The Electronic Transaction Association meeting in Baltimore, August 19 to 21 was yet another success for the association: well-attended and very upbeat. As always, many companies timed their announcements of new products and new directions to coincide with the ETA, and golf was a pivotal event. A number of organizations worked their booths in the daylight and worked their parties, bay cruises, and hospitality suites by moonlight.
Although some organizations that do not work with ISOs admit that the ETA is a boondoggle event for them, everyone seemed to agree that it was a great event. I was happy that a significant number of people who responded to my appeal to attend the ETA did attend after all, and that we were able to accommodate everyone who contacted us for some financial assistance. For the rest of you, here is some of what you missed:
Upon checking in at the registration desk, each attendee received a bag of goodies. (You know, that bag you get at every trade show. The ETA bag was sponsored by Visa.)
This bag was filled with all the stuff one needs for this show:
The bag also contained a Credit Card Management magazine from Faulkner & Gray (also with an ad on the cover from Hypercom), and a Green Sheet and GSQ magazine.
Finally, the prime ingredients in the bag were: The Guide for Members of the ETA with the do's and don'ts of trade associations and some reminders of antitrust laws, the program guide, an attendee evaluation form, a note pad, a Baltimore dining guide, and the "prized" attendee list.
The classes and breakout sessions were good and covered updates on EBT, keys to solving chargebacks, and lots of e-Commerce solutions, but no one on the panel in "Keeping and Retaining Your Sales Force" really seemed to want to share their own secrets on how they would do either of these things.
If you were a first-time attendee of an ETA meeting, like Adkins Taylor, you might well feel as he did, that this was a great place to network, find out all the things you needed to know about the vendors and services available to the industry, and get re-energized. But as John Castle noted, it was also an excellent opportunity to learn about wireless products. From meeting your peers to certification training, the ETA had something for everybody.
Nice job ETA. Thanks, Charlie and board. I hope we all see even more of the Feet on the Street in Las Vegas in April 2000.
