> The 2026 ERA Conference Brochure is Out!
The annual ERA Conference is less than 4 weeks away!
We are excited to share the 2026 ERA Conference Digital Brochure, an interactive resource designed to provide you the latest program, session and speaker updates on the 2026 ERA Conference.
This interactive brochure previews the latest highlights from the upcoming conference, including general session and breakout session topics, the Conference schedule and a roster of all of our generous sponsors.
CONFERENCE UPDATES:
- View the keynote & general session speakers and more information about their sessions.
- View a preliminary Conference schedule and start planning your itinerary.
- View breakout session topics. Attendees should register for breakout sessions!
- View the attendee list.
- Thank you to all of our generous sponsors!
Thank you, 2026 ERA Conference Committee!
Perry Thornton, Pinnacle Marketing – Conference Committee Chair
Julie Carr, MacInnis Group — Conference Committee Vice Chair
Adam Anderson, CPMR, Norris & Associates — Breakout Sessions Co-Chair
Holly Good, Master Electronics — Breakout Sessions Co-Chair
Zach Anderson, Harper and Two — Keynote/General Sessions Co-Chair
Heather D’Amico, MBA, CPMR, Brainard Nielsen Marketing — Keynote/General Sessions Co-Chair
Adam Grigor, Tech-Trek Ltd. — Sponsorships Co-Chair
Scott Lindberg, Quell Corporation — Sponsorships Co-Chair
Todd McAtee, Mouser and XTG Group — Conference Advisor
Ellen Coan, CPMR, C C Electro Sales Inc. — Executive Committee Liaison
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> The next ERA LIVE will take place Tues., Jan. 13 at 4:00 pm ET, featuring Dennis Reed, senior analyst at Edgewater Research. Reed will give a recap of 2025 and present his outlook for 2026, based on electronics components market data and ERA member survey results from 2025. No registration required. See you there! 
> The deadline is January 31 to submit your applications for the 2026 
The 2026 ERA Conference Committee is pleased to announce that Jacob Shapiro and Ed Smith will present as general session speakers at the annual ERA Conference on Feb. 22-24, 2026, in Austin, Texas.
INDUSTRY SURVEY RESULTS
> ERA debuts its 2026 Media Kit, offering companies multiple digital and print advertising opportunities. Showcase your company’s message in front of 4,000+ industry professionals! Non-members are encouraged to advertise. ERA members receive advertising discounts! 
‘Tis the season for chapter events! Our active regional chapters around the U.S. host many wonderful networking/charity events over the holiday season. We encourage you to attend a local ERA chapter event soon! 
ERA Announces New CEO Edward Smith
> If you happened to miss ERA’s virtual sales training program – STEP 2025 – this past October, we have good news for you. All nine sessions, covering everything from Speaking with Authority to The AI Advantage, are now archived, bundle and available to be purchased. 
McCarthy will open the ERA Conference on Monday morning, Feb. 22, with her presentation, “When Innovation Speaks: The Power of Human Connection in a Digital World.”
> ERA enters a new era
Ed Smith, CEO of ERA
It has been a whirlwind 45 days. When you replace the GOAT, the expectations are high and people are waiting for what will happen next.
It couldn’t be a more exciting time at ERA. As the Conference continues to get bigger and more useful every year, I would like to thank the committees who do a lot of the hard work to give the Conference vision and help decide the direction of speakers and subjects. The world is being inundated with AI, and so that seems like a natural session.
When I think of AI I try to think, how does it make our sales process more effective? Because any new tool or software is cool but if it doesn’t make us more efficient or allow us more time to sell, the question is…why do it? The economist part of the Conference is always a good overview on how we fit into the bigger financial picture, and what might be affecting the people we deal with daily. I look forward to announcing other general sessions in the near future. Once again, thank you to all the committee members who volunteer time and resources.
I have had the pleasure of attending about five local ERA chapter events and have been impressed at how professional they are and how much charitable work we do in our local communities. This is near and dear to me personally as I live my life on the credo that we should give more than we take from this life, and that is what true success looks like. The less fortunate can always use a helping hand and we are in a great position to give it to them.
I also believe that the local chapters are a differentiator in the electronics association space, as we can speak about things that affect people in a particular geography and not waste time talking about problems in a different geography. It also allows us to help people in a local market. I can’t wait until the next chapter event and look forward to meeting more members and hearing what is on their mind.
The last thing I would like to speak about is a member survey that ERA is sending out via email — we would like members’ input and help with setting the direction of the association in the future. This will be a very easy survey to fill out and I would ask that all of you please fill it out and let your voice be heard. I know surveys are a pain, but I will not do this very often and would appreciate you responding. I will be asking about many of ERA’s existing tools and how are they helping (or are they not helping?) I will be asking what you find valuable and what you do not. I will slip in a Net Promoter Score question to see how we are doing as your association.
Thank you for choosing me to lead ERA into the future. I would be remiss not to thank Walter for all of his help in the transition and thank him for all he has done and will do.
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