Why can't marketing and technology not only get along but work together to solve common consumer concerns?
According to Ed Brett, manager, product and service delivery at British Columbia-based Westminster Savings Credit Union, it's past time to leverage the strengths of both departments to do more for members.
"We need to be sensitive to the way technology is changing our relevance to members," said Brett. "Alternative lending companies and increasingly media and technology companies are becoming more relevant to the day–to-day financial lives to consumers than we are. Instead of coming to us members move to them for answers on their financial lives. Why does Suze Orman have more influence in our members' lives than our branch managers?"
Brett added that a more symbiotic relationship between IT and marketing departments could help make a real difference. As an example, he pointed to the uselessness of personal financial management as a standalone platform.
"We asked consumers where did you learn how to manage your finances and we thought we'd hear answers like from my parents or financial literacy initiatives but what we actually heard was 'I just had to figure it out on my own,' which meant that they weren't managing their finances at all," said Brett.
"The value for us here is how to take technology like PFM to add more relevance and value to members' lives," he said. "We have people in branches who can deliver value through technology to others, we have principles and we can own that. Our stakeholders are the people we serve and this represents an opportunity for us to provide a service they really need, using PFM tools for example, based on why it matters and is important to them."
He added that IT has been an untapped, underutilized resource and looking ahead there should more of an effort to include technologists in the strategic process.
"Technology should be as involved with upstream decisions as they are with the downstream implementation," said Brett. "Have them be a part of the discussions and let them take responsibility for the growth strategy in your credit union and be as creative about your credit union as your systems."
The common challenge with technology and banking has been how to take those concepts that exist as abstracts and make them real.
"The most important part of the Amazon experience for me is not what occurs at the point of purchase but what happens seven days later. There's the package and it's Christmas or my birthday again," said Brett. "When I was in IT the things that mattered to the organization were abstractions to me especially our members. Two days in the call center cured me. The cool things I was creating didn't matter at all to all these people calling in because it didn't help them. "In general, IT is disconnected from that conversation and that is a risk for your credit union. It's dangerous to have your IT group treat your members as abstractions as well. "
He advised marketers to be excellent observers of the little things.
"Look for ways that members actually use the technology rather than how you want them to," said Brett. "How you want them to have a relationship with you is not up to you anymore, so you have to start paying attention to what really matters."
Andy Janning of No Net Solutions makes his point to the CU Watercooler crowd.
Creating Workplace Heroes
To truly build better organizations, focus on helping others evolve.
That was the underlying message delivered by Matt Monge, chief culture officer at Mazuma Credit Union, and Andy Janning, president/CEO of No Net Solutions, during the CU Water Cooler Symposium.
"We can't think of employee development as exclusive to a department or one person, " said Monge. "It has to be more than that. It has to be the organization's way of life, be baked into the culture that it is a community effort on the part of everyone there.
"If you don't do that and reduce it to just a department you'll have at best mediocre development of folks."
Janning added that every employee is a hero to someone and there is nobility in helping someone evolve.
"We've got to completely rethink the role of people in employee development, it's not an exact science and is designed to be imperfect. The way it's done now implies an endpoint, which doesn't exist," said Janning. "Every hero story ever told on earth, there is always a trainer figure, always a point where the hero messes up. Each of you are experts in something. Each one of you can make someone else better."
He said it's the job of the organization to pay attention to helping the employees, who essentially hold up the walls of credit unions, evolve and to make those subject matter experts shine.
Monge added that it's time to stop holding the training department more accountable for employee development than their managers.
"Sending employees to a training session, a conference or even sending them a link to an article is not developing them," said Monge. "What if we make it not OK for leaders not to lead their people by asking them what specifically have you done to help develop their dreams?"
He added that development is not just for front-line employees.
"Consider the fact that if employees are not seeking it out, not growing, it could be because they don't see any of us doing it. The discussion they usually have is, 'Here sign this paper that we had a conversation,'" said Monge. "We've got to be doing better than that. They should see their managers go out to pursue their own development and be modeling that learning and growing never ends. We have to stop this idea where employee development is teaching front line staff."
The academia model of studying to pass a test cannot be applied effectively in helping employees evolve in the workplace, the speakers said.
"No one ever learned to ride a bike in a workshop," said Janning. "Knowledge is not power. Performance is power. We need to stop making knowledge something that only the gatekeepers of an organization have. People go to programs for one goal paycheck improvement.
"They want to do more so they can go home whole, healthy, happy and be the hero to the people who greet them at the door. The space organizations need to be in is to help employees evolve through KPP – knowledge, practice and performance.
"To screw up safely is part of the job, not to pass the test but practice effectively and measure performance. We can each make someone better. It starts with how are we developing employees? How are we making them heroes?"
Below, Matt Monge of Mazuma Credit Union says employee development must cross departmental lines.


text:
Houston gets:
James Harden, Lazar Haywood, Cole Aldrich and Daequan Cook.
OKC get:
Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin and "significant" future draft considerations.
