The Prepaid Press - May 15, 2008 - (Page 4)

PREPAID BUSINESS May 15 · 2008 - 4 THE RETSKE REPORT By Gene Retske To Everything There Is A Season If you are a regular reader of The Prepaid Press, you know that we are just a little over three months away from our first Expo, which is slated for August 19th to the 21st at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. This is shaping up to be one tremendous event! The Expo already has a stellar group of sponsors, exhibitors and speakers. We won’t go into the details here, because the Expo folks will be covering that elsewhere in this issue. Suffice it to say, that if you are in prepaid, no matter what your role, this is a must-do event. It will be the first time that all the branches of prepaid – telephony, wireless, and payment cards – will be together in one place, at one time. What we will consider here is the one question that is the most frequent question. Why? Why did TPP, now in our 7th year of publishing, and the most popular prepaid publication, decide to become involved in the launch of a trade event? And, why now? There are several reasons why 2008 was the year, some internal to TPP, some related to industry trends, and one related to the industry itself. For TPP, the Expo represents the next phase of our multimedia strategy. If you have been watching what is happening in the world of publishing, you know that most print publications are slow. Circulation and readership are down, and so are advertising revenues. Some daily newspapers, like the New York Times, have lost a third of their readers in the past few years. Niche publications, like TPP, while not immune from the trend, tend to follow their own curves. We are up in every category. Part of the reason for the decline is the Internet, part is the fact that school children are not taught to read the newspaper today, like they were a few years ago. While our circulation is up, our Internet sites are up even more. Of course, we launched the Live! Edition last fall. This online, digital version of TPP has grown rapidly in a short period of time. Today, just six months later, our new subscriptions are equally split between the print edition and the Live! Edition. The third leg of our multimedia strategy is a live event, a trade show, so tppEXPO is a natural way to finish out the strategy. The industry itself, and its major players, were the primary reason for the launch. As it has, since prepaid calling cards started nearly 20 years ago, the prepaid industry grows and changes at its own pace and direction. Being highly dynamic, it can literally turn on a dime, and does. The prepaid industry is also simultaneously How green are your gift cards? This diversification and convergence makes it essential that there is a meeting point for the vertical and horizontal points to meet. diversifying and converging. New lines of prepaid products are introduced regularly, and existing providers are expanding their offerings constantly. By virtue of these two trends, prepaid offerings are a cornucopia. The Prepaid Press is the only publication that covers the entire range of prepaid offerings. At the same time, all prepaid products are converging at the retail level. A quick look at the racks at most any consumer retail outlet reveals the broad range of services offered. Calling cards, wireless top up, debit cards and gift cards are hanging next to each other, screaming for the attention of customers. This diversification and convergence makes it essential that there is a meeting point for the vertical and horizontal points to meet. There is not now, nor has there ever been a live event where retailer could see all the different prepaid offerings that could hang in their stores. Or, where wireless distributors could find payment providers to seek out joint marketing opportunities. There are two existing prepaid oriented trade events, but neither fully addresses this need. The Prepaid Card Expo is a big and fine show, but is skewed to the upper end, and focused on the financial industry. The Intele-Card Expo has been focused on calling cards, and has withered as a result of its inability to diversify itself. It is now riding on a series of ever smaller events; the last show in New Jersey was sparsely attended, having less than two dozen exhibitors and only a handful of attendees. It was to fill the gap in coverage of the vibrant prepaid market that spurred the launch of tppEXPO, and the backing of The Prepaid Press. The initial reaction has been very gratifying, most sponsorships have been claimed, booth sales brisk and the daily sign-up of attendees includes some of the biggest and most recognizable players in prepaid - retailers and service providers. This event will set a new direction for the prepaid industry and could be the most important trade event in prepaid. Don’t miss it! Go green with Pentagon PentaGone Green plastic cards are: • Compostable and biodegradable • Agriculture-based (non-petroleum) • Produced with renewable energy Our cards can be ﬁnished with a magnetic stripe, variable information, and scratch off pentagon.ca | gogreen @ pentagon.ca | 1-877-339-5995 http://pentagon.ca http://pentagon.ca

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - May 15, 2008

The Prepaid Press - May 15, 2008 Prepaid Attracts Press Attention First Data to Acquire InComm Contents The Retske Report: To Everything There Is A Season Regulatory Rundown: Rules, Bills and Probes Courtesy of the FCC 5 Minutes With Ray Horak, Telecom Author The Prepaid Press Expo Spotlight The Age of Prepaid Prepaid Wireless in Brief Prepaid Wireless Roundup American Wireless to Sell Virgin Mobile Openet Introduces Flexible Accounts Prepaid Reviews Launches Pay as You Go Podcast Motorola Reports Losses APC Wireless Buys Movida Virgin Mobile to Deliver Limbo Services The State of Prepaid Technology Start Your Engines! The Legal Line PhoenixSoft Adds Service Providers Blackstone to Distribute Viscom Calling Cards Spot Rates IVR Technologies Releases Talking SIP 3.4 Calling Cards in Brief Former IDT Employee Wins $10.5 Million Payments in Brief Hypercom SmartPayments Certified for Windows Pacific Resource Credit Union Selects TMG New Payment Software for QuickBooks POS Blood in the Water Prepaid 101: Give Me the Power 7-Eleven to Hold Innovation Event First Data Gives Ingenico I-Series Class A Support Coinstar Kicks Off Change Reuse Program Payment Application Data Security Standard Issued Forrester Predicts Online Sales to Climb Retail Focus in Brief Our Advertisers Contact Us

The Prepaid Press - May 15, 2008

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