We all know how busy EDS week is. With four consecutive days of face-to-face meetings and outings, it’s imperative that you come prepared to ensure the ideas shared with prospective channel partners will lead to impactful solutions.
When you come to EDS prepared, you leave aligned on a more predictable path to achieve your goals.
The EDS Leadership Summit is a unique conference and business event. It functions as both a high-level, meeting-based event and a vibrant marketplace of ideas. Although EDS is just one week, the planning, matchmaking, and ideas generated span throughout the entire year. Through one-on-one meetings, educational programmes, and networking, EDS sets up its attendees and everyone in the electronic components industry for future success.
Come back to EDS
After last year’s success, the EDS Leadership Summit is back at Resorts World in 2025. Resorts World stepped up to the challenge in 2024, providing EDS with a larger venue, more meeting space options, and excellent amenities.
Bringing top industry talent together
EDS brings together the top experts and decision-makers from the world’s leading manufacturers, sales representatives, and distributors in the electronic components industry. They share insights, focus resources, make plans, and build new business through strategic meetings, planned events, and informal gatherings. It’s the perfect opportunity to bridge new relationships or rekindle old ones.
Why EDS
If you work in the electronic components industry, EDS is the place to be seen, network, and build business. By attending the Summit and planning for it accordingly, you have the opportunity to grow, shine a light on what you’ve accomplished over the last year, and become a larger part of the industry. With a number of opportunities for meetings and networking, there is no better time to develop relationships and expand business.
In today’s global business environment, collaboration is the glue that holds supply chains together. And collaboration is what EDS fosters: robust, person-to-person business relationships based on mutually aligned goals. Because they believe that “conversation and conference lead to commerce.”
Making connections
As a massive congregation of manufacturers, representatives, and distributors all in one place, you have plenty of opportunities to interact with decision-makers and build new relationships. The best way to make those connections is in the Lily Ballroom, home to the Connections Café, All-EDS Kickoff Reception, Matchmaking Board and more!
Connections Café: the popular ‘Crossroads of the Summit’ is perfect for recharging, catching up with colleagues in-between meetings, or taking in much-needed daylight with its accessible outdoor patio. The Café offers refreshments, light-snacks, meeting space options and even complimentary massages brought to you by the Gold Sponsors. It’s also home to display booths and the association headquarters, ECIA and ERA.
All-EDS Kickoff Reception: Kkick-off the Summit with this ‘do not miss’ event! An energetic way to start the week, you’ll be able to network and reconnect in a casual setting, enjoy refreshments, light-snacks and enter the exciting EDS raffle to win cutting-edge electronics.
Matchmaking: looking to make business connections on-site at EDS? Visit the Matchmaking Board in the Lily Ballroom! Whether you’re a distributor, manufacturer, or representative, you can utilise this tool on-site at EDS to connect with other attendees. You can also request a meeting with company’s registered for EDS by going to edssummit.com/matchmaking.
Best practices
Set yourself up for success at EDS. Before you arrive, make sure you have a plan.
- DO: create a calendar
- DO: schedule your meetings and any dinner reservations early
- DO: make sure your team has the same set of goals in mind
- DON’T: show up to meetings you’re not invited to
- DON’T: solely rely on setting-up meetings on-site at EDS
- DON’T: stay and have meetings somewhere outside of Resorts World
Getting everything planned out before the Summit will make your time at EDS much smoother. But there are a couple of things to keep in mind while you’re here. Ensure you have a plan for each meeting, have materials you need ready, and follow up after each meeting. EDS is a marathon, not a sprint. Rest when you can, stay hydrated, regroup and debrief with your team. Keep your goals top of mind, make sure to hit the ones you can. New opportunities are always right around the corner.
The right space
The two most popular options for meeting space are hotel suites and conference area meeting rooms. Each offers different benefits depending on what your company needs. Hotel suites are best for smaller, more intimate group discussions while meeting rooms are great for larger groups and give your company high-visibility. Find the best option by visiting edssummit.com/space.
Spark is live at EDS
Spark is an educational programme that takes place live at EDS. It is created for talented up-and-comers from manufacturers, representatives, and distributors in the electronic components industry. Spark focuses on being a professional, how the industry works, and future trends. The programme provides professional development opportunities that allow individuals to connect. Learn more at edsspark.com.
Sponsored by ECIA and ERA
EDS is a combined effort and strongly supported by the industry’s leading member organisations – Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) and Electronics Representatives Association (ERA).
For attendance options visit edssummit.com/registration.
Procurement Pro’s Managing Editor, Paige West, will be attending EDS this year. If you’d like to arrange a meeting, reach out to her on paige.west@electroninspecifier.com
