For years, the BAI Payments Connect and Retail Delivery conferences have provided industry leaders and influencers alike with the latest information and innovation in the financial services industry. As the influence of technology continues to transform the way financial services organizations conduct business, BAI developed and launched one innovative and immersive conference, which takes place on Oct. 5 – 6th at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

BAI promotes the new conference as a way to “expand the range of topics we covered and provide an entirely new experience with one, comprehensive event.” Historically, the retail delivery conference has served as a key event for industry networking. With the introduction of Beacon, BAI plans to continue to deliver sessions focused on integrated sales, marketing and product development; optimizing channel distribution networks; payments strategy and fraud; compliance strategies beyond the regulations; and small business banking sales and strategy, while creating a more focused and personalized experience for attendees.

Unlike the payments and retail delivery conferences, BAI Beacon is designed with an enhanced focus around the attendee experience. To achieve this goal, BAI is developing personalized conference agendas using the feedback provided from registration surveys. Each BAI Beacon attendee will have a conference agenda with choices of sessions based on their reasons for attending the conference. The goal of personalized conference agendas is to minimize attendee’s time away from the office and to help foster new connections through peers and technology beyond the conference.

In perhaps the biggest change, BAI Beacon will feature an “open campus” layout instead of a traditional trade show format. This means all vendor booths and conference sessions will be held in the same exposition hall. According to BAI, “The new layout is a game changer because it will enable attendees from all types of organizations to interact with each other differently.” For vendors, chances are they will gain greater visibility as vendor booths, or “pods,” are to be placed throughout the convention floor.

Amidst the changes, BAI will continue to announce the finalists and winners of the “BAI Global Banking Innovation Awards,” as well as the “FinTech Forward Top 100 Companies,” a collaboration between BAI and American Banker, and “Companies to Watch” awards as it has during the retail delivery conference in years past. The awards (which the William Mills Agency is proud to be the agency of record) will be awarded during the "Illuminate: A Celebration of Innovation," Wednesday evening, October 5th at the McCormick Place.

With anticipation building around BAI Beacon, attendees can expect to gain insightful knowledge into the leading industry topics. According to BAI, the conference will “continue to give attendees an unbiased, objective view of the key issues in financial services, but within a much different conference experience.” BAI Beacon is an opportunity to meet with key editors from SourceMedia, as well as top analysts and media influencers. Anyone interested in attending or participating in BAI Beacon should reach out to your account representatives for more information.