Asterisk Intelligence, a data analytics team at CU*Answers, successfully concluded hosting their first 2020 event named Asterisk Intelligence Week, held  in February. The 4-day event is open to users of CU*Answers’ CU*BASE core processing software and was attended by 29 individuals from credit unions across the United States. All sessions were free and included a mix of on-site trainings and online webinar discussion.

The first day the event focused on the analytical concept of building an audience for data. Participants of the Building an Audience for Data session reviewed available tools and resources that are designed for wide audiences, and discussed tactics and strategies for expanding the consumption and sharing of data within their organizations.

The second day of the event was entirely tactical with the Report Builder (Query) skills session offering an in-depth training on the database structure of CU*BASE as well as technical training on how to use a report builder tool. Report Builder is a data mining and query tool users can use to create a custom report.

The third day of the event was dedicated to a review and discussion of the idea of using data to prove out decisions, value, operations, and more. The session, called “Prove It with Data: Strategies and Solutions,” included peer discussion on the challenges involved and a review of

The final and fourth day of the event included three special webinar sessions. First, an introductory review of the web application, Analytics Booth, built as an external data warehouse for aggregating and displaying daily trending and analysis of product portfolio and financial data. Second, database administration strategies and tools available in CU*BASE, with the February topic being a focus on DIY data flooding capabilities. Third, a themed review of procedures and tools involved to quickly produce a small analysis or identify earning opportunities, with the February topic being where and who members do business with elsewhere.

The next Asterisk Intelligence Week event is offered May 11 – 14, 2020. It will also be offered in August and December this year. The theme of the Asterisk Intelligence Team’s educational and tactical efforts in 2020 is to “Prove It” with data so the event’s topics, skills, and tactics are deliberately designed to support and encourage that goal for credit union data users and analysts.