Credit unions and the multitude of state and nationalorganizations that serve them do a lot of things right. Assigninghigh priority to professional public relations programs is not oneof them. As a result, the credit union industry is missingcountless golden opportunities to put their collective best footforward at a time when it is most needed. Examples of where creditunions and CU groups missed excellent public relationsopportunities are everywhere. And they are multiplying. What makesthis sad situation worse is that credit unions in general are doingso many newsworthy things which if given exposure would go a longway in advancing the cause of the entire CU industry. On the otherside of the ledger, bad things also happen in credit union landsuch as armed robberies, natural disasters, embezzlements, bankerattacks, and CEO dismissals for cause. It is at times like thesethat public relations needs to play a crucial role. Yet creditunions often fall short. Those responsible for handling crisis PRoften can't be immediately reached, try to stonewall the mediaseeking facts not spin, or don't have the experience or authorityto speak on behalf of their organization. Observers are left tojump to their own conclusions which are frequently nowhere nearreality. One obvious reason for this PR ineptness in the creditunion industry is the lack of understanding of what publicrelations really is. But also how it can and should work, whoshould set PR policy, and who should be charged with theresponsibility of implementing it. Even national credit unionorganizations at times don't seem to have a good handle on publicrelations or give it high priority. CUNA, for example, at timesseems so obsessed with internal communication (a.k.a. talking toyourself) that getting the word out to the outside world almostseems to be an afterthought. Although CUNA has a good-sized,full-time public relations staff, like in so many other CU groupsand in credit unions themselves, these staffers are routinelyloaded down with non-PR responsibilities. CUNA's top publicrelations executive, for example, has major programmingresponsibility for that group's Annual Governmental AffairsConference. What has a GAC put on for credit union people have todo with PR? Public relations staffers' time would be better spenttrying to work with the trade press and mainstream media across theboard before a crisis, not after. A letter to the editor attemptingto set the record straight after a damaging piece appears say inUSA Today is not nearly effective as a major pro-credit union piecein the first place. Even more basic, those charged with anorganization's public relations function need to be developing andmaintaining media contacts. They should constantly be trying toeducate editors and reporters before they ever sit down at theircomputers to write about credit unions, not after. Unfortunately,when there is a reason to contact the media, some full-time PRstaffers don't even know who to call, or to whom to send a timelyrelease. Many credit union media lists are woefully outdated. Justask the editorial staff of Credit Union Times. Sometimes thingshappen that have lots of public relations implications over whichPR staffers have little or no control. A current example is theCUNA Mutual Group which is experiencing a series of events rightnow ranging from union problems and a high-profile staff arrest, toa series of executive changes and board defections. Theorganization continues to get lots of bad press regarding theirongoing dispute with the labor union representing a large number ofCUNA Mutual employees. Granted, it is extremely difficult for anyemployer to communicate with almost anyone during labor unrest, butthey must do so. Otherwise, the general public and opinion leaders,especially in Madison, Wisconsin, start to get a changed perceptionof that capital city's largest private employer. The longer ittakes to get a new signed labor agreement, the more the danger ofCMG's once pristine reputation getting further tarnished. The CUNAMutual union situation is one of many examples where bad PR for onegroup rubs off on others such as credit unions in the surroundingarea. Then there is the harm caused to CUNA Mutual itself with itscustomers and the various publics important to the organization.Directly related, less-than-favorable public relations resultedwhen a substantial number of union employees took steps to spin offfrom the main union group to form their own bargaining unit. Someobservers have already speculated that this is only the first stepthat could eventually lead to an attempt at some partial uniondecertification, still another potential PR land mine. And thenthere is the well-publicized and controversial recent firing oflong-time CMG CEO Mike Kitchen. And just recently, the identityfraud arrest of on of CUNA Mutual's employees, ironically a veteranpublic relations department employee. How ironic that an individualcharged with putting his employer in a good light instead causes amajor PR problem. Could it be that he didn't have enough to do?There are unfortunately other examples where CUNA Mutual'sfull-time public relations staff should have had a strongerpresence but didn't. In fairness, maybe CMG's management staffand/or its board put handcuffs on them? Does it also send a signalthat at CMG where VP's are a dime a dozen that the top PR stafferis an assistant vice president while at CUNA the comparable postrates an EVP title? Will new CUNA Mutual Group CEO Jeff Post, anon-credit union insurance industry veteran named days ago toimmediately take over for Kitchen, show an awareness of theimportant role public relations can and must play? Maybe. A requestby this publication to conduct the standard feel-good,get-acquainted interview with him was turned down flat on theflimsy excuse that he needed to get his feet wet first. Bad PRmove. Comments? Call 1-800-345-9936, Ext. 15, or Fax 561-683-8514,or E-mail [email protected].