Young & Free Jam

I received a Twitter direct message from Matt Hawkins today letting me know there was a mystery video in my Dropbox. Matt does a bunch of freelance video production for us and it turns out that he secretly recruited three of our Young & Free Spokesters to create a special birthday gift for Cheryl Wiens in our office.

Behold the ridiculousness of Lee Taylor in Alabama, Michelle Peterson in New Mexico and Kaylie Dame in Ontario. Nothing to do with money, financial literacy, credit unions or anything really.

Happy early Birthday wishes Cheryl! Enjoy.

Tim

Inspired to make stuff happen

Before corporate marketers (including me) took over and commercialized the social web, there was Ze Frank – my creative Internet superhero.

If you need to get up to speed on all things Ze Frank, watch this TED Talk. If you do hit play, you will laugh and cry in the next 18 minutes.

So now that we are in agreement about Ze Frank, you'll be equally excited to learn that Ze has brough back The Show. Along with 3,899 other backers, I donated a little to make this happen. Here's the first episode (warning: language).

This hits home and inspires me. I have so many unfinished ideas that I need to make happen. I'll bet you do too.

Tim

International Year of Cooperatives Spokester Style

Young & Free Spokespeople from all over North America collaborate on a fun video to celebrate the International Year of Cooperatives.

Enjoy!

From the official 2012.coop website:

"2012 has been recognised as the International Year of Cooperatives by the United Nations. This is an acknowledgement by the international community that cooperatives drive the economy, respond to social change, are resilient to the global economic crisis and are serious, successful businesses creating jobs in all sectors."

As the World Council of Credit Unions put it:

"As cooperatively owned and democratically controlled financial institutions, credit unions worldwide have an unprecedented opportunity to increase public awareness about the movement's contributions to socio-economic development, promote membership growth and encourage the adoption of policies and legislation that promote long-term growth and stability."

Is your credit union doing anything to take advantage in all of the IYC 2012 activity?

Tim

Happy New Year and one more crack at Christmas!

Happy New Year everyone! May 2012 be the best year yet. As a final parting shot to the holiday season, we put together a blooper reel of our Christmas video. Enjoy!

Tim

Merry Currency Christmas: It's All About Movement!

We put together a fun Christmas video and a special page. Please head over, watch and comment.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tim

98 Problems (But a Bank Ain't One)

Have you heard of The Disclosures? The Disclosures are an acoustic "thrift-rock" duo from credit union land (that's Wisconsin!) comprised of Chad Helminak and one of my fellow CU Water Cooler editors Christopher Morris.

They just released a video for their original song, "98 Problems (But a Bank Ain't One)." It's from the album, "(Hey, We're) The Disclosures." Check it out.

The single and album are available on Amazon.com, iTunes, and almost anywhere digital music is sold. Here are the details and links.

Here's some extra good news: The Disclosures will be the entertainment at the evening event at the CU Water Cooler Symposium on Thursday, September 29. Hope to see you there as well!

Tim

Living Young & Free Show 045: Overpriced Convenience, Buying Used vs. New & Lessons Learned

Michelle in New Mexico looks at the convenience of overpriced items, Dex in Alberta shares tips on buying vehicles new or used and Rob in St. Louis sings us some lessons he's learned as a spokester.

You can also download all of the episode as a podcast from iTunes and you can watch all previous shows!

Cheryl

Living Young & Free Show 044: Tips for Spare Change, Keeping Score & The Pressure to Spend

Janelle from Michigan shares tips for spare change, Rob from St. Louis talks about keeping score and Darryl from South Carolina talks about the pressure to spend.

You can also download all of the episode as a podcast from iTunes and you can watch all previous shows!

Cheryl

Living Young & Free Show 043: Cheap Vs. Frugal, High Interest Debt & Giving Back

Darryl from South Carolina covers the difference between being cheap and being frugal, Alex from Tennessee looks at high interest debt and Lee from Alabama talks about giving back.

You can also download all of the episode as a podcast from iTunes.

Cheryl

Living Young & Free Show 042: Shopping Jedi & Lessons Learned

Rob from St. Louis takes on shopping like a Jedi and Keith from Ontario shares a few lessons he's learned being a spokester.

You can also download all of the episode as a podcast from iTunes.

Cheryl