> ERA Quick Connections – April 2026, Vol. 2
April 2026, Vol. 2
MONTHLY POS REPORTS
February 2026 POS activity far exceeded expectations, actually running ahead of January numbers by 3 percent and last February’s POS number by nearly 20 percent. February was the largest POS month since April of last year. February is generally a lower number due to the shortened month, however this activity was significantly above expectations.
INDUSTRY NEWS
> Finance and banking leaders from around the globe raise concerns with Anthropic’s new Mythos AI model. Read more.
> Being a leader is harder than ever. Here are 5 common pressure points for leaders and how to handle them. Read more.
> A 2024 study found that readers preferred content labeled as “human-generated” by 30 percent over content labeled as created by AI. Here are four ways your writing sounds “too AI” and how to fix it — read more.
INDUSTRY SURVEY RESULTS
The April 2026 ERA Electronic Components Industry Trend Survey is now closed.
ERA NEWS
> The EDS Summit will be here in less than 4 weeks.
Download the EDS 2026 app for EDS info on the go — The app is available for both Android and iOS and has the complete public EDS schedule, the Matchmaking utility and more. To download, search “EDS 2026” in your phone’s app store.
New this year — EDS After Dark on Tuesday night from 9 p.m. – midnight in Perdana Gardens. This is a great opportunity to continue dinner conversations or meet up with colleagues after your evening events in an exclusive EDS space. Mark your calendars!
> ERA’s SearchLink.ai has a fresh new look and powerful upgrades designed to streamline your workflow and bring more value to your daily sales operations. We’ve integrated several new tools to help you work smarter:
- ERA GPT: Think ChatGPT, but specifically tailored for ERA members.
- The Prompt Writer: A great prompt is the key to a great result.
- Contract Analyzer: Review documents faster than ever.
- Enhanced Search: Our Key Contacts search now features Export functionality, Relevance Score ratings and Find Email buttons directly on the results page.
- Company Search: Now includes full export capabilities.
— Watch the New Tutorial Video
— Access SearchLink.ai and try it for yourself!
> The new ERA Career Center Hub is an online resource for companies, early-career professionals and students exploring the world of manufacturers’ reps and the electronics components sales industry. You’ll find internship information; recruiting tips: where to find new hires; resources to understand the landscape (for early-career folks and students, what does a manufacturers’ rep do?) a job board…and more! We’ll be updating and adding new content regularly.
CHAPTER EVENTS & NEWS
Indiana-Kentucky ERA — Day at the Track — Thurs., May 14
New England ERA — Young Professionals Networking Event — Thurs., May 28
Northern California ERA — 3rd Annual Golf Event Benefiting Special Olympics — Wed., June 10
Minnesota ERA — Networking Event feat. Speakers Dave Doherty & Eddie Smith — Wed., June 17
Metro NY ERA — Steve Alford Memorial Golf Outing – Mon., June 22
Chicagoland-Wisconsin ERA — Summerfest Outing — Thurs., June 25
Pacific-Northwest ERA — Save the Date: Golf Tournament – Fri., Aug. 21
