Bankers and vendors gathered for the first time in the Little Apple. Our 27th annual conference was held February 10–11 at the Manhattan Hilton Garden Inn.

Following opening remarks by current KBA Chairman Shan Hanes, he introduced one of KBA’s highest-rated presenters, Lee Wetherington. In his presentation, “Looking Ahead: Forces Shaping Banking Over the Next Decade,” Wetherington shared that strategy is best done from the future backwards. He entertained the group with a long view on the future of banking and what opportunities and threats the future presents now, soon, and later.

The conference then transitioned to two concurrent sessions followed by a facilitated peer group discussion period where bankers divided up based on the asset size of the bank. Discussion groups were assigned as $100 million and under, $101–$200 million, $201–$400 million, and over $400 million.

Concurrent Session I

• What Keeps You Up at Night When Protecting Over $20 Billion in Assets and Over 5,500 Users? —
  Eric Durbin, Caltech
• Managing Your Managed Service Provider: 12 Questions to Ask Your MSP — Jon Waldman, SBS Cybersecurity, LLC
• What’s Going on in Banking 2023 — James Davis, Cornerstone Advisors

Additional concurrent sessions rounded out the day of meetings.

Concurrent Session II

• What Keeps You Up at Night When Protecting Over $20 Billion in Assets and Over 5,500 Users? —
  Eric Durbin, Caltech
• Key Terms of Banks’ Third Party Agreements —
  Tom Witherspoon, Stinson
• Preparing for a Focus on Process and Efficiency —
  Mike Holt & Mikelle Brady, Profit Resources, Inc.

Day one concluded with an interactive tradeshow with 43 exhibitors on hand to demonstrate a multitude of industry products. Attendees were afforded ample time to talk with showcase exhibitors and, in some cases, to play cool games to win prizes.

Bank Technology Conference Exhibitors

• Adutomated Systems, Inc.
• American Bank Systems
• American Digital Security
• Arctic Wolf
• Ascensus
• Bankers’ Bank of Kansas
• Bankers Security
• BMA
• Caltech/Integris
• CBK, Inc.
• CES Systems
• CoNetrix
• Cornerstone Advisors
• Cox Business
• Data Business Equipment, Inc.
• DCI (Data Center, Inc.)
• Federal Protection, Inc.
• Federal Reserve Banks
• Fileinvite
• Fiserv
• Grad. School of Banking — WI Granite
• Hydeman Company
• ICI-Core Consulting
• JMARK
• KBA Insurance, Inc.
• Mainstar Trust
• MEA Financial Enterprises, LLC
• MOCA Financial
• Network Plus

KBA Technology Committee Chairman Jeff Martin, First Heritage Bank in Centralia, welcomed the group on day two. KBA Chairman Shan Hanes then moderated a regulatory panel with Kylee Fine, OSBC; Lacey Peters, Federal Reserve of Kansas City; Robert Hurd, OCC; A.J. Steiger, FDIC; and David Sanders, FDIC.

The group transitioned into a very energetic presentation, “Connection to Disconnection: The Evolution of Digital Banking,” by Eric Cook of WSI Digital and the LinkedBanker. Cook reminded us that, as consumers have become more comfortable with digital and online alternatives for activities that were performed in person just a short time ago, the world of banking needs to wake up and pay attention. To some, this shift to digital has caused a disconnection from traditional means of serving customers, building relationships, and adding value — the reality is the successful community bank will embrace this change and figure out ways to connect in this seemingly disconnected world.

After the awarding of exhibitor prizes, the conference concluded with Retired Marine Lt. Colonel Robert Darling telling his story of what it was like in the White House bunker on 9/11, where the Vice President and other administration officials gathered intel and made decisions minute-by-minute. Some of those decisions were not only life and death, but historically, they never had to be made before.

The 2024 Bank Technology and Operations Conference and Showcase will be February 12–13 at the Wichita Hyatt Regency Hotel.