The Disclosures on CUBroadcast
The Disclosures were lucky enough to chat with Mike Lawson at CUBroadcast recently to play our new youth financial education song “Thank My Piggy Bank,” talk about our new kids music and much more. Enjoy the interview!
Madison Music Duo Releases “Thank My Piggy Bank” – New Youth Financial Ed Song & Video
Song is first single from forthcoming financial ed album for kids
Kicking off National Financial Literacy Month, The Disclosures – the Madison-based “musicians with a mission” – have released a new song and music video for kids called “Thank My Piggy Bank”, which introduces basic concepts of saving. This is the first single from The Disclosures’ forthcoming untitled financial education album for kids due to be released later this year.
“Thank My Piggy Bank” is available on most digital music stores including iTunes, Amazon, and CDbaby. The video is available for viewing and embedding on YouTube here.
“Our rock song breaks new ground combining music and humor to teach kids important lessons about money, savings and responsible spending,” said Disclosures band member Chad Helminak.
“It’s not just a song, it’s a teaching tool,” said Disclosure Christopher Morris. “Organizations can use the video for educational social media content and parents can download the song and watch the video with their kids.”
Since the release of their first album in 2011 entitled “(Hey, We’re) The Disclosures” – comprised of songs that focus on credit union history and philosophy – Christopher and Chad have presented highly-rated education sessions and music performances to credit unions, chapters, trade associations and vendors across the nation.
For their next project, The Disclosures have decided to go in a new direction and address a problem that continues to affect almost all consumers – personal finance.
Chad and Christopher work closely with a lot of financial education resources and realize the importance of teaching kids how to responsibly handle their finances. “Thank My Piggy Bank” is the first single from their next album, which they are currently recording. The pop/rock album – due to release in late 2013 – will be entirely focused on youth financial education, the first of its kind.
“Thank My Piggy Bank” was written and performed by The Disclosures and mixed and mastered by Morriss Partee/Squirrel Trench Audio. Video was directed by The Disclosures. Song lyrics are available here.
Connect with The Disclosures on Facebook to get the latest news about the band and their efforts to raise awareness of the need for youth financial education.
About the band: Christopher Morris and Chad Helminak are musicians with a mission based out of Madison, Wisconsin. Outside of their day jobs, they moonlight as the music duo “The Disclosures” and write songs and perform presentations about the importance of financial literacy and social responsibility. To learn more, visit thedisclosuresmusic.com.
Pictures from CUNA GAC Shows
We had such a great time playing in Washington, DC last week at a few events related to the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC). At both shows, we talked about our unique history as a “credit union” band and played a few songs. We also decided at the last minute to unveil a new song (“Thank My Piggy Bank”) from our forthcoming youth financial education album we are currently recording and the response was incredible! It makes us really excited at the new direction we are focused on. We can’t wait to release the album later this year!
The first show we played was at Clyde’s of Gallery Place for the Tom Connors Memorial Luncheon. This is a special event for alumni of the Credit Union Development Education (DE) Training Program and we were humbled to be on the agenda for the event. The band met at DE Training in 2009 and is a major reason why we’ve chosen (and been inspired) to write and perform songs about financial literacy, cooperatives and credit unions.
We also played at the Friends of the Foundation reception, a private reception held prior to the National Credit Union Foundation Dinner Presenting the Herb Wegner Memorial Awards. As you can see by the pictures, it was a formal event and we were so honored to be asked to perform and tell our story!
The Disclosures to Perform at CUNA GAC Related Events
The Disclosures are pleased to announce that they’ll be in Washington, DC for the upcoming Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) and performing at two separate private events related to the conference.
First, the band will be at Clydes of Gallery Place on Saturday, February 23 for the Tom Connors Memorial Luncheon. Chad and Christopher will be performing a few songs and sharing their unique story at the special luncheon for Credit Union Development Education (DE) Training alumni. Click here for registration information.
On Monday, February 25, The Disclosures will be performing a few songs at the Friends of the Foundation Reception prior to the National Credit Union Foundation Dinner presenting the Herb Wegner Memorial Awards at the Grand Hyatt. This is an invitation-only reception for Foundation supporters.
Hope to see you at one of the events! Otherwise we are looking forward to meeting you at the conference!
Live from Estes Park – New Video
Chris and Chad perform the “Theme Song from Estes Park”, which was a song originally performed at Estes Park, CO in 1934 as part of the infamous credit union meeting that sparked the national credit union system.
More information about the songs sung at Estes Park with lyrics can be found here.
