ON THE MOVE
Cook’s Corner: The Power of Three ... at Your Service
Chris Cook, Executive Director, MERA As the dust settles from International CES,
Driving Safe, Driving Smart, Driving Fun
there are several things that call for reflection. The first was the general mood at the show. As compared to the past year, the word on the floor was surprisingly upbeat. Quite a few retailers and suppliers had a positive fourth quarter and are feeling that we are turning the corner to positive growth. The automakers were on display with an unmistakably prominent presence that brought ex- citement to the In-vehicle Electronics show floor. There were new opportunities in the air with On- Star engaging the aftermarket channel through MERA and others with a proven technology that is sure to drive new business. All in all, a positive ex- perience. At MERA, we share a similar sentiment. With your participation we established Knowledge- Fest as a successful event for our industry. We are working to rebuild your association and we made an investment in our industry with the acquisition of Mobile Electronics magazine. MERA’s announcement of the acquisition of Mobile Electronics at the International CES was a big one for all of us. The benefit of having the as- sociation, KnowledgeFest and the magazine puts us in a great position to do something really spe- cial for the industry. That said, MERA would like to recognize Bobit Business Media for its great accomplishments with Mobile Electronics over the past 23 years.
Bobit Business Media, through Mobile Elec-
tronics magazine, was the original creator of the Mobile Electronics Certified Professional pro- gram (MECP) and the Mobile Electronics Show (MES) that at the time was one of the top ten fastest growing trade shows. Bobit played a vital role in educating and informing retailers across the country while contributing to the success of the mobile electronics industry. For that, we here at MERA are truly thankful and wish the entire team at Bobit who worked hard on the magazine continued success. Mobile Electronics magazine has and will con- tinue to contribute to the success of the mobile
46 Mobile Electronics February | March 2011
electronics industry and is now a vital part of your association. MERA took the next step to ensuring success by appointing a strong edito- rial and publishing team. As you may remember, Solomon Daniels held the position of editor for the then-Bobit-owned publication from 1999 to 2008. Under Daniels’ editorial leadership the publication will seek to grow an interactive rela- tionship with all channels of mobile electronics retail in addition to specialists, provide news and information from surrounding product categories that impacts the core mobile electronics cat- egory, and push to engage separate drives that enhance consumer awareness. We are also very excited to have Robert Hep- hner on the editorial team. Hephner served as Editor-in-Chief of former publications CarSound and AutoMedia from 1999 to 2006. And to make sure that technical content remains a focus of the magazine, we have created a new position and named Kris Bulla as the Technical Editor. Kris is an industry veteran who serves as the chairperson of the MECP Committee and is the director of content and education at InstallerNet. To support the editorial team we selected STN Media Group as the new publisher for Mobile Electronics magazine. STN is a well-seasoned, 20-year-old publishing company that produces a trade magazine and trade show in the automo- tive transportation sector. STN’s president, Tony Corpin, will serve the role as publisher for Mobile Electronics.
SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR MERA MEMBERS
Along with many other significant benefits, MERA members will now be able to take advan- tage of computer software solutions to help run your business (see ad on page 53). The industry leading TSS and MAID applications are now part of MERA. If you are not familiar with these pro- grams, here is a brief overview.
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