The U22 story begins...

In June 2009, GTE Federal Credit announced its U22 Open Casting Call in search of an undiscovered talent that would become the star of the U22 campaign scheduled to launch Summer 2009. This contestant would join Evan Longoria, All-Star 3rd baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays, and Suite Caroline, music sensation soon to be the next big thing, as an official spokesperson for U22!

"We are looking for a teenager who understands the importance of managing money, engages in sophisticated social media outlets and realizes financial responsibility leads to greater independence," said Doug Richardson, Senior Vice President of Marketing for GTE Federal Credit Union. "We are optimistic in believing a money smart star will emerge from this event and bring our youth campaign to life."

The U22 story unfolds...

And so the word spread! One vibrant teenager would get the opportunity to star in their very own ad campaign, becoming the face of the U22 account, a unique product for 12 to 22 year olds. The U22 Casting Call Event on June 20th was a lot of fun. Kids from across the state got to audition in front of a live panel of GTE FCU judges, were entertained by U22 spokesperson Suite Caroline's acoustic originals, ate some delicious grub and played a few old school board games. We also received some extremely innovative video auditions via our YouTube channel that were truly entertaining!

Thoughts that made us smile:

"I just wanted to thank you and everyone at the GTE FCU for helping to make it possible for my son to audition. The directions were great and it was an easy trip over. Everything was extremely organized and our wait was about 5 minutes! You got everyone in and out with precision! Impressive! Also, everyone at the casting was very nice and made us feel welcome. After he auditioned, he had a blast with some of the representatives building a puzzle in the waiting room. We enjoyed the lunch that was provided and thought that was very generous. Again, thank you for working with our schedule and best of luck in the selection process."

– Parent of Contestant

"I must say that as a parent all the people we met were enthusiastic and extremely nice. We traveled about 50 minutes to get there, but it was a great first experience for my 2 girls to have an audition in front of kind judges. I'm not really sure how well they did but they were made to feel special. In fact my oldest daughter (15) actually said if there were more people in the world as nice as these judges were the world would be a great place.

Thank you again for being such a great first experience for them in the world of auditioning. Everyone we met must enjoy their job and this must be a great place to work. We presently do not have any money here but I will certainly look into this actual U22 account for my oldest to keep her money. It seems like a great program that caters to young people."

– Parent of Contestant

"First, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you for allowing my son to audition for the chance to be the GTE FCU spokesperson. For a parent's perspective, I was quite impressed with the entire audition process. You all were very organized, professional and accommodating. Each event table knew what to tell the participants to do, which was a welcome change. From my son's point of view, the "refreshments" were wonderful, that is rare at auditions. He said the audition itself was stress free, he was relaxed and he had fun in the room with the judges and felt he performed at his best. He said it was because everyone in the room was relaxed and very pleasant. I am not sure if you even wanted feedback but I felt impressed to let you know how we felt about your audition process. Thanks again, and have a wonderful day!!!"

– Parent of Contestant

The U22 story culminates...

After hours of watching video, reviewing judge sheets, digging deep and thinking hard, we've found our U22 icon . . . Alex! Alex actually heard about the U22 Open Casting Call from a friend who thought they would be perfect for the role. They were absolutely right! Check him out here.

The U22 story continues...

With all these amazing auditions, we were curious...who is the FAN FAVORITE? From July 7th to July 20th, the audition that accumulated the most views won the coveted title of Fan Favorite AND Blink-182 tickets at Ford Amphitheatre for the September 27th concert of the year!

The U22 Fan Favorite? Dun-dun-dun-dunnnn! JULIA! With over 324 views, she was the hands-down winner. Great job Julia and Congratulations!

Julia's U22 Audition

Check out all of the U22 Auditions on our YouTube page.