Keynote Speakers Will Focus on Market, Culture and Tech Trends Impacting Credit Unions Today
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – “The Race to Excellence” kicks off May 7 as host Jean Chatzky of NBC’s Today Show joins swimming champion Michael Phelps and a diverse, insightful line-up of speakers at CO-OP’s THINK 18. The conference will provide a deep dive for credit union leaders into strategies and methodologies to leverage digitization, artificial intelligence, platform thinking and new transformative leadership behaviors to evolve credit unions, wow members and grow market share.
“Consumer expectations driven by technology are evolving faster than ever,” said Samantha Paxson, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer for CO-OP, and founder of the company’s THINK brand. “It’s a race to excellence, in which members demand seamless, secure experiences at every touch point with their credit unions. We have assembled 12 true icons of excellence from a broad cross-section of fields to help credit unions not only keep pace, but win.”
This year CO-OP Financial Services is introducing “Power Sprints,” THINK 18 break-out meetings designed to provide targeted, in-depth discussions on key topics and issues that are top-of-mind for credit union executives today. In addition, partnering with Filene Research Institute , CO-OP is launching its inaugural THINK Crashers program to bring up-and-coming credit union leaders to the annual conference.
THINK 18 will be held May 7-10, 2018, at the Sheraton Grand at White Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona. Credit union employees can register immediately for $1,599 at www.co-opthink.org/events.
Featured Speakers at THINK 18
- Michael Phelps, first announced in November, will speak on perfecting precision at high speed, and overcoming hurdles to excellence.
- Jean Chatzky, Financial Editor for NBC’s Today Show, will host THINK 18 during its general sessions.
- Beth Comstock, Former Vice Chair of General Electric Company, will speak on “The Art of Transformation.”
- Thomas Frey, Founder, Executive Director and Senior Futurist for the DaVinci Institute, will speak on “Money & Banking – Rethinking the Banking and Finance Industry One Transaction at a Time.”
- Chip Heath, Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business, author of “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” (2007), will speaking on “The Power of Moments.”
- Jaron Lanier, computer scientist, composer, artist and author of “Who Owns the Future?” (2013) will speak on “Dawn of the New Everything.”
- Tamara Levitt, Head of Content for Calm, a mindfulness and meditation mobile app, will speak “On Openness, Playfulness and Gratitude.”
- Bobbi Rebell, Certified Financial Planner and host of the Financial Grownup Podcast, will speak on running a financial marathon over the course of a lifetime.
- Shivani Siroya, Founder and CEO of Tala, a mobile data and data science company, speaking on “Utilizing Data to Transform Financial Inclusion.”
- Chris Skinner, Fintech advisor and strategist, author of “Digital Bank” (2014), will speak on “Banking as a Platform.”
- Brian Solis, author, futurist and Principal Analyst for Altimeter Group, will speak on “We are the Change We Wish to see in the World.”
- Nicholas Thompson, Editor-in-Chief, Wired Magazine, will speak on “Where we are Headed and Just How Fast.”
Agenda Designed to Address Key Industry issues
Representing a conference within a conference, the THINK 18 are the Power Sprints include:
- Credit Union (R)evolution: Do the historic changes facing financial services today call for evolutionary change – or full-on revolution? A lineup of industry and CO-OP thought leaders will make their best cases for both.
- Advancing Credit Unions Through AI: Artificial intelligence is transforming the way data is gathered and analyzed to fight fraud and build member relationships. These session will help attendees start mapping out an AI implementation strategy.
- The Accelerating Payment Challenge: This session designed to help credit union keep pace with the he rapid pace of innovation, from embedded and invisible payments.
Crashing THINK 18
For the first time, CO-OP and Filene Research Institute are bringing The Cooperative Trust’s crasher program for young movement professionals to the THINK conference. Applications are now available for credit union staffers ages 35 and at www.co-opthink.org/crashers. THINK Crashers will have full access to conference content, as well as the opportunity to interact with keynote speakers and be mentored by members of CO-OP’s client Co-Creation Councils. CO-OP and Filene will additionally host special experiences and breakout sessions as part of THINK Crashers.
CO-OP is also a co-sponsor of Filene’s Center for Emerging Technology, dedicated to connecting credit unions to trends and research surrounding key emerging technology in financial services. The Center will be hosting its next Research Colloquium on the campus of the University of California, Irvine, on April 12.
Now in its tenth year, THINK is a year-round platform for credit union collaboration, innovation and evolution. Visit http://co-opthink.org to access the wide variety of learning opportunities available, including THINK Review magazine, CO-OP THINK Prize, THINK blog, videos from past THINK conferences and more information on the THINK 18 conference. Credit union employees can also register immediately for $1,599 at the Events page on the THINK website.
About CO-OP Financial Services
CO-OP Financial Services is a payments and financial technology company whose mission is ensuring the success of the credit union movement. CO-OP payments solutions, engagement services and strategic counsel help credit unions optimize member experiences to consistently provide seamless, personalized multi-channel offerings, while delivering secure, sophisticated fraud mitigation service. For more information, visit www.co-opfs.org.
