At a joint meeting of the Manufacturers’ Agents National Association (MANA) and the Electronics Representatives Association (ERA), MANA’s CEO Charles Cohon shared his predictions for the rep industry.
“I think the best way to explain why we are here today comes from Nvidia cofounder Chris Malachowsky, who was quoted in Forbes about his firm’s success.
“He said, ‘There’s a California surfing competition that happens in a five-month window every year. When they see some type of wave phenomenon or storm in Japan, they tell all the surfers to show up in California, because there’s going to be a wave in two days.’
“That is why we are here today. We are going to take a look at the indicators that tell us how the rep business is changing so we can get our firms ready for the wave that isn’t here yet, but is coming.
“Or if you prefer a hockey reference, I will paraphrase Wayne Gretzky and say that we are here because we know we can’t succeed by skating to where the puck is, we have to figure out how to skate where the puck is going to be.”
For more information, contact the not-for-profit Manufacturers’ Agents National Association at www.manaonline.org or mana@manaonline.org.
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