April 19, 2017
Contact: Stephanie Tierney / stierney@era.org and Jim Gleason / jimg@fjm-inc.com
Empire State ERA Hosts Successful Rep and Distributor ‘DTAM’ Program
Empire State ERA members gathered on April 4, 2017, for the annual Upstate New York 2017 Rep-Distributor Forum. The program provided industry facts and statistics pulled together by Rick Wray and Anna Donovan of Empire Technical Associates, and Dave Dasson, CPMR, CSP, of Net Sales. The event attracted 30 attendees.
The program has been running for more than a decade, and members and guests alike still found the content and discussions to be extremely beneficial to help them assess their individual company’s performance versus the overall marketplace.
The event also featured two guest speakers: Mike Budde, president and founder of Budde Marketing and Walter Tobin, CEO of ERA.
“As a service provider for our constituent members and industry peers, I am fortunate as an ERA Chapter Officer to have the full commitment and superb talent of a membership body that understands that only by open collaboration and tireless effort will our mission to improve our function and businesses be realized,” said Empire State ERA President Jim Gleason. “Our signature DTAM event brought home the challenges, changes and uncertainties faced in our market with meaningful and insightful data that led to excellent discussion and peer sharing.
“Bringing in national resources including Mike Budde of Budde Marketing and Walter Tobin of ERA gave further depth and credibility to our chapter work, as well as relevant insight from a higher level perspective. The talent, energy and passion in the room was evident in the general discussion. This is another great example of how ERA members and associates give back to our professional community,” Gleason explained.
Tobin added, “The Empire State ERA chapter leads the way with an event that is second to none. The Upstate New York 2017 Rep-Distributor Forum was complete with rich and engaging content. A job well done by the Empire State Chapter leaders.”
Budde said, “The electronics representative community has been a vital part of our company’s success. To be able to share some information by speaking to the Empire Chapter on our DTAM research was something that I thoroughly enjoyed.”
About ERA
The 82-year-old Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) is the international trade organization for professional field sales companies in the global electronics industries, manufacturers who go to market through representative firms and global distributors. It is the mission of ERA to support the professional field sales function through programs and activities that educate, inform and advocate for manufacturers’ representatives, the principals they represent and the distributors who are reps’ partners in local territories. ERA member representative firms (often called “reps”) provide field sales services on an exclusive basis to manufacturers of related (but non-competing) products in a defined territory. For more information about ERA, visit era.org.
About Empire ERA
Empire State ERA serves Upstate New York, down to and including Orange and Putnam Counties. The chapter produces many educational and social events throughout the year to provide members with various professional sales resources and networking opportunities. The chapter president is Jim Gleason, Managing Partner at FJM Associates.