Estes Park
A few pictures from our session at Estes Park, Colorado for a pre-conference event at the CUNA Community Credit Union & Growth Conference. Video to come soon!
The Disclosures to Rock Estes Park at CUNA Community CU & Growth Conference
The Disclosures are proud to announce that we will be performing at the famed Estes Park location as part of a pre-conference event for CUNA’s Community Credit Union & Growth Conference!
Estes Park is one of the most famous places in credit union history. It was a historic summit where nearly 100 credit union leaders met in 1934 after President Roosevelt signed the Federal Credit Union Act. The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) was formed at that meeting as well as the seeds for CUNA Mutual Group. In a letter to Edward Filene before the famous meeting, Roy Bergengren “I sincerely believe that what we are going to do at Estes Park will have extraordinary consequences.”
Aside from taking a tour of the nearby Stanley Hotel made famous from Stephen King’s The Shining, the pre-conference event will include an interesting tour of Estes Park focusing on the famous 1934 meeting. The tour will include a stop at the Estes Park Museum where we will learn about credit union history and see items from the founding of CUNA. We will take a group photo, restaging the historic Estes Park group picture (shown above).
After the tour, The Disclosures we’ll be performing a special “Estes Park Edition” of our Credit Unions Rock! Getting in Tune with our Roots and Philosophy education session.
Here are the session details: Revisit your credit union roots as The Disclosures provide a musically-driven overview of the origin of credit unions, their expansion across America and the cooperative principles they were founded on. In this one-of-a-kind musical session, you’ll learn about how it all began right in Estes Park, the site of the organization of CUNA. For the first time ever, hear The Disclosures perform a few of the songs from that historic moment in credit union history. This session is like a credit union version of “VH1 Storytellers.” As Christopher and Chad discuss, these topics are more relevant than ever to credit union staff, boards and members alike.
Hope to see you there!
> Click Here for More Information on the Event & Registration
The Disclosures to Perform at Louisiana Credit Union League Annual Meeting & Convention
Work in credit unions? Live in Louisiana?
You need to come to the Louisiana Credit Union League’s 2012 Annual Meeting & Convention on August 1-4, 2012.
With excellent education sessions, networking, golf tournament, social event on Friday night (“Friday Night Lights”), recognition awards and more…it’s bound to be an informative and memorable event
The Disclosures will be there too! You’ll see us on the general session stage introducing sessions and playing songs. Then, you’ll see us hosting the exhibitor luncheon. Plus, we’ll be performing both(!) of our education sessions on Friday.
If you are a young professional or interested in credit union history and philosophy, definitely check out our music-driven “Credit Unions in the Key of Awesome” session. Actually, it’s applicable to anyone in the industry, as it’s like a credit union version of “VH1 Storytellers”.
For those in marketing/communications or CEO/management, you might like our “Add More Cowbell to Your Credit Union Messaging” session. Among other things, we’ll be demonstrating the creative process of morphing credit union communications into creative, interactive messages that work well over social media and other channels.
Hope to see you in the Big Easy!
> Click Here for More Information on the Event & Registration
Annual Credit Union Conventions in Illinois? Wisconsin? Rocked ’em.
We’ve been busy lately.
In the last few weeks, we played to some great audiences. First, we kicked off the picnic at the Credit Union Development Education (DE) Training in Madison to an audience of credit union professionals from across the United States, Africa and Scotland. Since the band was formed after meeting at DE Training, that event was pretty special for us to return three years later to play a few songs and talk about our journey and experiences as a credit union band.
The next week, we drove to Schaumburg for the Illinois Credit Union League Annual Convention to perform our education session “Credit Unions in the Key of Awesome.” Carla Day was in the audience and did a nice write-up afterwards at CU Chat Up. She also recorded a video of us performing “Credit Union History (Fact)” from our session. Enjoy:
Last week was probably the biggest week for us as we returned to the Wisconsin Credit Union League’s Annual Convention & Exposition as event emcees. We had fun and kicked off all the general sessions for the conference. We even played some live versions of “Building a Better World,” our song for Bank Transfer Day, and many others. We also did a special credit union history and philosophy session for the “Crashers” or young professionals at the conference. Oh, and we met baseball legend Rollie Fingers!
Click here for part of our live “Building a Better World” performance last week.
We had a great time sharing our music, passion and stories about what makes credit unions unique and powerful the last few weeks. Hope to see you at an event sometime soon!
Does your credit union organization have an event or staff meeting coming up? Check out our booking page to learn more about how we can rock out with you and your attendees/employees.
