ICU Day webcast to celebrate global CU growth

SAN DIMAS, Calif. (10/9/08)--The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and WesCorp of San Dimas, Calif., will sponsor a first-ever International Credit Union Day (ICU Day) webcast on ICU Day Oct. 16.

This year's ICU Day theme, "It Belongs to Me" recognizes credit unions' identity as member-owned financial cooperatives and celebrates the concept of member ownership.

Pete Crear, WOCCU president and CEO, will be the guest in an hour-long Oct. 16 discussion with moderator Paul Berry, a former Washington, D.C., television news anchor who hosts Home & Family Finance, a weekly radio program sponsored by the Credit Union National Association.

The program will be recorded and available for viewing on both WesCorp's and WOCCU's websites. It is the first such broadcast to take place on ICU Day. Participants hope it will help spread the good news about the global credit union movement, Crear said.

"As a lifelong member of the credit union movement, I know we've always had a good story to tell," he added.

The webcast's goal is to make the ICU Day discussion as global as the movement that the annual holiday represents, said Bob Siravo, WesCorp president/CEO.

The 60-minute webcast, produced with Overland Studios, will allow time at the end of Crear's interview for questions from a studio audience. International webcast listeners can e-mail questions that will be answered on the air.

"Overland Studios' technology will enable us to invite credit unions throughout the world to unite and celebrate the valuable contributions all of them are making to their members and the communities in which they live," Siravo said.

The webcast begins at 12 p.m. PT Oct. 16. It is open to the public and may be accessed by registering at www.wescorp.org or www.woccu.org.

ICU Day has been celebrated annually on the third Thursday of October since 1948. The event provides a time and opportunity to honor those who have made contributions to the global financial cooperative movement, to recognize the hard work of staff and volunteer board members working on behalf of credit unions and cooperatives today, and to express appreciation to members of credit unions and cooperatives living at home and abroad.

courtesy of cuna.org