The Wall Street Technology Association (WSTA) to Celebrate its 50th Anniversary at Summer Social
New York, NY (PRWEB) July 12, 2017 -- The Wall Street Technology Association (WSTA®), a not-for-profit organization that provides financial industry technology professionals a forum to learn from and connect with each other, will celebrate 50 years of serving the unique educational and networking needs of the financial services industry at its annual Summer Social premier networking event. The special celebration will be held on July 19, 2017 at La Sirena in New York City. Approximately 400 industry professionals, including past Board members, are expected to attend to celebrate this significant milestone. Sponsors to date include: Strategic Sponsor: Enterprise Engineering Inc. (EEI), Partner Sponsors: A10 Networks, CoreSite, Electric Cloud, Netskope, ServiceNow, and Zerto.
Since May 1967, the WSTA has been successfully educating and connecting financial industry technology professionals. It all began when eight telecommunications managers, who were a part of another organization that had disbanded, gathered and formed the Wall Street Communications Association (WSCA). Since all were from Wall Street firms, their discussion soon turned to the unique informational needs of the financial community. Many of the critical issues facing financial telecommunications managers were not specifically addressed by other associations. That night, those eight individuals vowed to correct that deficiency. As the association grew and expanded its areas of focus, the WSCA was renamed the Wall Street Telecommunications Association (WSTA).
In 2000, Wall Street “Telecommunications” was changed to Wall Street “Technology” to reflect the WSTA’s strategy to address all aspects of technology impacting the financial community. Because the WSTA has remained focused on its core business, and remains flexible to the changing needs of its members, it has been able to sustain and grow despite the economic and market challenges faced by the industry over the last 18 years.
Today, the WSTA continues to provide financial industry technology professionals, vendors, service providers, and consultants with forums such as seminars, panel discussions, roundtables, and networking events to learn from and connect with each other.
“I am honored to be leading this organization on its milestone 50th anniversary,” says James Kostulias, Managing Director Integration Strategy, TD Ameritrade and WSTA President. “The rich heritage of providing a forum for Wall Street technology leaders to interact and collaborate combined with the exciting future ahead as technology and the business landscapes continue to evolve is really exciting.”
Initially New York Tri-State Area focused, the WSTA also hosts educational events in Boston. The association is comprised of financial firm members, vendor affiliates and sponsors. WSTA financial firm members are employed at banks, brokerages, hedge funds, insurance companies and other financial firms. The WSTA currently has about 2,400 members from over 50 different firms; 81% of the members hold senior titles such as CIOs, CTOs, Vice President, Director and Manager. It also reaches over 2,200 prospective financial firm technology professionals with information about educational and networking opportunities.
Affiliates and sponsors are an integral component of the WSTA. As a not-for-profit organization, they contribute significantly by providing the resources needed to run the educational and networking programs for WSTA financial firm members. These programs strengthen the bond between members and companies that serve the technology needs of the financial community.
The WSTA currently has over 200 technology firms that participate in the WSTA as an affiliate or sponsor. Companies that provide cloud, digital, mobility, security, software, infrastructure, networking, social, telecom, fintech and other industry-related technologies find the WSTA an invaluable forum to create awareness, educate and develop relationships with financial industry professionals.
The Board is responsible for developing the vision and strategic direction for the organization, as well as overseeing the current and future viability of the WSTA and its programs. The volunteer Board is supported by several committees, who contribute their time and expertise to various programs and activities.
The WSTA looks forward to many more years of serving the unique needs of the financial services industry by continuing to provide forums where members can meet and exchange ideas and best practices to assist them in effectively capitalizing on technology advances and dealing with financial industry business challenges.
Jo Ann Cooper, Wall Street Technology Association, +1 (732) 530-8808 Ext: 2, [email protected]
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