ERA Convention 2013
The Eastern Reprographics Association held its annual convention in Panama City, Florida from April 18 to 20. The event was packed with educational and networking opportunities, starting with a golf outing on the 18th and concluding with roundtable discussions about how social media and the cloud affect reprographics on the 20th.
Here is a report on the event from Bob Roperti:
* 16 or 17 reprographics companies had representatives at the ERA
* 14 – 16 vendors participated in the trade show
* Approximately 60-70 people attended the ERA
* Vendor table-top exhibits and the cocktail party event were well attended
The Education Program was EXCEPTIONAL; it, alone, was worth the price of admission!
Keynote speaker, KP Reddy (of ampirix.com), presented the impact of Cloud-based technology on the reprographics industry and options for our businesses. He discussed API packages and their fit when combined. He elaborated on SAAS models that could be marketed to our existing customer base, where we have market knowledge, receptive clients and the technology to support client service needs. Further, he discussed "Steps to the Cloud” within our businesses - - e-mail, collaboration and phone systems, interfacing all client communications with CRM programs via the Cloud.
Tony McGaughey (also of ampirix.com) outlined programs to incorporate social media pages to the various services, Facebook, LinkedIn, other options. His focus was on developing a Marketing Calendar and stick to it for regular posts, covering the topics built into the strategy. He discussed racking tools required to measure and support the results, including Hootsuite, Nutshell Mail and Google Analytics. And, he talked about the vital importance of developing good landing-page content, responding to all social media postings, even critical ones. Defining opportunities with contacts of interest from inquiries.
On Saturday, during the educational "break-out” sessions, the speakers provided more "nuts and bolts” action items, "to do list” guidance.
PowerPoint files of the above two presentations will be posted on the ERA web-site (eastrepro.com), so if you were not able to attend the ERA event, you will still be able to view the presentations that were given.
As to the location and timing of the next ERA Convention and Tradeshow the new ERA Board is currently evaluating venues for the next conference and would welcome any recommendations from the membership.
The ERA Board of Directors announced the slate of ERA Officers for this year (2012-2013):
PRESIDENT - Michael Shaw
Central Blue Print
3328 Hillside Ave., New Hyde Park, NY 11040
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT - Stephanie Justice
Bay Area Blueprint & Reprographics
700 South Pace Blvd., Pensacola, FL 32501
VICE-PRESIDENT – Ryan Santoro
Starr Image Products
304 Delwood Road, Butler, PA 16001
TREASURER - Charlie Hackworth
The Graphics Shop
3700 Profit Way, Chesapeake, VA 23323
VENDOR CHAIR / MEMBER CHAIR - Jim Goodman
Dietzgen Corporation
121 Kelsey Lane, Suite G, Tampa, FL 33619