POST CONFERENCE PAGES ...

In the upcoming LEAP year, make your extra day REALLY count at -
ERA’s 43rd Management & Marketing Conference for Reps & Manufacturers

For professional field sales reps and manufacturers who sell through reps (or want to), this event offers education and networking you just can’t get anywhere else!

The goal of this ‘24’ mission ...

... is to provide electronics industry reps and manufacturers with a unique, collaborative environment in which to improve your management and marketing knowledge, skills and contacts. The ERA Conference focuses on education and networking. It is NOT a time for sales meetings, but rather a forum in which attendees work together and learn from each other.

To make maximum use of your 24 EXTRA HOURS in 2008, the Conference allows you to access new information, gain proven tips from your peers, participate in round table discussions, and customize your own curriculum by choosing from among a dozen breakout seminars offered in three time slots. This year’s event is being offered in a more compact time frame to allow you to gain greater value at lower cost.

As the electronics industry rebounds robustly in the global marketplace, it remains vital for reps and manufacturers to engage in open dialogues and cooperative problem-solving. This event delivers that strategic opportunity.

Among the topics on the agenda are:
For details on each session and the speakers / moderators / panelists, see the newly updated program schedule or brochure.

An Economic Update ... in Layman's Terms

Where is the Electronics Industry Heading ... and Why?

Meeting the Challenge of Change in Today's Sales Function: What Value Do (and Should) Reps Deliver?

Non-Disclosure Agreements: What, Why and How?

Diversification: Who's Doing it ... Why ... and How?

Gen Y: Are They Ready for th Real World?

Increasing Your Sales Force EQ

as well as the breakout sessions:

• Avoiding Legal Perils: From Antitrust and Defamation to Product and Tort Liability ... and More (Speaker: Gerald M. Newman, ERA Legal Counsel, Schoenberg, Finkel, Newman & Rosenberg, LLC)
  
  
• Changing of the Guard: Re-establishing Relationships When Principals Are Acquired or Merged (Moderator: Bob Walsh, CPMR, Coakley, Boyd and Abbett, Inc.)
  
  
• Counterfeit Products: Beware of This Looming Concern
  
  
• Customer Preferences: What Do They REALLY Want? (Speaker: Steve Cholas, Group Publisher, Hearst Electronics Group)
  
  
• Driving Customers to Your Web Site and Making Their Visits More Profitable (Speaker: Alan Ahern, D. A. Crowley Associates)
  
  
• Going to Market Internationally ... in a Non-Traditional Way (Moderator: John O’Brien, CPMR, Coakley, Boyd and Abbett, Inc.; Panelists: Ron Rutkowski, Control Sales; and Gary Smith, CPMR, G. L. Smith Associates)
  
  
• The Future of Health Care and Insurance ... As I See It (Speaker: Pat Brown, Associated Benefit Planners and RepCare Insurance)
  
  
• ITARS: Understanding the Requirements for U. S. Military Purchasing
  
  
• Manage Your Sales and Predict Your Future (Speaker: Charles Hauck, Growth Dynamics)
  
  
• Manufacturers’ Forum: Exchanging Best Practices (Co-moderators: Mark Conley, O’Donnell Associates North, and Patricia Moorman, Bourns, Inc.)
  
  
• Rep Owners’ Forum: Who Does What Best? (Moderator: Mark Motsinger, CPMR, Wallace Electronic Sales)
  
  
• Tax Planning Strategies for Reps (Speaker: John Vrablic, T.I.P.S. 4 Reps)
  
  
• Export Controls: A Crash Course
  
  
• Why Your Rep Salespeople Should Be Certified (Speaker: Allan Lamberti, CSP, TOA)
  

NOTES: Some breakouts may be revised. Most seminars are for all attendees, but several sessions will be designated for reps only or manufacturers only. All attendees will be asked to sign up in advance for the breakouts of their choice in each of three time slots.

Exhibits ...

... are a major part of the 2008 ERA Conference. Exhibitors who provide products and services specifically for reps and manufacturers will be on hand to demonstrate how they can help your company improve its bottom line. Time will also be scheduled early each morning for exhibitors to conduct brief workshops.

top

Conference Sponsorships ...

We are delighted to announce an outstanding opportunity for your company to be an integral (and highly visible) part of ERA's 43rd Management and Marketing Conference for reps and manufacturers, scheduled February 27-29, 2008, in San Diego.

This event is being designed to address current issues in the electronics industry and rep-manufacturer field sales partnerships. Most program segments are being developed for all attendees, but there will again be some sessions for reps only and manufacturers only. And ... we are paying special attention to scheduling more workshop discussions and Q&A time throughout the agenda.

As your Conference Committee, we are intent on bringing you the most valuable program ever. (We have already confirmed several important speakers, including the chief economist of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Martin Regalia, who received a long and rousing standing ovation at the ERA-coordinated Keystone All-Rep Conference in 2003.)

To help fulfill our goal of providing an impressive, high-quality roster of speakers and program participants, while keeping the registration fee as low as possible, we invite your company to become an Education Program Sponsor. There are four levels of sponsorship available, and each comes with multiple forms of recognition.

Send in the Sponsorship Form today, and support the ONLY educational conference in our industry focused on field sales issues.

We look forward to seeing you in San Diego in February. In the meantime, watch for the Conference program brochure and registration information, coming soon.

ERA 43rd Management & Marketing Conference Committee

John O'Brien, CPMR, Coakley, Boyd & Abbett, Inc. - Chair
Kathleen Cahill, CPMR, Net Sales Co. - Vice-Chair
Mark Conley, O'Donnell Associates North
Emmett Ellis, CPMR, Wallace Electronic Sales
Paul Nielsen, CPMR, Brainard-Nielsen Marketing, Inc.
Gary Smith, CPMR, G. L. Smith Associates

Manufacturer Advisory Committee:
Ken Bellero, Schaffner EMC
Sean Harrigan, Laird Technologies
Jim Hartranft, JLH Consulting
Tom Krygier, LEMO USA
Patty Moorman, Bourns, Inc.
Dick Neumann, Grayhill, Inc.
Bob Terwall, (retired) Cherry Electrical Products

Staff:
Tom Shanahan, ERA Executive VP & CEO
Tess Hill, ERA Conference Coordinator

top