Going Virtual Means Never Going Back to the Way Things Were

If you had told World Council of Credit Unions’ employees on Feb. 15, 2020 that they would soon have to cease all domestic and international travel indefinitely, you would have gotten the same standard response: How are we supposed to do our jobs?

I personally planned to make four to five domestic and international trips in 2020 – but that was nothing compared to the travel itineraries of most World Council employees.

World Council President/CEO Brian Branch typically spent about half of each year on a plane – visiting our member credit union associations and working with them to grow and strengthen credit unions. World Council International Advocacy professionals traveled frequently to Europe to advocate for the fair regulatory treatment of credit unions in front of the international standard setting bodies, such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the Financial Action Task Force. International Projects’ professionals hopped from continent to continent to check on the progress of our multiple development programs. Our Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions also had to put the brakes on international engagement programs that brought credit union professionals from different countries together to share their experiences and learn from one another.

Perhaps most notably for our members and their credit unions, even our 2020 World Credit Union Conference – the premier annual global credit union event that draws thousands of industry professionals from across the globe – had to be cancelled.

We Still Had to Provide Value

Despite such a major shock to our collective system, World Council did not have the luxury of giving ourselves months to figure out how we could still be of value to our members and the global credit union community as a whole.

While we knew that adopting a virtual model would be essential in continuing to provide that value, what we failed to realize at the start of the pandemic was that going virtual would actually be more inclusive than the way we had been operating.

In early March 2020, days were filled with back-to-back virtual consultations with credit union associations around the world on the impact of the crisis and what to expect next. On March 31, less than three weeks after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, World Council held its first COVID-19-related virtual public event – a webinar examining the global regulatory challenges of the pandemic that faced our members and their credit unions. Branch and World Council SVP of International Advocacy Andrew Price offered guidance and best practices for dealing with the crisis.

That one webinar sparked interest from other members who sought more regionally- specific guidance. What followed in April 2020 were six advocacy-related webinars for members and their credit unions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We quickly started to notice that we were hearing not just from our member credit union associations, as we had during in-person events, but also directly from professionals working in credit unions about what they were facing – and what we could do to help them.

By the time World Council launched its COVID-19 Response Committee in July 2020, we had also noticed higher numbers of credit union professionals engaged in webinars with a specific focus. For instance, a webinar that focused specifically on Anti- Money Laundering and Counter- Financing of Terrorism drew a larger, more engaged audience than those that covered a range of regulatory topics. That phenomenon of more people participating and becoming more engaged with targeted virtual events was not limited to one area of our organization either.

Our Education and Networking team hosted a webinar to walk hundreds of employees from member associations and their credit unions through the steps necessary to conduct a successful virtual annual general meeting for the first time. Branch joined forces with the African-American Credit Union Coalition to host a webinar on the importance of credit unions embracing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which also drew hundreds of attendees worldwide – many of whom had never attended a World Council event before.

Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions’ programs, such as the Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) and World Council Young Credit Union Professionals (WYCUP), saw a dramatic rise in first-time participation as well. Credit union women from across the globe took advantage of the ability to connect with peers virtually, whereas before they never had the financial means to participate in GWLN’s face-to-face international meetings. That spike culminated with record-breaking attendance of more than 500 people for GWLN’s March 2021 Virtual Breakfast at CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference. Traditionally an inperson event held in Washington, D.C. to coincide with GAC, the first virtual version of the event brought in roughly 150 more attendees than the previous in-person high.

WYCUP saw nearly 800 young credit union professionals turn out for its July 2020 Virtual Forum – which nearly exceeded attendance for all past in-person WYCUP events combined dating back to 2001. That led to a major increase in membership for the organization – paving the way for greater networking and education opportunities.

The Virtual Road Ahead

If there is one takeaway from all those experiences, it is that World Council can never go back to the way things were – at least not completely. Will we travel again and eventually have some large in-person meetings? Absolutely. But we know virtual events are here to stay – perhaps even as part of in-person events, in a hybrid format.

It is why World Council developed an online virtual platform for credit union professionals to access our upcoming virtual events, register for them and view past webinars.

And despite the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, we are not slowing down our virtual events. We have already hosted numerous public webinars and regional networking events for our members in 2021. From July 14-21, World Council Education and Networking will host the first allvirtual World Credit Union Conference – featuring more than 30 educational sessions with topics relevant to all leadership levels. The 2021 World Credit Union Conference will also provide credit union professionals with multiple opportunities to actively network with other attendees and industry partners from across our international cooperative movement.

We look forward to seeing our members in person again. Resuming our face-to-face activities will be a critical step forward as World Council delivers the full scope of engagement opportunities we have become known for over the last five decades. But those efforts will now be combined with a consistent and engaging virtual presence to ensure we reach those credit union professionals across the globe who have come to rely on us, while inviting a new audience to join the World Council experience as well.

Greg Neumann Director of Communications, World Council of Credit Unions, Madison, Wis.