# Sunday Night Networking and Entertainment at the SEAA Conference
Welcome to B2B Vault, the payment technology podcast sponsored by Nationwide Payment Systems. Join Justin and Alan as they provide educational information about Small Business fintech Payment Processing and the technology businesses are using today.
In this episode, Justin shares his experience at the Southeast Acquirers Association (SEAA) conference in 2023. Sunday night was filled with exciting networking opportunities and catching up with old friends. Dale Laszing from the GreenSheet, John Shipley, Jamie Garfield, John McCormick, Sonny Wooten, and the rest of the SEAA board members were all present at the event. It was a great chance to reconnect with familiar faces who attend the conference every year.
# Monday at the SEAA: Demo Day and Business Meetings
On Monday, the conference kicked off with demo day and various meetings. Justin and Alan had the opportunity to explore new technologies and software, as well as meet with vendors and potential new partners. Evaluating each technology thoroughly and conducting tests before fully committing is an essential part of their process. The exhibit hall featured over 130 vendors, offering the chance to network, enjoy food, drinks, and coffee. The buzz was all about Self-Serve Kiosks, Robots for restaurants, and electronic signage with monthly income opportunities for business owners. Additionally, there was a lot of discussion about cash discounts and merchants paying 0%.
# Tuesday’s Highlights: The Keynote Speaker and Tribute
Tuesday started with a tribute to Derek Vowels, the late president of the SEAA. Derek had worked with Justin and Alan through various vendors, making his passing a heartfelt loss. The keynote speaker for the day was Mark Walberg (not to be confused with the actor Mark Wahlberg). Mark shared his interesting story and spoke about the importance of connecting with people for success. He also had valuable insights on the topic of quitting and how to serve others effectively. The presentation included tips on making impactful presentations and choosing to be passionate about what you do.
# Lunch, Breakout Sessions, and Banking as a Service
After the keynote speech, Justin and Alan had the chance to meet Mark Walberg and his wife during the cocktail hour. They shared a laugh about reality TV shows, and Justin even mentioned that he had already recorded the first episode of Mark’s show, Temptation Island. Later in the day, they attended a lunch sponsored by American Express, which impressed them with its vegetarian options. The team also attended several breakout sessions covering software, referral partnerships, and Banking as a Service. Exploring this service was especially intriguing as many merchants are leaning towards it.
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**Keywords/Tags:**
– FinTech
– Payment Processing
– Credit Card Processing
– Payment Technology
– Crypto payment processing
– Merchant account
– Credit card terminals
– Online payments
– Payment gateway
– Ecommerce solutions
– Small business payment solutions
– High-risk merchant accounts
– High-risk businesses
– Point of sale solutions
– The fintech podcast
– The payments podcast
– SEAA 2023 (Southeast Acquirers Association)
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Sunday night – we had some nice entertainment at the hotel – got to meet up with a lot of old friends that are at the event every year.
Shoutouts – Dale Laszing from the GreenSheet, John Shipley, Jamie Garfield, John McCormick, Sonny Wooten, and the rest of the board members of the SEAA!
Monday:
Was demo day – and in meetings – we looked at some new technology, and software, and met with vendors and possible new vendors.
There are always new and exciting technologies that appear on the scene, we take our time to evaluate each one and then do a test before we get knee-deep into something.
The exhibit hall has over 130 vendors – to speak with, network, have food, drinks, coffee, and snacks.
A lot of talk about Self-Serve Kiosks, Robots for restaurants, and electronic signage where business owners can make a monthly income from that. – Everyone talking about cash discount and merchants paying 0%.
On Tuesday:
We had the keynote speaker and there was a tribute to Derek Vowels who recently passed away – he was president of the SEAA for several years and I Derek and I worked together as he was employed by a few vendors that we work with.
The main speaker was Mark Walberg – many people thought it was the other Mark Wahlberg – the famous actor and he really played it off with a pictures.
Marks’ story was quite interesting – currently, he is the host of the show Temptation Island – one of my favorite reality TV shows – after a busy day nothing like watching a show that is entertaining with dating drama –
Marks talk was about how he was able to connect with people and that has been part of his success.
He spoke about Quitting:
Q – Quit – Get quiet and label your feelings
U – Unplug – from that feeling for 10 minutes
I – Instead – do anything that brings you joy
T – Trust – that you’ll forget to go back and worry
He also talks about service – we are in a service industry
We are the best version of ourselves when we are IN SERVICE TO OTHERS
AT NPS – we are here to Serve our Clients/Merchants!
Then he spoke – – about making presentations –
1 -Set an intention of service
2 – Listen deeply and respond
3 – Call out the elephant – as he did with he is the other Mark Wahlberg
4 -Choose to be passionate – about what you do!
It was cool to meet Mark and speak with him and his wife later in the day at the cocktail hour and share a laugh about all the reality tv shows – I recorded the show’s first episode already.
Later that day we attended – lunch sponsored by American Express – shout out for having vegetarian options –
We attended several breakout sessions – they were talking about software, referral partnership and the last one was about Banking as a Service – which we are exploring because this is a service that merchant are definitely leaning towards.
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