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One of the joys of working in editorial for a media outlet is receiving email pitches for stories that have absolutely nothing to do with what our publication covers. Here are a few examples, just from the past few weeks, of story pitches Editor-in-Chief Michael Ogden and I got from public relations individuals who either did not realize a credit union industry trade publication was on their list of media contacts, or completely misunderstood what a credit union is:

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  • An announcement from New York City entertainment tour company On Location Tours about the launch of a new tour for fans of the Amazon series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." Guests of the private tour will ride in a 1957 Studebaker Commander with a guide dressed as Mrs. Maisel and visit some of Midge's favorite haunts on the show.
  • An invitation to an Oct. 10 voter registration drive at The Cottage, an artisanal market in Jersey City, N.J. Attendees received a free cookie from The Cookie Cake Co. upon completing their registration.
  • An alert stating that Mitchell & Associates Talent, a talent agency with offices in New Mexico and Los Angeles, recently launched a voice over division with over 50 of the industry's top voice actor talent specializing in video games, promotional advertising, narration projects, animation and Spanish-speaking roles.

But the one that really almost made us spit out our coffee – and came just in time for Halloween – was a scholarship announcement. Yeah I know, scholarships fit perfectly well into CU Times, with many credit unions supporting students in their communities with scholarship awards every year. But this one wasn't quite the right fit for our generally wholesome Community News page – it revealed the winners of the Satanic Temple's (TST) Devil's Advocate Scholarship.

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Natasha Chilingerian

Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.