WSAA celebrates 10 years with style

The Western States Acquirers Association's 10th anniversary conference, held October 8 and 9, 2013, at the San Francisco Airport Hyatt Regency drew an estimated 687 exhibitors and attendees to the sold-out venue. "We, at WSAA, are both humbled and thrilled with this year's incredible turnout for the 10th annual conference," said WSAA President Steve Eazell. "We are so thankful for everyone's generous support."

Opening day kicked off with the second annual WSAA Golf Tournament, which challenged golfers to compete for gear at San Francisco's historic 18-hole Presideo Golf Course. In addition, runners attending the conference captured brisk offshore breezes in a morning Fun Run. The Field Guide for ISOs Seminar, presented by Field Guide Enterprises LLC President Mark Dunn, provided expert-led sessions on navigating ISO legal roadblocks, tapping the business-to-business niche, maximizing return on investment from sales training, evaluating Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) compliance, mining data and putting social media to work for merchants. In the afternoon, women attending the conference participated in the Women's Network in Electronic Transaction's LINC Northern California event.

An opening reception with exhibitors in the Hyatt's Peninsula Grand Ballroom followed with an evening mixer at the Barrelhouse cocktail den, where conference goers could unwind from the day's activities.

Backdrop San Francisco

Breakfast in the exhibit hall energized the crowd for a full round of breakout sessions the second day. WSAA Vice President Xavier Ayala presented opening remarks and welcomed the general session panelists who discussed major industry disruptors, from government intervention and virtual currencies to emerging payment models.

Breakout sessions featured panel discussions covering such topics as taking ISOs to the next level, adapting to change, the status of EMV migration in the United States and insights on payment aggregation.

Payment consultant Paul Martaus presented an industry update forewarning of threats from PCI compliance fee erosion as a result of U.S. migration to the Europay/MasterCard/Visa standard; competition from major entities like the Merchant Customer Exchange; and state legislation to further regulate transaction pricing. He said that to thrive in the future, ISOs will need to act as merchant relationship managers and align with value-added reseller and co-op partners.

Former Canadian Olympic speed skier and New York Times bestselling author Vince Poscente delivered an interactive keynote address that inspired the audience to connect with their "emotional buzz" to achieve seemingly impossible goals. Afterward, he signed copies of his book, The Age of Speed.

A closing reception with exhibitors in the main hall preceded WSAA's post-conference "A Night in San Francisco" party held at the Hard Rock Café at Pier 39. Greeted by panoramic views of shimmering bay waters and iconic memorabilia from local bands, such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Journey and Santana, attendees were reminded of WSAA's dynamic first decade, and the promise of the future was evident at each stage of this well-executed meeting of payment professionals.

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