Asterisk Intelligence Week

Join us in 2024 for Query, Dashboard, and Data Analytics Training!

Spring March 4 – 7
Fall September 16 – 19

Hosted by the CU*Answers Asterisk Intelligence team, the events held during this week cover data analytics, data management, and data warehousing solutions. The 4-day series of training and strategy sessions include a mix of in person and online web-based options.

Sign up for individual sessions, or the entire week, the choice is up to you!

Check out our Informational Brochure

Locations

Sessions in this event are offered as a mix of Classrooms (on-site only) and Webinars (remote only). Please check carefully to identify the location of the session you are interested in before you register.

Classroom Sessions

Classroom sessions are not live-streamed. The event is free but travel and transportation costs are the responsibility of the participant credit union.

When the event is in Grand Rapids, Michigan, classroom sessions are at the CU*Answers headquarters: 6000 28th St SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546

When the event is in Las Vegas, Nevada, classroom sessions are at the Innovation Center: 6725 Via Austi Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89119

Webinar Sessions

Webinar sessions will be held online via Zoom and do not have accompanying classroom sessions. The event is free and you can attend these remotely from your credit union!

Event Sessions – Register Here!

No registration costs, this event is free to attend! For sessions that are in-person you are responsible for any travel expenses. Webinar session are held via Zoom. Each Asterisk Intelligence Week agenda includes a variety of sessions on the topics of data analytics, database management, data warehousing. Some will focus on tactical skills instruction while others involve strategy discussion and training.

Sessions at CU*Answers

Your Analysis Resources: Taking Action and Driving Results

Explore the range of analytical resources CU*BASE users have at-the-ready with Dashboards, Visual Analytics Tools (VAT), Analytics Booth, and more. – It’s simple to get in the game of data analysis with built-in data summaries and visualizations. This day’s agenda covers the most popular tools and resources, a few of the AI Team’s personal favorites, and a sneak peek at what’s in the development queue scheduled to arrive in the next couple of software releases.

The concepts covered include the ASAP strategy (Ask. See. Act. Profit.) and using graphs and charts to share useful and eye-catching information with all audiences at your credit union. Any role and any person can use data to inform themselves or others. This class covers simple solutions and strategies that are relevant to both a non-technical person and an analyst.

Register for this Session

Report Builder Skills Session

Morning – Working with Computer-Stored Data

CU*BASE Report Builder uses the IBM program called Query, a powerful, flexible tool for mining data from your CU*BASE member data. This class will establish a foundation of knowledge to understand and identify data structure and storage concepts, as well as outline the steps to create a very simple custom report.

The concepts covered are used in many CU*BASE products, from teller auditing to cash management to general member inquiries.

Afternoon – Essentials of Building a Report

In the afternoon we build on the foundation learned in the morning session and will cover all features that are commonly used with Report Builder feature (Tool 100). Example reports and optional practice time help to build skills with this technical tool that, when properly used, can be used to customize many reports and take control of one of your most valuable assets — data.

The concepts covered in this class include all aspects of Report Builder that are necessary to build most simple reports and some intermediate-level reports. Advanced query skills are not covered in this course. Please reach out to ai@cuanswers.com if interested in advanced query resources and training.

Register for this Session

Understanding and Managing Your Ecosystem of Data

To be a data-focused credit union, you must first be aware of the data you have, where it lives, and how to access or connect it. The effort of understanding and managing the data ecosystem of your credit union is a valuable foundation from which your analysis strategies and data-driven decisions will build.

Morning – Data Warehousing and Analysis with AI*Engaged

This session’s morning agenda explores data warehousing strategies including gathering and analyzing new data that is only available when you have the space to keep it, and options for pulling together data from multiple other systems for analysis. The AI*Engaged software application is developed by CU*Answers specifically for the purpose of managing and analyzing warehouse data. Within this review of data warehousing we ask and cover the following questions:

  • Where does my credit union data live today?
  • What is my toolkit I have for managing my data?
  • How long is the data stored in the system, and is there an option to keep it longer?
  • How do I make changes to my data?
  • When and how does data from multiple systems connect?
  • What are my options to customize data collection?
  • Where and how can I find and keep new data?

Afternoon – Hot Topics in Database Management

This session’s afternoon agenda covers resources and toolkits available to assist in creating a database management strategy. The latest and most popular topics are reviewed and discussed as a group, including Self-Directed Data Floods, Nostradamus calculator suggesting next product or service for members, Unique Data Management (UDM) Custom Fields, Query management strategies (automation and database changes), Specialty data possibilities (Optics data sets), DEX automated data extraction, etc.

Register for this Session

Sessions via Web Conference

Query 1 – Planning the Project – Working with Computer Stored Data

CU*BASE Report Builder uses the IBM program called Query, a powerful, flexible tool for mining data from your CU*BASE member data. But the foundation to understanding how to use the tool, is to first begin to understand your data – the database. You will learn about finding, accessing, searching, evaluating, and determining the best source(s) of data for your custom reports, or analytical projects. Simple query use to view and navigate data tables (files) will be covered.

This class will establish a foundation of knowledge to understand and identify data structure and storage concepts. Useful beyond query, the concepts in this class are used in many CU*BASE products, from teller auditing to cash management, to general member inquires, and understanding of the various standard reports and dashboards in the system.

Register for this Session

Query 2 – Executing the Project – Building Custom Reports

In this class, we build on the foundation learned in the ‘Query 1’ class and will begin to execute projects to build simple reports in the Query (Report Builder) tool. Navigating the tool and learning how it’s featues can be used to connect and customize the data will be covered. Example reports are shown to build skills with this technical tool that, when properly used, can be used to customize many reports and take control of one of your most valuable assets — data.

