FIC welcomes brass|MEDIA to Minnesota CU Network Annual Meeting

Kristina M. Wright - Minnesota Credit Union Network - May 9, 2005

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Family Involvement Council (FIC) ramped up its presence this year at the Minnesota Credit Union Network (MnCUN) Annual Meeting & Convention, held in April. The FIC held its annual Silent Auction, hosted an educational session and named the 2005 FIC Volunteer of the Year.

Angie Pidde of St. Marys Federal Credit Union was named the FIC Volunteer of the Year at the MnCUN Business Meeting on April 15. She has been a member of the Council for two years and is an integral part of the FIC, currently serving as committee treasurer.

Committed to credit unions and their mission, she began working for her credit union in May of 2001 as the Information System Administrator. She has served as the committee treasurer for over a year, and in that time, has worked to fine-tune the accounting structure for the FIC. As a member of the Council, she helps coordinate donations for the Silent Auction, is a judge in the annual FIC Scholarship Competition, and she assists in all other committee projects.

On April 16 the FIC welcomed Tom Loika of brass|MEDIA who did a session entitled "The Forgotten Market: Why 18-25-Year-Olds are Overlooked."

brass|MEDIA Inc. is a company run by young adults, for young adults, that stresses the importance of youth involvement in credit unions. brass|MEDIA Inc. publishes brass, a magazine about young adults, money, and how it affects their lives. It talks to young adults about the importance of understanding money.

Loika discussed the changing times, the disappearance of mass media, common misconceptions, marketing strategies and why credit unions must choose to focus on young adults.

Credit unions need to know that if you're not choosing to market to young adults, somebody else is," Loika said. "Despite what you may think, young adults are loyal, valuable and profitable credit union members that you can not afford to ignore.

The Minnesota Credit Union Network is an organization representing the state's 172 non -profit cooperative credit unions serving more than 1.5 million member-owners in the state. For more information, visit www.mncun.org.