By CEO Mike Lee

ATMIA celebrated its 10th anniversary in style at its 8th annual Conference East in Orlando, Florida in February with packed audiences in the exhibition hall and for most breakout sessions. Star of the show was the inventor of the ATM, Mr John Shepherd-Barron, OBE, who received standing ovations at his motivational address and for his after-dinner speech at the Awards Banquet.

During one decade ATMIA has grown from a $18,000 annual turnover outfit to a $2 million turnover organization with almost 1,000 members in major and emerging markets of the world. The association’s 10th anniversary coincided with the 40th birthday of the ATM.

At an ISO roundtable discussion and drinks reception, Lana Harmelink and Jim Burns co-chaired a meeting which highlighted two key issues for ISOs which ATMIA will now champion.

Delegates numbers for the event were 569 with 57 exhibitions - one of ATMIA’s biggest ever shows.

ATMIA President Tom Harper gave a stirring speech at the Awards Banquet inspiring the industry to aim for 3 million installed ATMs by 2017. RBR’s Dominc Hirsch provided a professional 10 year forecast for delegates.

“The event was about celebrating 10 years but also looking forward to growing our industry in the next ten years,” said Lana Harmelink, ATMIA’s International Director of Operations, who won a global award for Best Contribution to the Industry, Individual Category, as voted by our members. “It was special having Mr Shepherd-Barron there with us for this milestone event.”