I had the privilege this week of attending the 8^th annual Mid Atlantic Pennsylvania Legislative Conference. The event was founded by ATA member Art Saxon and has been supported by several members, but most notably the ICT Group. The purpose of the event is simple; get your local representatives to know who you are and what your business does. Meeting your elected representatives and informing them of how many jobs you provide and how that can turn into votes is what this is really all about. This week’s event was successful. We were able to get assurances from our meetings that the Pennsylvania Legislature has no plans for further telemarketing legislation. It is now up to us to follow up and make sure these assurances are kept. The one disappointing concern is that too few member companies participate. We have strength in numbers and we need your participation.

I hope there will be more of these state legislative meetings. Pennsylvania has been doing this for eight years and no other states have followed their lead. One of the State Legislative Committee’s goals is to encourage more of these events this year.

In the past several weeks I also had the opportunity to attend our ATA Annual President’s Retreat in Indianapolis. The ATA staff hosted the day and a half event where our Chapter Presidents met and planned out an exciting year filled with many chapter events. The Chapter Presidents are a dedicated group of industry professionals who volunteer their time and their money to attend events such as this. We all should commend them for their leadership not only in the ATA but in the industry.

Before you know it the ATA Washington Summit will be here. This year’s Summit will be the most complete and issue consuming event we have had. We will not only concern ourselves with legislative visits but we will be crafting the standards for several areas of our business. Your attendance will assure you a seat at the table in securing the future of the teleservices channel and our effort to make sure our best practices are intended to honor the wishes and desires of the American consumer.

As you read this issue of E Connections the ATA is formally becoming International. Tim Searcy and Mitch Roth are in India and the Philippines inaugurating new ATA chapters and conducting compliance seminars. It is important that call centers in India and the Philippines conduct business into the US following the same regulations and best practices that our domestic call centers abide by. It is up to the ATA to provide this education and our first try at this will be a rousing success. I am sure Tim in his next message to the members will share both the success of the trip and I am sure some great anecdotes of his and Mitch’s adventures.

Look forward to seeing all of you in Washington,

Stuart Discount