Chapter News reports the local activities of the 22 chapters of ERA.
The chapters sponsor educational and training workshops, local trade shows, legislative and industry projects to enhance the professionalism of individual members and to advance the goals and mission of the national association.
COLT 2016 slated in October-November
ERA’s Chapter Officers Leadership Training (COLT) program is scheduled to run this year in a one-hour webinar on Friday, Oct. 21, followed by an inperson workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 1-2 in Chicago. The format of COLT, which was significantly revamped in 2014, is being streamlined again to reduce the pre-workshop time for attendees to just a single webinar.
Bob Evans, CPMR, of EK Micro, chair of ERA’s Chapter Leadership Council (CLC) and a long-time COLT faculty member, notes, “We are leaving the in-person workshop, the most valuable part of the program, intact but reducing the webinar time. The workshop is also being shifted from a Thursday-Friday time frame to a Tuesday and Wednesday to eliminate attendees having to travel on a Friday.”
Other COLT faculty members are Walter Tobin, ERA CEO, plus staff members Stephanie Tierney and Tess Hill.
All chapter boards are encouraged to select their attendee(s) as soon as possible. A number of Chapters of the Year have earned free tuition scholarships to COLT to pay all costs except travel. For details on those scholarships and for further COLT information, contact Tess Hill at thill@era.org.
CAROLINAS
The Carolinas Chapter is continuing its monthly networking breakfasts throughout the summer.
ERA CEO Walter Tobin was a guest speaker at the networking program on May 23. The presentation topic was “The Future of the Industry and its Impact on Reps, Manufacturers and Distributors.”
CHICAGOLAND – WISCONSIN
On June 23, the chapter hosted a breakfast round table program with ERA CEO Walter Tobin as a guest speaker. The presentation topic was “Learn Why the Best Reps Belong to ERA.” The purpose of the breakfast program was to increase membership. The chapter also announced a new feature of the Chicagoland-Wisconsin website.
The Chapter Forum Web page offers members and industry professionals a place to share articles of interest. This page is designed to keep members on top of industry news.
Visit the new Chapter Forum page here at http://www.chiwisera.com/forum.html.
EMPIRE STATE
The Empire State Chapter is planning the Debbie Henry Memorial Golf Tournament. The golf outing will be held on Monday, Aug. 8, at the Ravenwood Golf Club — a new location. Once again, the goal of the event is to raise funds for the chapter’s annual scholarship awards. The tournament and scholarship program are chaired by Scott Caliel of Leonard D. Allen, Inc.
The chapter also continues to hold monthly rep networking events.
INDIANA-KENTUCKY
The Indiana-Kentucky Chapter held a Cyber Security Luncheon meeting on May 5. The speakers were Craig Jackson, chief policy analyst of the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research (CACR), and Susan Sons, senior security analyst of CACR.
NEW YORK
On June 20, the Chapter had a Charity Golf Outing located at the St. George’s Golf and Country Club in East Setauket, N.Y. Proceeds of the event will go to several charities, including Long Island Cares for the benefit of wounded veterans. The event was open to reps, distributors, OEMs, contract manufacturers and principals. To facilitate this event, the chapter has implemented updates to its website to automate payment (via PayPal) and the collection of attendee information.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
The chapter is planning to host a bocce ball networking event on Aug. 9. An education class is also being planned for Sept. 15.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST CHAPTER
The Oregon Section of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of ERA (ERA-PNW) is in the process of planning functions in conjunction with the Electronic Manufacturers Association of Oregon (EMA).
On Feb. 18, 2016, the kickoff party for the two organizations was held at the Golden Valley Brewery. About 60 people in the electronics industry attended and heard a short review of each organization.
On May 24, another event was held at the Golden Valley Brewery. The program, titled “How to Start and Grow Your Business,” was organized by EMA and cosponsored by ERA-PNW, and featured three speakers. The first speaker was Laura Zager who is a patent attorney with a doctorate in electrical engineering. Her session was titled, “An Introduction to Intellectual Property.” The second speaker, Diana Wojcik, spoke about how to maximize gains and minimize risks during business years when considering the disposition of your company. The third speaker, Leo Frishberg, gave a speech titled, “Getting It All Wrong: How I learned to Love the Lean Startup.”
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The Southern California Chapter held a program on June 16 titled, “Rep Best Practices, Part III: Operations.”
The ERA SoCal Charity Golf Tournament is scheduled to take place on Aug. 8 at the Aliso Viejo Country Club.
The chapter is also planning for the Electronics Industry Summer Social on Aug. 25 at Sagebrush Cantina, Calabasas.
SOUTHWESTERN/TEXAS
The chapter sent out surveys in May to gather input from industry reps in Texas. The immediate/long-term objective is reestablishing the Texas chapter of ERA.
SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS
The Spirit of St. Louis Chapter’s EEEM 2016 was a success with a full sellout of 50 exhibitors, 59 booths and eight technical seminars.
ERA CEO Walter Tobin addressed the chapter at a May 2 meeting. He spoke about the future of ERA, reps, distributors and the industry.