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October 2007 • Volume 12 Number 10
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Executive Director's Letter
The new photo of me in this month's newsletter is a good reflection of my mental state when the picture was taken (during the 2007 Annual Conference in Boston) and disposition since my return. Being immersed in another successful Alliance conference event is an exhilarating experience! (If you look closely, you might also notice a few fewer hairs in this one as well – one of the unfortunate side effects of putting together these conferences.) What had me grinning widely when the photographer snapped this picture was the satisfaction I felt after the great response that we received from members and individuals who follow the smart card industry to our 15th anniversary and “final” Annual Conference this month. We had over 400 people attend the conference, an increase of more than 100 people from last year’s event in San Diego. Maybe it was Boston, and all the history and excitement (Red Sox fans are wild) that surrounds this city. Maybe it was the assembly of industry experts and smart card end user customers who delivered outstanding presentations on a broad range of topics -- including government identity, contactless payments, mobile payments and NFC, healthcare, transportation, and emerging technologies. Maybe it was the expectation held by people from different industry backgrounds and interests that they would learn something new and meet interesting new business contacts when the Smart Card Alliance brings together so many disparate industry segments and technologies in one place. I suspect that it is all of these reasons, plus a few unknowns that I will learn about when I complete my review of the on-line survey responses. As always, the credit really should go to the individuals and organizations who make up the smart card industry and who come out and support the Smart Card Alliance and to the financial issuer, merchant, health care provider, transportation operator, and government agency end users who are the reason we are all still in this business together and growing stronger. So even though the 2007 Annual Conference will be last independent conference event, we are already gearing up to make the CTST North America 2008 Conference, May 13-15, 2008 in Orlando, Florida, the next big industry event milestone. Our partnership with SourceMedia to merge our Annual Conference event with the CTST event will create an even larger stage for the Alliance to continue its leading edge discussion of the issues and opportunities that are facing the smart card industry in North America. We are geographically positioned between two rapidly evolving smart card markets – Western Europe and Asia Pacific. With the continued support of the smart card suppliers and adopters from the United States, Canada, and Latin America, we can make the CTST North America Conference and Exhibition a destination point for the entire global market. The Smart Card Alliance has already formed a cross-industry program steering committee to develop an international program agenda to appeal to all end users and markets. SourceMedia has also begun an extensive marketing campaign and exhibition sales effort with the goal to grow the CTST 2008 event to its former greatness. Next month, I will visit Cartes, the biggest and best smart card industry show on earth, and see if I can learn some tips from this great event that I can bring back to North America. I am sure I will see many familiar faces in Paris again this year. Good luck and good health to all until the next time we meet.
Randy Vanderhoof
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