The Disclosures to Head to CU Association of New York’s Annual Meeting & Convention
The Disclosures are excited to present/perform at the Credit Union Association of New York’s 2012 Annual Meeting & Convention:
Join us on June 7-10 at The Sagamore Resort on Lake George. For more info on the event, visit https://www.cuany.org/services/convention.
Hope to see you there! Inspiration awaits…
Trailer for the Wisconsin Credit Union League Annual Convention
The Disclosures will be returning as event emcees for the Wisconsin Credit Union League Annual Convention on May 9-12, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin!
For more information on the event and to register, visit http://www.theleague.coop/convention.
Hope to see you out in the crowd!
Illinois Credit Union League Annual Convention Trailer
Chad & Christopher gear up for their Illinois Credit Union League Annual Convention appearance:
Join us April 26-28, 2012 in Schaumburg! For more info on the Illinois Credit Union League Annual Convention, visit http://www.iculeague.org/2012AC.htm.
Hope to see you there!
The Disclosures to Perform Session at CUNA Marketing & Biz Dev Council Conference
Do you work in marketing or business development at a credit union?
Then you need to attend the premiere national event for your area – the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 7-10, 2012.
It’s a great event filled with inspiring, informative, and thought-provoking focused sessions. Plus where else can you network with hundreds of your fellow marketing and business development professionals?
Oh, and the Disclosures will be there too! We’ll be performing our new education session “Add More Cowbell to Your Credit Union Messaging” on Thursday at the conference. It’s a repeating breakout session so you have two chances to come see us in the morning.
Hope to see you in The Big Easy!
New Ed Session to Enhance Social Media Interaction & Creativity
Hey credit union event planners & training directors! This post is for you.
It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with you on the “Top Five Reasons to Hire The Disclosures for your Next CU Event” and since then we’ve been pretty busy. Recently, The Disclosures have:
- Created a song and music video that went viral for Bank Transfer Day.
- Recorded a song and produced a collaborative music video with more than 40 CUs around the nation for International CU Day.
- Released a video for our song “98 Problems (but a Bank Ain’t One)” for CUs to use in their web communications.
- Played at more than a few credit union chapter meetings, industry events, CU staff trainings and even the first Co-op fair in Madison, Wis.
Why are we telling you this? Because based around our experiences, we’ve created a new session that teaches credit unions how to tap into their creative veins and make fun, unique and engaging content through social media channels!
The session, called “Add More Cowbell to Your Credit Union Messaging”, walks participants through the creative process of morphing CU communications into fun, interactive messages that work well over social media channels and can strengthen relationships between members and employees. Specifically, we’ll discusses topics such as:
- Introduction and application of creativity into your credit union’s identity.
- How to “humanize” your messaging while remaining accurate and informative.
- The attraction of credit union philosophy and values and why they should be a part of credit union communications & employee training.
- Creating cost-effective, original social media content and how to properly share it.
- Utilizing young staff in member outreach and how it can benefit your credit union.
And in case you’re wondering, we’ll still have our guitars handy to liven up the audience with some credit union inspired music!
So as you plan your credit union-related meetings next year and are looking for unique content, please keep The Disclosures in mind. Whether it’s our brand new ed session, our popular CU history and philosophy ed session entitled “Credit Unions in the Key of Awesome“, an emcee performance or even if you just need some acoustic music to liven up your evening reception, we’ll be ready to rock.
You can find more information about us, our booking information, and much more around our website. Otherwise, feel free to contact us directly with any questions.
Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!
Christopher Morris & Chad Helminak
The Disclosures
The Disclosures Featured on CUBroadcast
The Disclosures were lucky enough to chat with CUBroadcast recently to play a few songs, talk about our music and much more. Enjoy the interview!
Give the Gift of Thrift Rock This Holiday Season!
Looking for the perfect gift this holiday season?
We’ve got you covered. Our debut album, “(Hey, We’re) The Disclosures,” makes a great stocking stuffer, or alternatively:
- Gift for colleague or boss.
- Gift for your staff (or members? vendors?).
- Gift exchange or office party gift.
- Gift for your friends who work at a bank.
- Decorative coaster for your warm mug of hot cocoa.
We think they’ll like it. But don’t take our word for it…. As Madison’s Isthmus said, “Each track sheds a different light on the history and philosophy of financial cooperatives… backed by the duo’s brisk and lively acoustic guitar interplay.” Or as the Credit Union Times put it simply – “The Disclosures rock the credit union difference.”
