Chairman's Advice on How to Get the Most out of the Conference

Next month's issue of American Banker Magazine--also the Most Powerful Women in Banking edition-- will feature a section devoted to the conference.  It includes a Q&A with Oliver Wyman's Tony Hayes, the Forum's standing chairman.

Among other insights, he offers some advice about getting the most out of the conference.  Here's the Q&A excerpt.  Keep an eye out for the magazine, which will feature the entire Q&A.  When that comes out, I'll post the full interview here too.

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Question: What’s your best advice to people looking to get the most out of attending?

Tony: For the “old timers,” my advice would be to go to some sessions outside of your direct area of responsibility.  So, if you’re a debit card manager, go to some sessions in the prepaid, mobile payments or digital money tracks.  You’ll gain some new ideas and, in all probability, what’s happening in these areas will impact your card business soon enough.  Or, if you’re an ATM manager, try some sessions in prepaid (could ATMs dispense prepaid cards?) or see if retailers’ approach to choosing new locations could be useful as you select new sites.

I’d also encourage everyone to actively engage throughout the conference.  Like many things in life, the more you put in, the more you’ll get out of the experience.  Go to the Payments Innovation Day and learn about new companies and new technologies.  Go to the exhibit hall and meet the solution providers.  Interact with lots and lots of your peers, and learn from their experiences.  And have fun!

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