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(Sep2007)ETA Committees - Working for You |
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ETA committees have been busy over the past year meeting business goals and helping to shape the future of the industry through the following activities.
Annual Meeting Program Planning
Thanks to the work of this committee, 94 percent of meeting attendees said they were "satisfied to very satisfied" with the 2007 Annual Meeting and 80 percent said the same about the educational content. This committee planned and orchestrated all concurrent sessions and provided input on keynote and "Thought Leader" speaker selection, and overall conference design.
Awards and Recognition
Committee efforts culminated at the President's Dinner and Awards Ceremony, where ETA presented the Member of the Year award to Marla Knutson of TransFirst; Committee of the Year to the Government Relations Committee; Committee Volunteer of the Year to Greg Cohen of Moneris; and Business Partner of the Year to Discover. In addition, ETA presented the first-ever Distinguished Payments Professional award to Ed Labry of First Data. To launch this prestigious award, the Committee created criteria, reviewed nominees and interviewed finalists before making a selection. The committee also refined all awards criteria and evaluated nominees in each categories.
Best Practices
The work of this committee culminated in the preparation of three white papers: "Managing Direct Sales," "Working with Merchants to Assure PCI Compliance" and "Solution-Oriented Selling." The papers will be released this fall.
Education
This year's work resulted in two soon-to-be launched web courses and instructor manuals, along with an expanded schedule of ETAU classes, including a new risk and fraud course.
Exhibitor Advisory
The committee made several changes to improve the exhibit hall experience for ETA members and increase value for exhibitors at the Annual Meeting. These changes included eliminating the under-utilized new product demonstration and exhibitor theater areas and expanding private meeting rooms in the exhibit hall.
Government Relations
This committee developed an industry white paper opposing the IRS merchant acquirer reporting proposal. The committee also assessed the impact of numerous recent state laws affecting the industry; developed ETA's 2007 education and discussion forum for public officials; and monitored ongoing federal legislative and regulatory developments.
Industry Relations
For much of the year the committee focused on defining issues for the ETA advocacy agenda and developing supporting position statements. To advance these positions, ETA met with card company executives and became a member of PCI Co. The committee also reached out to the National Restaurant Association (NRA) to explore ways to work together to promote awareness about PCI compliance, especially for NRA members in the Level IV merchant category.
ISO Advisory
Representing the interests of ETA's core membership, the committee provided feedback on new products and helped guide market research related to this member group. The committee also helped plan elements of the Pub ISO reception at the ETA Annual Meeting.
Membership
This committee guided the development of marketing collateral to be used in peer-to-peer recruitment and identified a list of target markets for future membership recruitment efforts. The committee also developed a list of research criteria to measure year-over-year membership satisfaction levels, and evaluated potential affinity programs that are being considered as ETA member benefits, which will be rolled out in the coming year.
Research and Information Resources
This committee assisted with the development of ETA's new web site structure, providing input on content and architecture. The committee also provided guidance and reviews for the inaugural "Product and Services Guide," which launched in February, along with ongoing editorial direction for Transaction Trends.
Risk and Fraud Management
To promote a greater understanding of risk and fraud, the committee developed a new ETAU course "Acquiring Payments Risk/Fraud Management: Tactics and Trends," a white paper on risk management strategies, and several "Risk in Review" articles for Transaction Trends and ETA Currents. Key to the committee's efforts was work with Visa's Acceptance Risk and Compliance Group to address potential compliance and legal risk associated with the rapid growth of merchant cash advance programs. The committee also supported the development of two Transaction Trends articles on cash advance programs, and is planning a white paper on best-practices.
SLNF Program Planning
This group directed development of the educational portion of the 2007 Strategic Leadership & Networking Forum, September 18-20, in Palm Beach, Florida. Work included speaker selection for the four educational segments and coaching to ensure that presentations meet the needs of the C-level audience.
Technology
Drawing an audience of 90 participants who gave positive reviews, the committee produced the successful "Prepaid Super Session" at the 2007 Annual Meeting. The committee also conducted a technology survey that found a high level of member interest in information regarding alternative payments, mobile payment technologies, prepaid and data security.
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