here was room to spare at the ETA Midyear Meeting & Expo in Seattle. ETA announced that attendance was 1,512, with 99 exhibitors. The ratio of exhibitors to attendees roaming the exhibit floor was estimated to be about 3-to-1.

There was a difference of opinion as to why this show's attendance was so much lower than the previous meeting in Orlando. However, conventional wisdom boiled down to, "It's the economy, stupid!"

Other opinions on the show ranged from "Two shows a year is too expensive," to "Why Seattle? It's always raining there." (For the record, the weather was mostly warm and beautiful.) There was a vocal minority who invoked the "9/11 effect." Undoubtedly, business travel has yet to recover.

Those who braved the "code orange" reports and weather reputation experienced a meeting of flying fish and quality networking. Each person we met with confirmed that while the numbers were down, those who came were the players. They were ready to deal.

The list of exhibitors included Hypercom, VeriFone, First Data, Concord EFS, Thales and U.S. Wireless Data, all showcasing their newest offerings. Lipman, TASQ, Schlumberger and MagTek highlighted solutions, services and strategic alliances. ThruComm, CrossCheck, Global eTelecom, Chase Merchant Services and Paymentech were joined by newcomers FraudScrub.com, Yaga, Creditel and Exadigm.

At the opening ceremony, ETA President Mary Gerdts took the podium and introduced the new Board of Directors. The association's committees were named next - all volunteer, all vital to the workings of ETA.

Keynote speaker Earl Woods, father of golf superstar Tiger Woods, shared his own brand of family guidance and wisdom, but is this really the right group for a "wealth should be redistributed" sermon?

The tone of the session changed quickly when the Pike Place Fishmongers took the stage. Between fish throwing and enthusiastic audience participation - bringing an entirely new definition to a "cold fish" handshake - this world-famous company told its story of success.

"Facing bankruptcy 15 years ago, we all made a commitment to fight it and agreed to a vision," said owner John Yokoyama. "We decided to become world famous."

Pike Place Fishmongers did just that through communication and a plan that incorporated having fun at work and being there for its customers. The company motto: "Catch the energy and release the potential."

Many of the attendees did catch the energy at this year's meeting.

On display at Hypercom's booth were the ICE and T7Plus terminals, boasting more functionality, more sophistication, more software - all without a higher price, in part because of the scalability of Hypercom. Also prominently showcased was Hypercom's new MegaNAC 180, a high density point-of-sale concentrator providing a wide range of POS functions that promise significantly lower costs per port in POS dial-access networks.

"It's more than just the box, it's what's in the box," said O.B. Rawls, President of Hypercom North America. "We're putting a fresh face on an old business with more connections, more communication, more solutions." Did Hypercom happily embrace this year's midyear show? "We had good meetings with quality people," said Rawls. "While it does become a bit of an extravagance doing it twice a year, the quality has been here. There have not been a lot of ISOs and [there have been] less decision-makers at this show, but the response has been extraordinary."

Hypercom reportedly spent close to $250,000 to come to the ETA gathering. "We'd prefer once a year," said Rawls. "It's all about economy for ETA, but you cannot not be here. We're proud of our products. Our confidence shows. Our presence is felt."

News at VeriFone centered around its solutions for the QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) market, already in full force. As of September, more than 50,000 VeriFone terminals were installed in QSR locations, including Burger King, Chick-Fil-A, KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Quizno's and more. VeriFone also has introduced a point-of-order solution specifically designed for the drive-thru with unique features that set it apart - for example, integrated refrigeration in the unit, a smart idea since these devices sit in the sun day in and day out in many parts of the country.

The drive-through solution has been running for almost two years at a Wendy's in Redwood City, Calif., and three Burger King sites in Atlanta have had the solution installed and working for the last six months.

VeriFone offers stand-beside and integrated QSR solutions supporting more than 65 different point-of-sale systems, and while many QSR franchisees are allowed to select their own payment systems, VeriFone's was the system of choice selected by Burger King for its payment pilot in Atlanta.

The ETA show also showcased VeriFone's re-dedication to the ISO market and its efforts to make ISOs successful.

"Our booth represents our vision of a renewed operation," said VeriFone CEO Douglas Bergeron. "We are about growth, technological advantages and, most important, people making the difference. The difference is the quality of people at VeriFone. Our products speak for themselves. The hottest thing at our booth is the people."

The people Bergeron was talking about are the 20 new faces of "The Payment People," VeriFone's innovative ISO program. The idea behind this new program is getting VeriFone's message of innovation and solutions directly to the merchant.

The answer is to work with the middleman and to make a direct connection with ISOs. VeriFone formed a special group whose only responsibility is the happiness and effectiveness of the ISO channel.

Bergeron's overall thoughts about the midyear meeting: "The timing is good for the rollout of our ISO program and the continued emphasis on our message of high standards, reliability, connectivity and comfort."

For MagTek, the midyear show was an opportunity to continue goals of awareness and education about new products and technology. MagTek's new product, the MICRImage, was generating attention with a new exterior design, a different interface from the older readers and an integrated modem.

Word on the street is that merchants and ISOs love this new device because of ease of functionality and cost reductions for retailers as well as increases in residual income for ISOs.

"While our product has been out on the market for nearly a year, a lot of people needed to be educated about it," said Daniel Bailey, Southwest Regional Manager for MagTek.

"We really didn't see anything 'new' here at the show. We did see other vendors in similar situations, making customers aware of the latest technology and educating them about their products. The show has been a little slower than anticipated, but it's worth your while to be here. Anytime you get in front of your customers, you're doing the right thing."

ThruComm chose this meeting to launch its latest solution - the Turbo800. This integrator delivers three- to five-second POS transaction response times and connects up to six devices simultaneously, allowing merchants to lose multiple phone lines and increase sales.

Working with existing stand-alone or integrated POS systems as well as back-office devices, ThruComm's new product was one of the hottest offerings in the exhibitor hall. "The location wasn't ideal and not very convenient for a lot of vendors, but we saw everyone we hoped to see," said Bill Caylor, Senior Vice President of Sales for ThruComm. "We sent out personal invitations. Everyone showed up and then some, but we wished there had been an even bigger turnout.

"We had a phenomenal reaction to our product here at the show. Seeing is believing ... and understanding the value."

Other participants also valued their time in Seattle.

Paymentech rolled out new alliances, new imaging solutions, met vendors, strengthened relationships and established new contacts with West Coast ISOs.

First Data had steady, solid traffic at its booth and forged new ISO relationships.

TASQ's sales team got great leads, and SchlumbergerSema representatives said it was a fantastic show that produced a positive response to its product offerings.

iShop Secure acknowledged that this year's show was not quite as crowded as Orlando, but its reps appreciated spending more quality time with attendees.

First-timer Fraud Scrub.com had nothing to compare it to and felt the response was very positive to its innovative risk-management solutions.

The biggest story out of Seattle might prove to be the changes at ETA. Sheila Navis resigned as Associate Director and is leaving ETA to join another association. Gerdts is putting her stamp on the association.

Additional changes were rumored, and several attendees invoked the "off the record" protection.

Oh, in case you were wondering: The winner of the first annual "Sheila R. Navis Memorial Tschotski Award" for the best display feature went to Thales e-Transactions for its blinking stemware. Special recognition went to Vital Processing Services, which featured "first aid" at its booth.

For years, The Green Sheet has encouraged all ISOs, sales professionals and agents to join the ETA. This is your trade association. If you want it to work FOR you, you must get involved. In this time of consolidation, investigation and regulation, it's time to strengthen the ETA through action.