Summer 2023 – Chapter News
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.
CHAPTER NEWS
COLT 2022
ERA has confirmed the Chapter Officers Leadership Training (COLT) program will once again be held virtually this year. The dates for this dynamic, hands-on educational program will be November 1-3. Registration will open soon. Visit www.era.org for more information.
ARIZONA
Arizona ERA hosted its 2nd annual golf tournament on May 31. Fifty-four golfers that included customers, OEM suppliers, distributors and manufacturers’ reps, participated in the event. And, a handful of folks came to simply enjoy lunch with the group. It was a great opportunity to connect with so many people in the Arizona electronics industry! The weather cooperated staying under 90 degrees, and the Legacy Golf Club was both beautiful and challenging.
The chapter would like to extend their deepest thanks to the following sponsors for supporting the event: ERA National, English Technical Sales, Kruvand-FTS, Techni-Source, Spectrum Marketing, Earle Associates, Arrow Electronics, TTI Inc., Master Electronics and Honeywell.
The players ranged from first timers to highly skilled golfers, and the scorecards showed it clearly. The winning foursome, sponsored by Kruvand-FTS, had a score of 58 (12 under). Each one in that group walked away with a $100 gift card. Chris Beeson and Cameron English received the “Most Honest” (highest score) award and each took home a $50 Amazon gift card along with a lot of friendly jabs.
The men’s longest drive was from Matt Wilhelm of InterLnx who took home a $400 Amazon gift card. The women’s winner was Claudia Guerrero of Techni-Source who walked away with $250 in Amazon gift cards. Phil Krass of Glenair won a $100 gift card for closest to the pin shot. In addition to these prizes, $100 gift cards were raffled off to five lucky winners during lunch.
The Legacy Golf Club served a southwest BBQ lunch. The food and service were great, and the camaraderie was fantastic. The success and feedback certainly seem to support making it an annual event.
CANADA
Canada ERA kicked off 2023 with a member breakfast meeting hosted in Toronto. The event had a great turnout, with more than 30 people in attendance. Chapter leaders Adam Grigor, Rob DeRose and Gerry Iuliano presented their vision and value proposition along with a calendar of events for the year including education and social events.
Topics of discussion during the meeting included dealing with face-to-face principal meetings and how to best manage those with customers still using the hybrid method of both remote and in-office work. Many meetings take place face-to-face and additional meetings will still be virtual with customers regardless of visiting or not. The consensus was to ensure the agenda is clear to the principal.
The chapter is also looking at potentially hosting educational webinar-type forums.
The chapter is grateful that many volunteers are able to help with the various projects and events that Canada ERA wants to move forward with. Here’s a summary of chapter events in 2023: April 20 — Chapter breakfast; June 21 — Chapter meet-andgreet with Walter Tobin; June 22 — Golf tournament; September — Education meeting; November — Dinner & toy drive.
CAROLINAS
Carolinas ERA continues to host their monthly virtual networking events focused on various industry topics of discussion for each session. The chapter held a virtual lunch in early June, hosted by Penny Langdon of TT Electronics, which featured a presentation on market trends analysis from Buzz Reynolds, account manager/distribution manager at Performance Technical Sales. Regarding the chapter’s annual fall golf tournament, Carolinas ERA is pleased to offer yet another challenging, pristine golf course for this annual charity event to be hosted on Friday, Oct. 6: the Challenge Golf Club, located in central North Carolina. The event will draw more than 100 manufacturers’ representatives, distributors, manufacturers and OEMs. This year promises to bring yet another full day of fun, camaraderie and sportsmanship!
CHICAGOLAND-WISCONSIN
Chicagoland-Wisconsin ERA hosted an industry social gathering at Summerfest on June 22. This fun-filled networking event was open to reps, manufacturers, distributors and customers. It is with great honor the Chicagoland-Wisconsin chapter presented revered colleague Jeff Huntsinger with the Life Member Award during its Board meeting in April. Jeff has set the gold standard in service and has a lifetime of accomplishments in the electronics industry. Jeff has also been a past recipient of the Jess Spoonts ERA White Pin Award in 2013. The chapter wishes many congratulations to Jeff on this well-deserved award!
EMPIRE STATE
Empire ERA is excited to host its 3rd Annual Julie Baker Charity Golf Tournament on July 31 at Ravenwoods Golf Club. Based on previous success of this event, the chapter looks forward to another great turn-out this year. For more details, and to sign up as a sponsor and register online, visit: https://empireera.org/events-golf-2023/. This tournament is hosted to generate funds for a donation to the Willow Domestic Violence Center in memory of long-time Empire Chapter Board member Julie Baker.
METRO NEW YORK
Metro NY ERA is delighted to announce it has donated $3,000 to Long Island Cares, a local hunger relief organization, from the proceeds of its 2022 Steve Alford Memorial Golf Tournament event. The event took place last October at St. George’s Golf Course in East Setauket, N.Y., and was attended by more than 100 ERA members and guests who enjoyed a day of golfing, networking and fun. The chapter hosted its 2023 Steve Alford Memorial golf event at the end of June — a sold-out event! The chapter hopes to be able to donate even more to Long Island Cares this year.
