USAA Conference - Day 2

Today marked our final day at USAA Headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. As most of our fans know USAA paid to bring Star Henderson and myself out to their corporate headquarters for an in-depth look at not only the USAA company but also some amazing new projects USAA is working on to help ease the lives of military soldiers and their families.

My last blog talked about the new Auto Circle (TM) and Home Circle (TM) programs that enable USAA members to buy, finance, and insure cars and homes online or even in the palm of your hand on the iPhone. Today's visit brought more talk of innovation and a giant step towards becoming more involved with the military spouse community.

The morning began with a light breakfast and a welcome from Kevin Bergner who is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Administrative Officer for USAA. Kevin talked about the importance of what USAA is trying to do for its 7.4 million members. He also talked about his pride in the company that was ranked the number one place to work in ITT by Corporate World Magazine. Mr. Bergner also explained the direction that USAA is heading into for the future and different ways they are working to extend their reach into the military community. It was a delightful presentation.

Afterwards we were shown a presentation of USAA's banking program, Money Manager. This program was created by USAA for its members that don't normally use software programs to manage their finances. Money Manager allows its users to create budgets and track spending quite efficiently. It also allows members to bring in accounts from other financial institutions and track all your accounts directly from usaa.com . I found this to be an exciting program that I am eager to try now that I know more about it.

Next USAA afforded us the chance to test-drive some of the USAA preferred vehicles. Before our test drive we were given an in-depth look into the USAA Emergency Response Unit. USAA has created an Emergency Response Vehicle and teams that are dispatched when communities are affected by natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes. This giant USAA on wheels provides members with basic necessities we need after a disaster. You have access to computers, phones, bathroom, and even coloring books and goodies for our children. I am put at ease knowing that USAA is ready and prepared to be there for me in the event of a natural disaster - when we need them most!

Test-driving the USAA preferred vehicles was a lot of fun. I had the opportunity to test drive the Toyota Highlander Hybrid. It was a nice car and a pretty smooth ride. Star had the chance to test-drive the Ford Mustang. Some of the other cars that were available to test-drive were the Ford Edge, Mercedes Benz, and the Toyota Tacoma. This also afforded us a chance to see a bit more of San Antonio and the USAA company grounds.

After test-driving these great vehicles, we were treated to lunch and a presentation by Rhonda Crawford who is the Vice-President of Social Media for USAA. She discussed ways in which USAA is moving deeper into the digital world and building communities within it. She also discussed USAA's strategy as they move forward into social media. We learned how USAA is using Facebook and Twitter to better reach their members. Right now USAA has 91,000 fans on Facebook and 9800 followers on Twitter. This has proven to USAA what a valuable tool social media can be. USAA also advertises through the use of webinars that members can see on usaa.com and through good ole word of mouth USAA realizes that if they take care of their members we are more likely to tell others and share our positive experiences. USAA is also working to expand that reach with such programs as BratConnect.

BratConnect will be a facebook application that members can use to help military brats stay connected to others and share experiences. This program is still in its pilot stages. USAA is hoping to launch the program publicly in September 2010. This is just another example of the innovative work that USAA is pursuing to help better connect to its members and help us stay better connected and engaged.

The last order of business for the day was an intimate sit-down with those of us that were military spouses. USAA is extremely interested in finding a way that they can be more in tune to the needs of the military spouse and how they can better serve us. This forum gave us an opportunity to express our needs and what role we would like to see USAA have in helping to fulfill those needs. It also gave USAA a chance to better understand us and what we go through as a military spouse. I commend USAA for taking those steps to reach out to spouses and make a better connection with us.

Overall this has been an amazing experience. I have enjoyed getting this in-depth look into USAA. I leave here excited and motivated. I leave knowing that my finances are in expert hands. I realize now just how much USAA cares about its members and how hard they are working to simplify our lives and help us on that road to financial security. I know USAA is a company I can TRUST and I will never forget the experience. I leave being more excited than ever to be a USAA member!

Hooah.......

Household6 Janet