The concepts covered in this class include all aspects of Report Builder that are necessary to build most simple reports and some intermediate-level reports. Advanced query skills are not covered in this course. Please reach out to ai@cuanswers.com if interested in advanced query resources and training.

Register for this Session

Conversations on Data

Come meet for discussion and guidance with peers who are also working with data and data projects at credit unions via our Conversations on Data group. This is a collaborative group in the style of open discussion. Please come prepared with a question or suggestion for the group! If you are currently someone who works with data strategies, data tools, or is looking to build those skills at your credit union – You are welcomed and we hope you can join us!

Register for this Session

TruChoice Credit Union

Having recently switched roles, in my CU, from member-facing to a data driven position as a systems analyst, AI Week has assisted in my transition a great deal. While I did spend some time prior to AI week learning the basics of Query and some of the dashboards, AI Week gave context to what I had found on my own, as well as vastly expanded my skill set in report writing. This conference had something for all skill and experience levels with Gold’s analytical features, and will add value to anybody who stays engaged throughout the week.

Conor Lane

Partnership Financial Credit Union

Annalyn and Thomas made Queries fun! I feel confident to be able to go back to our credit union and when asked be able to say “I can run a query for that!”

Theresa Guerriero

Forest Area Federal Credit Union

The AI team does a wonderful job of instructing attendees during lectures. Each question asked is considered with patience and understanding to provide the most insightful answer. Truly a valuable resource for anyone who seeks to increase their knowledge of CU Base.

Kyle Zemsta

Metro North Federal Credit Union

The AI week was amazing. The small classroom size assisted in allowing for a very open forum. All questions were answered in depth and the instructors were happy to ensure a complete grasp of the tools. They took time to answer our specific needs and I came out of the situation with many queries that I needed already built. It was very educational.

Deanna Koen

Affinity Credit Union

If I could describe Asterisk Intelligence Week with one word, it would be data. As we continue to push into the digital age and beyond as an industry, understanding our members by using the data at our fingertips is vital for not only our survival but our flourishment! With this data, we begin to understand our members and can target them with products and services that would be beneficial to them. Furthermore, the data will help us streamline our costs, identify weak points, and provide us insights that would otherwise be lost.

 

The Asterisk Intelligence team provides a solid foundation to build on by working through various dashboards and explaining not only how to use them, but why. As the week progresses, you’ll be introduced to Query/Report Building, where you can harness just about any data point within CU*Base and put it into a report for review. With a restricted class size combined with all-day training, your questions will be answered and real-life examples created. Discussion and workshop times are built into the sessions, so your time is well-utilized. Data is here to stay – embrace the Asterisk Intelligence Week and dive in!

Joey Czellar

Delta County Credit Union

AI Week was phenomenal. Being a beginner in query, they were still able to teach me more than enough to let me be able to understand how it works and how I can better utilize this tool to dig for data. Also, going over all the dashboards opened my eyes to different ways we can use those to better suite our needs and our member’s needs. If you want to get a better understanding about query or dashboards, I highly recommend attending!

Nathan Nastoff

VacationLand Federal Credit Union

We were very pleased with the material covered in the query build and dashboard sessions. The expertise of the Asterisk Intelligence team helped us to create reports, and understand how to leverage many of the dashboards for data mining. All of this is helping us to streamline, and automate manual processes; therefore helping us to better serve or members.

Derek Callin

Service 1 Federal Credit Union

This was one of the best on-site trainings CU*Answers has ever offered. The instructors were knowledgeable, organized, and helpful.
I highly recommend every credit union employee involved with data mining take this course.

Sara Redeker
Updated
January 17, 2024

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Mar 3, 2022

Today’s Quick Tip for Managing Your Data Warehouse: Cut Down On the Clutter

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Feb 28, 2022

Today’s Quick Tip for Managing Your Data Warehouse: Delete Old Tables

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Feb 25, 2022

Today’s Quick Tip for Managing Your Data Warehouse: Give Every Table a Description

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We’ve collected questions that have come across the Asterisk Intelligence desk and have put together a series of tips for your organization to manage your Asterisk Intelligence Data Warehouse.  Ongoing attention to data quality and established procedures can help avoid a messy or frustrating database down the road. Today’s tip: give it a description!  Every… Read more »

Feb 24, 2022

Asterisk Intelligence Presents: Custom Queries and Training Opportunities

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Feb 24, 2022

Today’s Quick Tip for Managing Your Data Warehouse: Know What “Access” Means

Today’s Quick Tip for Managing Your Data Warehouse: Know What “Access” Means

We’ve collected questions that have come across the Asterisk Intelligence desk and have put together a series of tips for your organization to manage your Asterisk Intelligence Data Warehouse.  Ongoing attention to data quality and established procedures can help avoid a messy or frustrating database down the road. Today’s tip: know what “access” means (refer… Read more »

Feb 23, 2022

Today’s Quick Tip for Managing Your Data Warehouse: Create Rules for Uploading & Share These Internally

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We’ve collected questions that have come across the Asterisk Intelligence desk and have put together a series of tips for your organization to manage your Asterisk Intelligence Data Warehouse.  Ongoing attention to data quality and established procedures can help avoid a messy or frustrating database down the road. Today’s Tip: create rules for uploading and… Read more »

Feb 22, 2022

Announcing the Winner of the Analytics Booth Deep Dive Week Giveaway!

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Feb 18, 2022

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Feb 16, 2022