Last year Filene Research Institute held its annual big.bright.minds conference in Austin, Texas and it snowed. Locals there proclaimed that it never snows that time of year -- or ever really.

This year, Filene Research Institute held its annual big.bright.minds conference in San Diego, where it really doesn't have weather except for sun, sun, and more sun. Well, "America's Finest City" threw a curve ball on the conference and delivered a rainstorm for the ages, complete with thunder and lightning, floods, power outages, broken water mains, helicopter rescues, and much, much more.

The Filene hosts and conference attendees didn't let any of that nonsense sway their mission of delivering and digesting second-to-none content that will serve as an ideal way to close out 2018 and springboard into 2019. Some of the timely topics presented and discussed included:

• Disaster recovery (ironically)
• Pandemics
• Credit Unions of the 21st Century
• The Ongoing War for Talent
• Filene Alumni: Where are They Now?
• Effective Prototyping
• Consumer Decision Making
• Financial Insecurity
• Making Innovation Drive the Bottom Line

Check out our big.bright.minds conference wrap up and let us know your thoughts. And I profusely apologize in advance for mispronouncing anybody's name (which I did) and getting job titles wrong (which I also did). Enjoy!

The Global Women's Leadership Network is growing at a breakneck pace and that's a good thing for sure. Today, there are 35 Global Women's Leadership Network Sister Societies nationwide -- and growing.

We attended the inaugural San Diego Sister Society meeting, hosted by the fine folks from California Coast Credit Union, to a packed room of more than 70 attendees -- which tells you there is a big desire for this group already (6 Sister Societies in California).

We had a chance to talk to CalCoast Vice President of Operations Antonia Luna, CalCoast President/CEO Todd Lane, Mitchell Stankovic & Associates and GLWN Chair Sue Mitchell, and PSCU Vice President of Account Management Andrea Rusnak to get their take on the tremendous growth that has occurred with this organization.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts -- and get involved today at www.cuwomen.org.

​Callahan & Associates releases 3Q Data Analysis: Credit Union Industry Membership Growth Reaches Record High; Market Share Increases In All Major Loan Products.

For more details, visit creditunions.com.

Bethpage Federal Credit Union Community Development Relationship Manager ​Kimberley Ruiz stopped by the Studio Lounge to share her amazing Crasher experience at Filene big.bright.minds and how her unique position at Bethpage helps bring the credit union closer to the community.

Wonderful nuggets of wisdom with Kimberley, so check it out and let us know your thoughts.

Bethpage Federal Credit Union Marketing Specialist ​Alyssa Lapine joined us in the Studio Lounge to close out our coverage of big.bright.minds in San Diego because, well, the power essentially went out in the building (actually, the whole city block) and we had to wrap it up. Fortunately, we were running on battery power and Alyssa just kept on going, so we finished the interview in the dark.  #trooper
 
Alyssa was attending the conference as a Crasher and shared her extraordinary experience at Filene's big.bright.minds -- and how this experience will impact her credit union upon her return with many new to do's that will make a difference in the community. 

Check it out and let us know your thoughts.