I attended a lot of mega-exhibitions this summer: Windows World, NetWorld+Interop, World PC Expo, Database '96, and more. Gigantic expos like these, with hundreds of booths and tens of thousands of attendees, are a good -- if overwhelming -- place to learn about companies' products and services.

For keeping on top of essential market trends and gathering useful information, though, there's nothing like a mid-size, focused conference or symposium. Not only are conferences easier on the legs than trekking around Makuhari Messe or Tokyo Big Sight, but they offer a chance to actually meet and talk with industry movers and shakers rather than being lost in bustle of the crowd.

One market trend moving ahead on a steamroller course is the implementation of electronic commerce technologies and procedures. Spurred by rose-colored visions of new profits just waiting to be plucked, companies in Japan and worldwide are scrambling to find ways they can cash in on the development of secure and reliable forms of Internet-based commercial transactions.

This is a critical time for electronic commerce; the corporate and governmental decisions being made now, and in the next several months, will shape the form of commerce over the Internet for many years to come. That's why one conference I am especially looking forward to attending is Cyberpayments@Tokyo. Scheduled for November 14 and 15 at The Westin Tokyo, this broad and comprehensive forum will examine issues related to, and the latest developments in, Internet-based payment systems and cybercommerce.

For the over-300 attendees expected at CyberPayments@Tokyo, this will be an excellent opportunity to learn and exchange information about the current realities and future potentials of Internet-based commerce. The conference program will feature in-depth sessions on marketing, technologies, and business strategies relating to commerce over the Internet, as well as issues that are specific to Japan and Asia. Among those traveling from abroad to speak at the conference will be Michael Keegan, CEO of Mondex International (UK), William Melton, CEO of Cybercash Inc. (US), Dr. Marc Lassus, founder and chairman of Gemplus (France), and Elliott McEntee, president of the National Automated Clearing House Association (USA). Japanese speakers will include representatives from such front-line corporations as Hitachi Research Institute, NEC Corporation, KDD, The Bank of Japan, and Dai Nippon Printing as well as from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Electronic Commerce Council of Japan (ECOM), and the Center for Financial Industry Information Systems (FISC).

Electronic commerce isn't just an esoteric, specialized financial field any longer; it's a market reality that will affect us all -- the way we do business, make purchases, and sell our wares. If your company hasn't already signed up to send a representative to the conference, see the CyberPayments@Tokyo ad on page 27 for contact information. Time is short, so don't delay.

Wm. Auckerman