First Round Entry Deadline is Oct. 15 for $10,000 Grand Prize
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., June 29, 2010 – With a $10,000 grand prize at stake, call for entry forms and submission guidelines for the CO-OP THINK PRIZE are now available at www.co-opthink.org. This new, annual contest is designed to inspire and reward innovative, shareable ideas on how to grow the credit union movement.
The competition will proceed in three rounds, with Oct. 15 as the deadline for round one. Entrants are asked to complete a simple questionnaire that serves as a program proposal, establishing the specific idea and its merits to the industry. With replies of between 25 and 100 words per question, the round one questionnaire asks: 1) describe your idea; 2) how it benefits credit unions; 3) how it benefits credit union members; 4) how it exemplifies credit union values; 5) how the idea will propel the credit union movement forward; and 6) how it can be shared with other credit unions.
Round one entries judged to be among the best will be invited to participate in a second round, in which remaining entrants will be asked to develop a business plan for the idea. The second round deadline is Dec. 31. In the third round, three finalists will present their ideas at the THINK 2011 Conference in May 2011 in Anaheim, Calif., with the winner determined by conference attendees, online viewers and a panel of experts from the Filene Research Institute and CO-OP.
“The THINK Conference was created to excite, energize and inspire new ways of thinking, and the CO-OP THINK PRIZE aims to encourage innovative thinkers in the industry to share their ideas for changing the credit union movement for the better,” said Stan Hollen, President/CEO of CO-OP Financial Services. “Our judges will be looking for ideas that help credit unions be nimble, progressive, innovative and smart, while upholding their fiscally conservative values and personal member service experience.”
In addition to the $10,000 in seed money, the winning entrant will also receive pledges of financial support and business services from THINK 2011 sponsors and Filene Research Institute. Credit unions or individuals employed by them can participate, with the three finalists notified around Jan. 31, 2011. An application and complete rules can be found online at www.co-opthink.org.
About CO-OP Financial Services
Based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., CO-OP Financial Services is the industry leader in access and convenience products for credit unions. Nearing 30 years of credit union service, CO-OP connects credit union members to their accounts through network services, payment processing, e-commerce, CO-OP Shared Branching and call center services. With a total of 3,000 credit union members, 30 million cardholders, 28,000 surcharge-free ATMs, 4,000 shared branch locations and 160 million-plus monthly transactions, CO-OP Financial Services is the nation’s largest credit union service organization, offering the tools, counsel and leadership to help credit unions prosper. To learn more, visit www.co-opfs.org. Follow CO-OP on Twitter at:http://twitter.com/COOPFS and keep up with industry issues via the CO-OP Insight Vault blog at:http://co-opinsightvault.com.
