August 3, 2017
Tess Hill, ERA Conference Coordinator, at thill@era.org / 630-327-6498
ERA Conference Committee Announces 2018 Theme
The Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) Conference Committee has announced the theme of the association’s 49th Management and Marketing Conference, scheduled Feb. 25-27, 2018, at the AT&T Center in Austin, Texas.
Conference Committee Chair Rick LaPiana, president of the Cain-Forlaw Company, says the theme, “Tools of Our Trade — Constructing a Successful Future,” was selected because “this conference will heavily focus on practical take-aways that can be readily implemented to improve the rep company’s efficiency. We will improve the customer experience by enhancing the teamwork performance. We need to increase the leverage that the power of three — reps, distributors and manufacturers — can deliver. It is my experience that ERA has a rich history of delivering use-it-now information and advice to the reps, manufacturers and distributors who attend our conferences. This year our emphasis will be even stronger on tactical know-how and resources.”
LaPiana’s committee began its program development discussions in June, and members are well into the planning process. In addition to LaPiana, the members of the 2018 ERA Conference Committee are: the vice chair, John Hutson, CPMR, of the MacInnis Group; plus John Beaver of GSA Optimum; Ken Bellero of Schaffner EMC; Barbara Jorgensen of Electronics Purchasing Strategies (EPS); Dawn Lowery, CSP, of Sumer, Inc.; Todd McAtee of Mouser Electronics, Inc.; Holly Myers, CPMR, of Wallace Electronic Sales; John O’Brien, CPMR, of Coakley, Boyd and Abbett, Inc.; Bryan White, CPMR, of Catalyst Sales, Inc.; and Cindy Williams of Vicor Corp.
ERA staff members on the committee are: Walter Tobin, CEO; Tess Hill, the conference coordinator; Karin Derkacz, the registration coordinator; Kathy Green, the website manager; Neda Simeonova, the Crowd Compass coordinator; and Stephanie Tierney, the sponsorship coordinator.
For further information on ERA’s 2018 conference, click here.
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.