Massive, massive deal.
Houston gets:
James Harden, Lazar Haywood, Cole Aldrich and Daequan Cook.
OKC get:
Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin and "significant" future draft considerations.
Massive, massive deal.
Biggest Raptors fan from the Land Down Under
Toronto Raptors
Sydney Swans, Melbourne Storm
Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars, LA Angels of Anaheim
Huuuuuuuugeeee deal!
Does OKC get better or worse? Time will tell but they got back some decent pieces. Harden should flourish in Houston now that he's more of a "top-dog".
Thunder get the raptors pick we gave to Houston, Dallas' pick and charlottes 2nd round as well. That's huge for the future but hurts them now.
OKC did very well acquiring two future 1st rounders, Lamb and future flexibility(Martin). I think it's a little too much for Harden. I think Houston will regret this trade.
Attitude Is A Choice.
Just heard the news. This makes things in the West very interesting.
I think OKC messed up.
Harden can take over in houston now. OKC got a pretty good deal but K Mart won't be able to contribute much besides scoring.
This guy is not productive to the point of demanding a max deal. The Rockets made a mistake.
Essentially Lamb, 2 x 1st round picks & 1 x 2nd round pick for Harden (Martin is a rental player for OKC and they dumped some backup contracts). Assuming Houston extends him for max money, that's a lot to giveup for Harden! He was awful in the playoffs last year and seems to prefer being a super 6th man to being 'the man' with all the pressure on him. Huge gamble for Houston and a great haul for OKC!
A few years from now this will be considered to be a lopsided deal of epic proportion right up there with the Garnett trade to the Celtics and Vince Carter to the Nets. The team that gets the most talented player in these deals almost always comes out on top.
Wasn't James harden a restricted free agent?! wouldn't have been better for OKC to wait it out until the end of the season where they were in a better position to win the championship?! I mean its a good deal for the future for OKC but they could have let this played out longer.
On the other hand I don't blame them, kudos for shipping a guy out who wanted alot more then he was worth.
You gotta commend OKC for their balls, and skills. Great trade for the future, Harden was a good 6th man and had a great personality. But, with Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka getting big money deals, he was set to get one too. And that would cripple the rest of their team in the future, now they get a chance to bring other good young scorers off the bench, get draft picks and build for the future. Harden wasn't an integral part of their team, and could easily (not fully, but still pretty well) be replaced by both Lamb and KMart this year, and their draft picks to come will be insane considering they are a championship contender. It's a great move for them. How many contending teams can have the luxury of having multiple top draft picks TO COME?
I think this is a great trade for OKC now and in the future.
Martin can be resigned with Bird Rights at likely nearly half the cost of Harden - all the while Lamb is developing.
They have added some nice assets as well in the picks.
Presti is incredible.
Houston essentially traded Martin, Lamb, Lowry, Lakers 1st round pick, Bobcats 2nd round pick for Harden, Cook, Aldrich, and Hayward. I dunno...... Harden is a good player but that is a lot of assets to give up.
I think that many people are really under valuing the chemistry Durant, Westbrook, and Harden have (or "had" I should say). They were a championship caliber team. They played together their whole careers. They know each other's game. Not only that, but they matched up well with the Lakers. I still thought they were the best team in the West, even with the Lakers on the block. Why not wait the year? I dont think this Thunder team will be better than last years.
Sure, Harden had a tough finals, but people forget he was one of the main reasons they beat San Antonio. I dont know if I give up a guy I know can play for Lamb and a couple of late lottery picks (I would guess K-Mart a rental).
This trade is more about winning in a few years (when the Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, and Heat are all older). In that aspect, they set themselves up nicely, but I do not know if I would ruin the chemistry of a championship team now (I mean these guys, if they stuck together, would have been in the championship conversation for the next 5 years at least), for a better shot down the road.
As a sidebar, with all those OKC players moving to Houston could mean that there will be a roster spot for Andy Rautins who has played very well in preseason for the Thunder.
And its not like Presti sacrificied any chance of winning a championship along the way. Martin isn't as good as Harden, but he's not exactly a nobody, and I could see him being better suited as a 6th man then a starter. Plus when you look at how signing Harden at anything less than a discount would add some financial difficulties for the team, while at the same time adding Lamb + picks offers some cheap long term assets.
Presti made OKCs road to a championship harder this year (in a year that was going to be hard as it was) for an opportunity to make it easier to win one (or multiples) in the future.
This is the impressive thing about Presti and OKC. He can not only recognize talent and consistently find value for that talent, but he recognizes his own talent (drafting). He plays to his strengths that also happen to fit the need of his market (small market team).
I understand that they were in a tough position (being a small market team, having to give out 3 max contracts), but when you have a young championship calibre core, why not do your best to keep them together? Marc Stein (along with various other analysts and players) claim that this move is going to "shake up the locker room".
If we dont make the playoffs and dallas too, they have two lottery picks + Lamb, PJ3 that's shitload of young talent added
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)