One of my favorite opportunities at business conferences hosted by SAS, like The Premier Business Leadership Series, is when I get to take a break from the crowds and spend some one-on-one time with a customer.

We escape into a quiet room to discuss, on video, their trials and tribulations with applying business analytics to address challenges in their organizations. Whether they're trying to find better ways to retain their best customers, improve their marketing campaign results or prevent fraud, each customer has a unique story to tell.

For Glenn Snyder of Visa, the story is all about profitability--how to apply analytic models to help identify the cost drivers that impact Visa's bottom line. He also spent some time with us at a focus group where we discussed ideas about networking and how to take advantage of media opportunities that SAS brings their way.

Snyder was a real pro in front of the camera, he's obviously very passionate about profitability--a good thing for Visa. His story will appear later this year on the SAS success stories site.