Where can you buy the album? The album can be purchased digitally online of course through Amazon.com, iTunes, etc but for gift purchases, you’ll probably want to get the actual, physical copy through CDbaby here. And as a bonus, if you buy more than one, you get 10% off!
Happy holidays and THANK YOU!!!
PS – If you live in Madison, let us know and you can buy the CD from us directly. Also, if you want to buy a large quantity of CDs for your organization, let us know and we can most likely provide an even bigger discount on discs.
New Music Video on How to Switch from a Big Bank to a Credit Union
In advance of Bank Transfer Day on November 5th, the credit union music duo The Disclosures have released a short music video highlighting how consumers can switch from a big bank to a local credit union. Credit unions are encouraged to use the video on their website and social media channels as part of their member outreach efforts.
The viral Bank Transfer Day continues to grow amidst widespread dissatisfaction with high bank fees. Bank customers who have become disillusioned by practices like these are now looking to local cooperative credit unions, who typically charge fewer and lower fees and provide other services that represent their structurally-driven commitment to people, not profit.
“The idea of moving your money to a credit union is a hot topic now because of Bank Transfer Day, but we hope credit unions will find value in sharing our video long after November 5th,” said Disclosures band member Chad Helminak.
The song gives a quick overview of the steps needed to move funds from a bank to a credit union and is a slight departure from The Disclosures’ recent video efforts around their original songs. Instead, they re-worked Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” in a fashion similar to their call-to-action video, “Don’t Change Interchange”, which parodies George Michael’s “Faith”.
“Sometimes it helps to get an important message across if you take something people know and turn it on its head,” said Disclosure Christopher Morris. “And like everything we do, we don’t take ourselves too seriously to help make it entertaining.”
Thrift-Rock Resources for Bank Transfer Day
With thousands of consumers pledging to move their money from big banks to local credit unions on or before Bank Transfer Day (November 5th), we wanted to highlight a couple of our music videos that credit unions can use to promote the credit union difference.
Bank Transfer Day has been highlighted in numerous national media outlets and continues to grow amidst widespread dissatisfaction with high bank fees. Bank customers who have become disillusioned by practices like these are now looking to local cooperative credit unions, who typically charge fewer and lower fees and provide other services that represent their structurally-driven commitment to people, not profit.
We have a few YouTube videos that share themes with Bank Transfer Day:
- Movin’ on With My Money” http://youtu.be/fKCZFkKhH-Q
- “98 Problems (But a Bank Ain’t One)” http://youtu.be/YJm7H00_lxM
- “Building a Better World” http://youtu.be/8QX8EniLa9o
We encourage you to use the videos on your websites and/or corresponding social media channels to highlight the philosophy of credit unions in the run-up to Bank Transfer Day (and anytime really). In addition, we invite credit unions to use any of the songs on our album, “(Hey We’re) The Disclosures, ” as part of their on-hold message, lobbies, etc to help communicate the credit union difference in a fun, musical way.
Hope you find these resources useful and Happy Bank Transfer Day!
Disclosures to Live Stream ICU Day Concert
In celebration of International Credit Union Day, The Disclosures will be performing a special breakout session from CUNA Campus in Madison, WI and you’re invited to join us!
Thanks to our friends at CUNA Mutual Group and Filene Research Institute, we’re able to live stream our session and make it available to credit unions around the globe. Here are the details:
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Filene “Lunch With Ed” Series: The Disclosures Breakout Session
DETAILS: If you haven’t seen us live before, we deliver credit union history and philosophy lessons in a unique way – we leave the PowerPoint slides at home and instead rely upon our guitars and original credit union songs and stories to engage audiences in these very relevant ICU Day topics.
WHEN: Thursday, Oct 20th from 8:45 – 9:30 CT
LINK: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lunch-with-ed
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We hope you’ll have time to tune in and enjoy some thrift-rock to help your ICU Day celebrations get off to a great start.
Also, have you checked out our new ICU Day song and video yet? We can’t say it enough – we’re grateful to work in an industry with so many amazing individuals who are willing to collaborate and make a project like that even possible.
New Song & Video Celebrates International Credit Union Day and the Cooperative Nature of Credit Unions
Music video includes clips from more than 40 credit unions and supporting organizations
The credit union music duo, The Disclosures, have released a free song and music video for International Credit Union Day (October 20, 2011) called “Building a Better World”, which pays homage to this year’s celebration theme. The band encourages credit unions to use the song and video to raise awareness of the positive impact credit unions continue to make around the world.
