Q: What is WITA?

A: The Washington International Trade Association (WITA), is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to providing a neutral forum in the nation's capital for the open and robust discussion of international trade policy and related issues. WITA has over 1600 members including business executives, consultants, lawyers, federal officials, diplomats and academics, and others interested in international trade policy and related issues.

Through an extensive series of informational programs, WITA keeps its members informed about the latest positions taken by the Administration on trade policy, rules and regulations governing U.S. trade with our trading partners, and views of U.S. trade policy from abroad.

WITA is widely regarded as ‘Washington's premier trade network’.

Q: How do I become a member of WITA?

A: The easiest, fastest way to join WITA is to sign up online. This is a two step process.  First, register to the WITA site from the homepage.  Go to the blue left hand navigation bar, roll over Get Involved, then select Join WITA Today!  
Once you've registered to the site, login, and click on the "Get Connected" photo (hand/globe photo), which will take you to the ePay page.

You can also contact us directly by calling (202) 312-1600 or emailing us at wita@wita.org.  We will be happy to give you more information prior to signing up on the web; we can also fax, email or mail you a membership application. 

You can also pick up a membership application at any WITA event, which can be mailed or faxed to WITA.

Q: I'm already a member of WITA. How can I get access to this website?

A: If you are already WITA member, but have not logged into the new website since its launch in Oct. 2004, your Username is now your email address. You will need to get a password the first time, and then you can change it once you've logged in.

The first time you come to the site, click on Login at the top of the homepage.  Then click on the Lost Password tab at the top of the page.  Enter your email address.  Then check your email!  A random password will be sent there automatically. 

Once you've logged in using the random password, you can modify your password by going to the User section on the right hand side of the homepage, and selecting Options.  From there you just fill in the fields as directed, and Submit. 
You can also update your Username and Personal Information from this page.

If you're still lost feel free to call us during normal business hours at 202-312-1600, and we can walk you through your initial login!

If you are part of a Group Membership at WITA, but are new to the WITA Website:
Try this:  Register to the Website and BE SURE to choose your organization's name from the drop down menu labeled:  WITA Group Memberships.  This will affiliate you with your group membership in our records, giving you access to your group's free passes, discounts to events if no passes remain, and the other perks your group membership at WITA gives you.

Q: How do I change my password, username, or other personal information?

A: After logging in, go to the right hand side Users menu.  Select Options.  Here you can change your User name, Password, and other Personal Information.   

Q: Ugh! I lost my password! What do I do now?

A: If you've lost your password, you can still access the site.

First, click on the Login at the top of the homepage.  Then click on the Lost Password at the top of the Login Page.  Enter your email address, and you will be sent a temporary password.   You can now use this to Login.

Note: If you have attempted to login unsuccessfully 3 times, the system will lock you out for 24 hours.

To change your password, Login.  Then go to the User section on the right hand side of the page.  Select Options, and then select Change Password.  From the Options page, you can also update your Personal Information (including email address) and/or your Username.

Q: How can I register for WITA events on-line?

A: Event registration on-line is the easiest and best way to reserve your spot at a WITA event.  If you are not yet registered to the WITA website, you will need to do so in order to register for WITA events on-line. However, you do not need to be a WITA member to register on-line.

First, login to the site. 
From the homepage, select the title of the event you wish to attend.  
To view a list of all upcoming events, click the big blue Event Registration button at top right of home page.

Click on the blue "Register for this Event" button at the bottom of the page showing the event details. 
After filling in your details, you can select "Register and Print Invoice" or "Register and Pay Online Now" at the bottom of the page.  Either payment option will register you for the event and reserve your spot.

If you select "Register and Print Invoice" you should fax your payment information to WITA at FAX 202-312-1601.

If you select "Register and pay online now" you can shop with confidence as the WITA site is secure and we do NOT store credit card numbers.

If you are unable to attend an event, WITA has a 48 hour cancellation policy.  Cancellations not received within 48 hours of an event will be billed to cover costs.

Q: Was my on-line registration for a certain event received?

A: If you registered correctly and paid by credit card, then you will get an automated receipt via email. You can also call us at 202-312-1600 to check your registration status, or email us at events@wita.org.

