Tanya attends World Credit Union Conference
Posted on Jul 27, 2022Last week more than 1600 credit union representatives from around the world were in Glasgow, for the 2022 World Credit Union Conference, co-hosted with ABCUL, the Association of British Credit Unions.
We were represented at the Conference by Matt Goulding, Penny Post Group CEO, and Tanya Aspbury, a former apprentice, and now part of the Wolverhampton office Customer Service Team. We caught up with Tanya, who is currently on the CU Futures programme, to find out more about this amazing experience.
Tanya was awarded a WYCUP (World Council’s Young Credit Union Professionals) scholarship to attend the Conference. “I applied because I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn something new and find out more about credit unions around the world,” said Tanya.
“We travelled by train in last week’s heat wave!” says a smiling Tanya. “I’ve never been to Glasgow before, so to stay by the famous River Clyde and visit the SEC Centre was an adventure in itself! The venue was massive and packed all the time. I met people from all around the world; apparently there were delegates from over 140 countries. I met so many interesting people, some from small credit unions, and some from large credit unions. I was talking to one man who was an Attorney and worked in the legal department of an American credit union, something we don’t have at Penny Post!”
Tanya attended a variety of Sessions and Workshops whilst at the Conference. “Delegates who didn’t speak English used these special live translating devices, and there was so much to do and see” continues Tanya. “The session on Cyber Security was eye opening, and as everything becomes more digital, its definitely a thing of the future. I didn’t know there are ‘good hackers’ too!”
“The Strategic Resilience Workshop was amazing,” enthuses Tanya. “The speaker explained how we all need to find our inner child and ask questions about everything, to generate theoretical situations, so we can be prepared for anything that could happen! They showed famous adverts, and the responses to them, to illustrate how to think strategically and deliver our credit union messages differently. It really was inspirational.”
“Another memorable Session was on Financial Inclusion around the world. In developing countries where people don’t have their own computers or mobiles, a credit union bus with digital technology, computers etc. visits rural areas. The speaker said ‘if they can’t come to us, we’ll go to them’, and I could really see how people remember something like this. What a great way for a credit union to support its community!”
“Belinda Parmar, OBE, delivered an amazing Session on empathy in business, and the importance of delivering messages in a friendly manner to build solid business relationships. She gave some great examples about how considering the words we use when communicating with customers and colleagues can make a real difference, and this is something I will be bringing back to Penny Post.”
During the week Matt and Tanya met up in person with Roger and Merry Rassman and Ted and Julie Willich from our partner credit union, Community First in Jacksonville, Florida. “They were all so nice, and it was great to spend time with them” continues Tanya. “We had lots of fun together, learning more about each other’s credit union. Community First are massive compared to Penny Post, but in everything we do we all we all strive to serve our members.”
“I really enjoyed the Conference, it was the opportunity of a lifetime, like nothing I’ve ever done before, or imagine I’ll do again” concludes Tanya. “I took loads from my few days there and look forward to applying my newfound knowledge in my job to help our customers’ experience be a more enjoyable one.”
Well done Tanya, and thank you for representing us amongst credit unions from across the world.