Download the song (mp3):
Lyrics:
> Building a Better World – Lyrics (PDF)
“Our music has always focused on finding new ways to package the credit union message,” said Disclosures band member Chad Helminak. “With ‘Building a Better World’, we decided to take it one step further and invite credit union folks to have some fun and help demonstrate our cooperative nature.”
The Disclosures put out a casting call to credit unions to provide video clips, which would eventually become the entirety of the music video. In addition to the submissions, the band also filmed credit union people singing a few of the segments. More than 40 credit unions and supporting organizations make cameos in the video, which include credit union staff lip-synching lyrics, performing air-guitar with hockey sticks and even dancing with mascots.
“We’re truly amazed at the response and support we received for this project so far and we’re truly thankful for credit unions’ participation,” said Disclosure member Christopher Morris. “Credit unions’ personability usually shines through their member and community service, but now you can see it also holds true for music videos.”
Credit unions are encouraged to distribute and share the video on their websites and in other online communications.
As part of the video collection process, the Disclosures also randomly selected a video submission to receive a signed copy of their CD “(Hey, We’re) The Dislcosures”. The winner was Doug MacMillian from State Employees Credit Union in N.C.
Please help us spread the word!
1. Like us on Facebook:
2. Share our site and song with others:
You, Too, Can Be a (International Credit Union) Rock Star!
UPDATE: The deadline for submissions have passed. Thanks to all those who sent us video footage!
International Credit Union Day is right around the corner (October 20, 2011) with a theme this year of “Credit Unions Build a Better World” and The Disclosures have a unique way for you to get involved!
To help celebrate, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) has asked us to put together a special song for this year’s event. The song is called “Building a Better World” and we’ve recorded a bare bones version of the song. We still need to put the finishing touches on it, but we need your help.
Here’s where you come in: We want you to star in the video! Since credit unions are building a better world – why not feature credit union people worldwide singing about it, right?
We’d love to have you record a video of yourself (or part of your staff) singing along to the song (especially during the “na-na-na” part during the chorus). Once we receive your video, we’ll edit it together with other submissions to create the music video, which will then get posted to YouTube for credit unions around the word to share with their members. The quality doesn’t have to be perfect – use your phone, your laptop camera, whatever you can find. We’ll make it work.
Also, not only will you star in the video, but one lucky video submitter will be randomly chosen to receive an autographed copy of our debut album “(Hey) We’re The Disclosures”!
Interested? Contact thedisclosures@gmail.com for the latest version of the song and lyrics. Video snippets will need to be submitted by Wednesday, September 21 and we can provide directions on sending video files.
Thanks and we look forward to rocking with you!
The Disclosures to Play Capital Brewery on September 14, 2011
From the event description:
Join us at the Capital Brewery Bier Garten in Middleton on Wednesday, September 14 at 5-7 p.m. for a fun evening with good people as we celebrate and honor our credit union and co-op communities! All local credit union supporters, co-op enthusiasts and believers of the ‘people helping people’ philosophy are welcome.
Enjoy live music by The Disclosures starting at 5:30 pm. Food and drinks (beer, wine, water and soda) will be available for purchase.
Donations and proceeds from food sales will benefit the upcoming Co-op Connection event on Oct. 1 at the Monona Terrace. Co-op Connection will spotlight co-op businesses in every sector and create positive publicity, awareness and visibility for the co-op movement. Stay in the loop by liking the Co-op Connection Facebook page and be sure to save the date!
Please feel free to bring family and friends and tell your colleagues. See you at the Capital Brewery on Sept. 14!
Outtakes from the “98 Problems (But a Bank Ain’t One)” Music Video
We had so much fun making the “98 Problems (But a Bank Ain’t One)” music video (watch it here) and so did our younger selves.
Enjoy this short behind-the-scenes clip!
The Disclosures to Play Special Co-op Connection Event in Madison – October 1, 2011
We are very excited to be invited to play at this special event hosted by Summit Credit Union here in Madison! The Disclosures will play a set of our original songs mixed in with our favorite covers.
So what’s it all about?
The Co-op Connection is an event to celebrate cooperatives and all that they contribute to their communities. Area cooperatives and cooperative enthusiasts will host interactive booths to educate their members, employees, and the public on what they do and why it’s important to our community and the local economy. There will be live music from local bands, kids’ activities, and free food samples.
You should come! Details:
Saturday, October 1, 2011 | 9 am – 2 pm at Monona Terrace Convention Center
> Click here for more information about the event
We’ll be playing from 11:45-12:30 and 12:45-1:30. Hope to see you there!
The Disclosures: Musicians with a mission 