Fresh from the summer break most of us are now back to work and wondering what all the SEPA fuss was about? Dare I say it, the August 2014 deadline has come and gone and for many of us things are going pretty well. As they say “no news is good news” and on the whole that’s how its been. So, what next? Well, once the SEPA process has settled down and stabilised there are a number of process efficiencies that ought to be considered – check out my post SEPA Compliance, Tick. What Next? But for now this post will look ahead to the upcoming Sibos 2014 conference in Boston. The following tips will provide any Sibos newbies with a good start to the SWIFT conference in Boston this year.
1. Check out the Sibos website:
The Sibos website provides essential information such as:
- What is Sibos?
- A high level overview of the Sibos conference streams
- Followed by a day by day overview of the Sibos conference speakers and timings
- And of course all of the practical information around Registration and Getting There
- 10 Tips to Survive your first Sibos
2. Next go to the Financial Services Club Blog by Chris Skinner
- First go to the above link, which gives you an overview of all things SWIFT and Sibos that Chris has blogged about in the past
- This is interesting since you can glance through Chris’s pictures of past Sibos events and read about what he has gotten up to, and perhaps what we may expect from him this year…?!?! All in all its very informative, and gives an insight into the themes that were explored at past Sibos conferences
- Next read Chris’s recent posts about what we should expect from Sibos this year:
- In these posts Chris highlights some key sessions that explore a range of themes from Regulation, Cyber Security, ISO 200022, Digital Currencies, Financial Inclusion and of course SEPA – use this to guide which sessions you’ll be attending
3. Get the SWIFT perspective by Chris Church
- Chris addresses the following:
- What are the main focus areas at this years Sibos conference?
- What is SWIFT hearing from its bank partners, customers and the marketplace?
- Why was Boston chosen to host this years event?
- What’s new in the world?
- This is definitely worth a read to get the views from within SWIFT, and from a US perspective
4. Read Tips to survive Sibos in Boston by a Bostonian
- If like me you’ve never been to Boston, this helps to set some expectations about Boston and what you should expect from the city…
- Its a great read, but I’m sorry Elizabeth I will at some point during the week find myself at the Cheers bar 😉
- The only thing I would add is to consider, if you can get tickets (please tell me where you get ’em!!), to the baseball game during the prior (27-28th September) weekend – Boston Red Sox versus New York Yankees at Fenway Park
- Apparently the rivalry between the 2 sides has a long and deeply entrenched history, and Fenway Park is hailed as one of the great baseball stadiums in the US – please don’t quote me on this, this is all hear say from US friends and colleagues
5. Its just a ride….
- Don’t forget to make a list of all the people and companies you want to meet, and take your business cards with you to dish out…
- Explore Boston and Sibos, and Enjoy the ride….!!