ETA’s Annual Meeting and Expo is sometimes referred to as the highlight of the industry’s annual calendar. The organization, however, is actively developing programs and services throughout the year. Its new fiscal year begins next month with many more new initiatives just around the corner.
    With the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1st, the organization welcomes new leadership. Dan Neistadt of KeyBank USA will begin his one-year term as ETA President. Joining Dan as officers are Joe Kaplan of Innovative Merchant Solutions as President-Elect, Jim Baumgartner from Moneris Solutions as Treasurer, Nick Baxter of First National Bank of Omaha as Secretary, and Immediate Past President Diane Vogt from First Data.
    Volunteers, including the officers and board of directors, lead and provide the “horsepower” for many of ETA’s initiatives. ETA will welcome new committee volunteers in its new year. These volunteers will immediately go to work developing new programs and evaluating and improving current ones.
    New programs and services will be implemented in the coming year. ETA will complete the recruitment process for its newest staff position, Senior Director, Information Resources. This new staff member hired from among the ranks of the industry will spearhead a number of new ETA initiatives. Serving as the primary in-house industry expert, this payments veteran will lead the development of new news, editorial and information products, steering environmental scanning and monitoring projects and the development of exclusive research offerings. Additionally, drawing upon a wealth of contacts, this new staff member will assist in directing the organization’s government and industry relations activities.
    ETA’s government relations efforts have taken root in the past year. In the coming year, led by the Government Relations Committee, the organization will build upon that progress by continuing to monitor legislative and regulatory issues of interest to the payments business. Additionally, this group will help form organizational positions in the most important advocacy areas.
    Other successful programs are continuing and being improved. The Encyclopedia of Terminology for the Acquiring Industry (ETA Glossary) has entered its third printing and has already helped hundreds of payment professionals by providing reliable and consistent definitions for 3000+ industry terms. The nearly 300-page publication is available for order at www.electran.org (just $50 for members and $75 non-members).
    Educational offerings will continue to address the broad spectrum of experience in the industry. For the executive-level, development of programming for ETA’s Strategic Leadership and Networking Forum (SLNF) is well under way. Payment executives will gather in Charleston, South Carolina in September to review macro-level payment trends, as well as analyze consumer and merchant behaviors to measure their current and future impact on the business. SLNF helps payment executives confront the major issues their companies face and promotes idea sharing and strategic planning among peers.
    On a more “micro” level, ETA will convene its fifth Expo Network event in Los Angeles on June 23-24. This educational offering was developed just for ISOs and Sales Agents and focuses on delivering need-toknow education and business basics that provide immediate positive impact. Held at various locations across the country, Expo Networks deliver easily accessible education and industry knowledge to payment professionals directly interacting with merchants on a daily basis and without the need to travel long distance.
    These are just some of the projects and initiatives upon which ETA is working. But even more are under development by ETA’s volunteers and staff. For more information on ETA visit www.electran.org or call 800-695-5509.