Sitting through NCUA Board Member Gigi Hyland's 75th anniversary celebration of the Federal Credit Union Act, two things struck me: This isn't your run-of-the-mill CU celebration, and credit unions should not and cannot run around blaming everyone else for their woes.

First, after many years of attending various functions held by the NCUA, the trade groups and others, I have to say this was the most truly interactive event that held participants' attention that I've ever been to. There were no sacred cows. Topics ranged from supplementary capital to the future of the corporate system to alternative credit unions models from across the globe.

Note that it wasn't in some steamy, exotic locale; it was just a thorough, constructive and pointed exchange of ideas among regulators from all over North America, consultants, credit union executives, and board members in a nice but not ostentatious hotel on Capitol Hill. The location was appropriate to the times, right where policymakers do their work, and modest. Really, it was too bad that many could not afford to participate or chose not to, but then again, a larger crowd might not have allowed for the same casual yet stimulating back-and-forth.