SEAA launches first job fair

To increase attendance at the Southeast Acquirers Association's 2009 Annual Conference, the SEAA will feature its first job fair. All of the 75 vendors exhibiting at the three-day event will be available to talk to job seekers about prospective opportunities at their companies. Among the companies scheduled to participate are American Express Co., Comdata Corp., First Data Corp., Global Payments Inc. and at least two dozen industry recruiters.

According to Audrey Blackmon, Director of Client Relations at TASQ Technology Inc. and former President of the SEAA, the job fair has been incorporated into the overall tradeshow and will be held in the vendor's exhibition hall at the Wyndham Orlando Resort in Orlando, Fla. Blackmon said she has received calls from large industry organizations that hadn't planned on attending the event but wanted more information about the job fair.

"Once I explained to them that it's part of the show, then they signed up," Blackmon said.

She added job experts are telling her jobs are available in the payments industry, in spite of the depressed economy. Although this is the first time the SEAA has offered a job fair, the SEAA is confident that it will be a success.

"Our show is for the feet on the street guys and, typically, everything we do is centered around getting more [MLSs] to come into the show," Blackmon said. "And so, this year we tried to look at it from the vendor's standpoint and what we can offer them that would enhance the show."

Extending a helping hand

The SEAA advertised the event at local schools and universities in a 100 mile radius of the Orlando, Fla., resort. Even people outside the industry will find useful information, Blackmon said. Mark Dunn, President of Field Guide Enterprises LLC, will present his popular Field Guide for ISOs seminar, which Blackmon described as, in part, an introductory training course for individuals interested in the payments industry or new to it.

Blackmon said job seekers who furnish resumes to the SEAA can attend the first day of the tradeshow (which includes the job fair) free of charge; to stay for the final two days of the event, job seekers pay $50 apiece. Blackmon said the SEAA keeps the entry fee low to entice as many MLSs and prospective MLSs as possible.

The conference runs from Feb. 23 to 25, 2009. The job fair will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 23. For more information, visit the SEAA online at www.southeastacquirers.com .

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