Q: Do I have to be a member to attend WITA events?

A: No, you don't! If you'd like to attend an event but aren't ready to join WITA yet, we ask that you sign up for our email list as a way for us to keep track of everyone registering for our events.

If, after attending the event, you are no longer interested in receiving email updates on exciting upcoming events, simply unsubscribe to the next WITA email you recieve. Your email will promptly be removed from our rolls.

Q: Where is WITA? 

A: WITA is located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center which is designed to be America's most visible site for trade promotion. Our address is:

1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 350
Washington, DC 20004
Tel: 202-312-1600
Fax: 202-312-1601
email: wita@wita.org

Q: Why can't I download the PDF registration form?

A: Good news! In our new online registration module, this problem is a thing of the past. Here's what you can do instead:

From the homepage, click on the title of the event you are interested in to view its details.

At the bottom, click the button "Register for this event"

Fill in your registration information. 

At the bottom of the page, click the button "Register and Print Invoice"

Review the information, and click button "Print Invoice"

If you still would like to download the generic WITA event registration form in PDF format and are having trouble, it might be because downloading PDF files with Microsoft Explorer sometimes causes problems.   To solve this:

click on tools

go to internet options

click on the advance tab on the far right

click on restore defaults

click OK

close Internet Explorer and re-open the program

Q: Why does WITA have a 48 hour cancellation policy?

A: There is a 48 hour cancellation policy for WITA events.  This means that cancellations received within 48 hours of an event are billed to cover costs.

Why? Good question.  As with any event, our caterers and venues require us to commit to a guaranteed number of attendees 2 days prior to an event.  Any cancellations within 2 days of the event  cannot be taken into account. 

This is because the industry standard for catering is that customers (like WITA) can add to the number of guaranteed attendees, but cannot lower this guaranteed number.  After all, the caterers need to order food in advance, plan the table settings and placings, etc; and they are running a business, not a charity!  

WITA gets billed, therefore, on the total number of registrants we expect for an event, not on the total number of actual attendees.  Neither the catering company nor WITA (a small non-profit) should be expected to "eat" these costs.

If you have further questions about our 48 hour cancellation policy, feel free to call the Executive Director to discuss your concerns.

WITA's phone number is 202-312-1600.  Office hours are 9-5 M-F.

Q: I'm part of a Group Membership, but I'm new to the site. How should I proceed?

A: Try this:  Register to the Website and BE SURE to choose your organization's name from the drop down menu labeled:  WITA Group Memberships.  This will affiliate you with your group membership in our records, giving you access to your group's free passes, discounts to events if no passes remain, and the other perks your group membership at WITA gives you.

Once you're registered to the WITA, Login to register for events, post articles, post jobs or resume, check your group's free passes, or add to the discussion forum.  Take advantage of Washington's premier trade network!

Q: How do people register to the wita.org site?

A: Web user visits www.wita.org site.

Clicks on "Register to our site" link under "Welcome to Wita!" section or clicks on "Login" and then clicks "Register"

User chooses the group that describes their work and this automatically places them into the group that they have chosen

An email is automatically generated by the site and sent to the registrant with a link that allows them to confirm their registration. Once they click on the link within the email, they are allowed to log in to the site.

An email notification of the new registrant is also generated by the site and is sent to site administrators.

The registrant is placed in the "04 Prospective Member" group (the default group) and the group that they chose from the profile dropdown.

When the registered site user logs in to the site, s/he can now register for events or become a member.

Q: How do members register for events on wita.org?

A: You need to be a registered site user to register for WITA events online and pay online via credit card. However, unregistered users can download a pdf version of a generic registration form that can be faxed to WITA.

Members first log in to wita.org

Once they are logged in, an "Event Registration" button appears in the upper right hand corner of the site. The button that appears links the member to a secure payment form with a list of events and costs based upon membership tier. 

Members profile information is pre-filled in the payment form. They need to add payment information and then click submit to register for the events.

Clicking submit submits their payment to the payment gateway handled by authorize.net. If all fields are completed and accurate, authorize.net will process the transaction and an email receipt will be automatically generated by authorize.net and sent to the member and to the WITA administrator identified on the authorize.net settings. 

Don't see your question answered here? Ask us!