MICHIGAN
Michigan ERA held a best practices-sharing discussion in early June at R.O. Whitesell & Associates’ Novi, Mich., office. Attendees discussed a range of issues including managing your organization and line card during turbulent times, managing multiple CRMs to ensure critical project milestone dates are being met, and ideas for CEM principals that are looking to hire and motivate reps. It was a great discussion over coffee and bagels among some of the most respected and passionate members of our industry. Plans for the chapter’s next event were also discussed to drive further conversation and networking among the best of the best!
Pictured from L- R: Matt Cohen, C C Electro Sales, Inc.; Jay Patel, Amtech Electrocircuits; Amy Rathsburg, Rathsburg Associates; Brook Merchant, R.C. Merchant & Co; John Wiedemann, R.O. Whitesell; Mike Pecar, Mike Pecar Sales.
MID-LANTIC
Mid-Lantic ERA hosted a “Night at TopGolf ” in Mount Laurel, N.J., on April 25. The idea behind the event was to bring people together to “reinvigorate” the local chapter. The event received sponsorships from 10 distributors and people from 18 different rep organizations were in attendance. The feedback from the 55-plus guests has been extremely positive. The chapter looks forward to hosting another event sometime in the near future.
NEW ENGLAND
New England ERA hosted a social gathering in early June, bringing together an incredible crowd of eager young professionals at SPIN, a ping pong social club in Boston. The enthusiasm for the event was so overwhelming that it sold out in record time; the chapter even had to start a registration waiting list! In attendance were more than 55 young professionals, with a few industry veterans helping to work the event.
Throughout the night, attendees from all corners of the electronics industry mingled, connected, fostered new relationships and even played some competitive ping pong. Attendees were encouraged to connect via LinkedIn. The number of entries received translated into raffle tickets for incredible prizes donated by the event’s sponsors: Arrow, Avnet, Coakley Boyd & Abbott, Heilind, MacInnis Group, MEAN WELL, Sager and TTI.
The night concluded with some wise words from current ERA Executive Committee Chairman of the Board John O’Brien, who encouraged the attendees to reach out, get involved, network, build their brand and most of all recognize that the industry is dynamic and filled with possibility. The night was a huge success measured by the outreach from the attendees themselves, many of whom expressed thanks for the opportunity to participate, and all asking to be notified of future chapter events.
The chapter looks forward to seeing everyone at the New England chapter golf event scheduled for Sept. 7 at Four Oaks Country Club in Dracut, Mass. Additional information, sponsorships and registration details will be announced soon.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Northern California ERA’s charity golf tournament was held in mid-June at the beautiful Coyote Creek Golf Club in Morgan Hill, Calif. The tournament drew a remarkable turnout of 72 players, with dedicated volunteers and enthusiastic non-golfers who contributed to its success. The event received generous support and sponsorship from rep firms, distributors and suppliers. It was an honor to have ERA CEO Walter Tobin travel from Boston to attend.
Special Olympics Northern California was the chosen beneficiary, and thanks to the collective efforts of the participants, $12,000 was raised to support their important work in empowering athletes with intellectual and physical disabilities. Notably, at the 13th hole, a Special Olympics golf pro was stationed to assist with putting, enhancing the game and fundraising efforts.
The event truly showcased the power of community and compassion in making a positive impact.
OHIO
Ohio ERA was thrilled to host its first event in more than 10 years! The group met up at a Lake Erie Crushers minor league baseball game in May in an attempt to attract Board members and volunteers for future events. There were 23 attendees consisting of both reps and distributors. It proved to be a great afternoon of baseball, collaboration and fun!
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
2023 is flying by and Southern California ERA is ramping up to finish the year strong!
The year started off with the chapter’s Rock N’ 2023 Social at Rock N’ Brew; then continued with the “Work Smarter, Not Harder” virtual event; then the chapter went “old school” and got in front of customers one-on-one in the first-ever Tijuana Table Top Show. The chapter also promoted ERA at the 2023 Del Mar Electronics & Manufacturing Show (DMEMS), where it hosted its “set-up day” social with more than 100 attendees. SoCal ERA walked away with more than 20 new referrals from the show for reps, manufacturers and distributors that were considering ERA membership and wanted to stay up-to-date on the latest industry trends and events that the Chapter is hosting.
In mid-June, the chapter presented an informational session on AI, including ChatGPT and Bard. Matthew Amato from IBS Electronics Group presented the session and empowered attendees to leverage advanced AI language models to streamline business operations and drive efficiencies. The audience learned how to utilize AI’s potential for data analysis and customer insights, ensuring maximized sales and business growth.
On Sept. 14, the chapter will host its 18th Annual ERA Sagebrush Summer Social from 5:00–7:30 p.m. PDT at Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas, Calif. This is a free event for attendees based on the generosity of our sponsors. Sponsorship opportunities are still available if your company is interested. Last year’s event topped almost 100 attendees.
Next, you can find Southern California ERA at the Anaheim Electronics & Manufacturing Show Sept. 27 – 28. Stop by and say hello at booth #204.
The annual SoCal ERA golf tournament benefitting Operation Homefront will be held on Oct. 10 at Black Gold Golf Course in Yorba Linda, with a goal to raise more than $10,000 for Operation Homefront to help ease the burden of the military families that serve and protect our great country. Four veterans will be joining the event to enjoy a day of golf and an amazing dinner with friends.
The year will finish up with an “Owners Forum: Engaging with Engineers” in November and year-end planning meeting. Last, but not least, look for a refresh of the Southern California ERA website!