Dear ERA Members, colleagues and friends,
‘So now there’s a vaccine we’ll see you in Holland, we’ll see you in Vegas, meanwhile we’re on Zoom!’
This quote from ERA Global’s rendition of We Wish You A Merry Christmas which we circulated in December. We’ll probably not win any awards for the quality of our singing or indeed our poetry! I trust though that the video brought a smile to faces and we’d like to say a huge thank you to those around the world who took the time to contribute, some of you in incredible festive attire (the plucked raw turkey was my personal favourite).
Importantly though, I think the video conveyed the sheer relief and optimism that we feel now that vaccines are being rolled out across the globe. Whilst it is true that many businesses in our industry have enjoyed very strong demand during the pandemic, we’re all surely desperate for an end to the health catastrophe and the misery that restrictions have put on everyone’s lives. So we really are now very confident that we can meet in Amsterdam, June 15 – 17 and in Las Vegas, September 20 – 22. Registration for Amsterdam starts at the end of this month and the Las Vegas registration will begin in March. Please note that we had to adjust the original Las Vegas dates by a few days. We would like to apologise if that has caused any inconvenience for you.
I think (...) that 2021 could be a truly monumental year for ERA Global member companies. More than ever then we should increase our networking, swap ideas, share learnings, trade great products and be a part of this wonderful Association that unites us as one.
Perhaps also we’ll meet in Chicago which would be very exciting. However before all of these physical conferences, I am pleased to say that there will be more online events in the earlier part of the year. Importantly we shall organise a digital Town Hall meeting at the end of January. Here we’ll update you on the Association’s projects for 2020, our plans for the 2021 Annual General Meeting (where members review finances, approve the budget and elect the next Board) and provide details of our financial situation.
We can at last now see an end to the pandemic and the future looks bright. There’s no doubt that the next few weeks and maybe months are going to be extremely challenging as coronavirus cases increase with new variants spreading rapidly ahead of mass vaccinations. The worst is probably still to come in the short term. By June however I think most experts believe that the situation will be very different indeed.
I certainly believe that we are extremely fortunate in our industry because we have already demonstrated that we are perfectly placed to take advantage the changes in shopping habits that COVID has brought about, and we should subsequently reap the benefits that the world will experience as we emerge from the crisis. So I think this will be a double win situation and that 2021 could be a truly monumental year for ERA Global member companies. More than ever then we should increase our networking, swap ideas, share learnings, trade great products and be a part of this wonderful Association that unites us as one.
To sign off, may I take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Healthy, Happy and Successful 2021. We greatly appreciate your continued support, and whilst of course we look forward to your membership renewal this month for all the business reasons you’re familiar with, let’s not forget the legendary social side of ERA Global as demonstrated by the last lines of the aforementioned song:
‘Good tidings we bring, to you and your kin, we’ll see you at a party with tonic and gin!’.
Kind regards
Ken Daly
Chairman of the Board of Directors
ERA Global
