Electronics Reuse Conference - ERC 2020 Roundup

As I walked into the conference area of the hotel in Nashville on the first day of ERC 2020 I realized that this year was going to be much different than years past. I took a deep breath as I prepared for non-stop interaction with many of the great people in the tech repair, reuse and recycle industry. I was really looking forward to shaking some hands, giving some hugs and getting up close and personal with my friends in the industry. But then it hit me like a ton of bricks as I heard an all to familiar sound...

 

...my alarm clock that snapped me back into reality. As I awoke from my slumbers I decided that today -- since it was the first day of the virtual conference -- I would go ahead and take a shower before noon and even wear pants before logging into the first session of the VIRTUAL ERC 2020 show. As I headed into my HOME OFFICE I took the opportunity to shake hands with my 13 year old daughter -- who is attending virtual school and working on her handshake -- then I gave my wife a side hug while telling her it was good see her again and that we would catchup on how the family was doing over drinks later.

All kidding aside, ERC 2020 was certainly different this year but, as always, it was the go-to event of the year for those in the tech care industry (repair, reuse, recycle). Sarah Kim and her team put on one of the best shows year after year that I have attended and 2020 did not disappoint.

DAY 1 AT ERC 2020

I got off to a little bit of a rough start myself as the show began on Monday morning (11/16/20). I was trying to access the opening session on my phone using last year’s version of the app which I thought might update on my android phone. I didn't realize that I would need to download a NEW version of the ERC app (which is brilliant BTW) for this year. It was a minor setback as I simply logged into the show on my computer while I multitasked and downloaded the new app. 

Once I got onto my computer at about 9:35 am (1st session at 9:30 am) I was a bit confused because the welcome session was already over. Luckily -- and this is the beauty of being virtual -- all I had to do was hit the "View Recording" button and I could watch the lovely 4:15 minute opening session of Sarah Kim welcoming folks to the show and giving a brief overview of what to expect.

The delightfully brief opening session allowed me to play around with the app, plan my sessions and make some connections with conference attendees. Then when 10 am rolled around I was ready for the first session, The Future of the Microsoft Refurbishing Program which was moderated by Jim Lynch from techsoup. I was really looking forward to this session because I believe that this program offers a lot of opportunity for repair people to expand their business opportunities and I wanted to learn more about it. 

Right away the ERC app came in handy for me because it was a complicated morning in my house. My wife, who is dealing with breast cancer, had doctor appointments that I had to get her to, and my 13-year-old daughter had to be taken to her orthodontist at the same time. Thanks to the handy dandy ERC app I could accomplish all my tasks at the same time without missing a minute of the conference and then go back and watch anything I missed or wanted to hear again.

Lunch breaks added a little bit of fun each day as show sponsors took advantage of the online video-sharing site Cameo to have celebrities introduce their services. Monday featured Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters and soon to be released remake Ghostbusters: Afterlife) introducing day drinker James Schellhorn of RepairQ. Then on Tuesday we saw Penn Jillette (Penn & Teller) introduce the “Magic” of Darrell Kendall at RIOS. Followed on Wednesday by the always entertaining Gilbert Gottfried introducing the similarly spectacular Toner, Toner, Toner.

After lunch Rohi Sukhia the founder & CEO of Tradeloop Corporation kicked off an informative session on “the ITAD Blockchain” during the OBADA 3^rd annual ERC update. This session was followed by what moderator Matt Zieminski calls his, “most favorite and exciting sessions of ERC 2020”, How Repair Shops Thrived Through 2020. An informative session that included panelists from a successful repair business company software (James Schellhorn, RepairQ), parts distributor (George Rogers, Injured Gadgets) and repair shop owner (Chad Johansen, NH iPhone Repair – who also won the award for Rising Star). While I am not privy to how many people attended each session, this session had the most people that planned to attend according to the app.

At the end of the first day of the ERC 2020 we were all treated to what had to be the most creative point in the conference, a virtual piano bar featuring the multitalented Elisa who even prepared a special song just for ERC 2020. Elisa took many requests from the virtual crowd and it was a lot of fun for everyone in attendance!

DAY 2 AT ERC 2020

DAY 2 got into full swing with two informative morning sessions. At 9:30 am we started with DOT Regulations and Resources: Insider tips followed by a product demo, titled Check out IQ Reseller’s new tool. After lunch there was an informative session called The Certification Advantage that was moderated by Sean De Vries, R2 Director with Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI). Judging by the chat, another nice feature of the app, this was a session that hit home with a lot of the attendees.

The final session of day two was a really unique and fun hands on look at the tech repair industry. A “repair-off” – which was not trademarked, for obvious reasons – competition that was hosted by YouTube repair star Justin Ashford from The Art of Repair and the recently bearded tech repair industry titan Kyle Wiens of iFixit.

This competition featured seven regular repair techs from around the country replacing the lighting port assembly on an iPhone 7. It was pretty exciting to watch this diverse group of repair people compete for 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd place prizes. In the end Leia McQueen finished way ahead of the pack to claim first prize and then, still on camera, go out to the front of her shop to take care of another customer. This was a big highlight for me at ERC 2020 and I hope it will get a new name and be a regular part of the show.

DAY 2 ended with the annual ERC awards given out to Chad Johansen at NH iPhone Repair (Rising Star), Steve Glover at CDI (Innovation), and Kelly Keogh at Greeneye Partners (Hall of Fame). The repair-off winners also were recognized with 1^st place going to Leia McQueen, 2^nd place Coray Glasper, and 3^rd place Hunter Clayton.

DAY 3 AT ERC 2020

DAY 3 was a short day with only two sessions available. The first appeared to be the second most attended event (at least by the number of people who ‘planned’ to attend). This session was titled Getting Supply during a Pandemic and was focused on ITADs, refurbishes and repair shops. Very informative session but it could have benefited from having at least one repair shop owner on the panel.

I had mixed feelings about the final session of ERC 2020, which was a showing of an excellent short documentary film produced by The Vested Group, called Silicon Mountain: Reducing E-Waste One Refurbished LaptopAt A Time. Don’t get me wrong here, I didn’t have any mixed feelings about the movie. It’s great and The Vested Group should be extremely proud of the work that was done to put it together.

I have mixed feelings about where it appeared in the show (at the very end) and the lack of discussion around it. I have the thought that this film should have been a day two showing with a group panel discussing the film followed by a moderator developing points of action for the industry. THIS FILM IS IMPORTANT TO OUR INDUSTRY! The principles within it should be mission one for everyone in the tech care industry. This film is about sustainability, the right to repair, jobs, the economy, and most important of all saving our planet. Pretty dang important don’t you think??!!

Again, don’t get me wrong here. I’m not some bleeding-heart tree-hugging liberal (nothing wrong with that BTW). In fact, I’m more of a capitalist then most of you. As a successful entrepreneur I’ve spent the majority of my life trying to figure out how to make a buck or two at everything I do in every situation. Saving the planet AND making a buck can both be true! The ideas expressed in Silicon Mountain are VERY IMPORTANT and the great thing about it is that solutions for these problems also create tremendous opportunities for many!

The films placement is by no means a mistake by Sarah and the ERC team, but a lack of passion/purpose for those in leadership positions within the industry as a whole. She’s putting on a great show. The show that you want and the show you all ask for each year. Based on what I’ve seen and heard around the industry YOU aren’t asking for enough.

As I have said many times in the past there is too much infighting among interested parties in this industry. The biggest competition is not each other but the OEMs who make all the rules! By working together, we can create a more powerful voice to mount a true defense against these powerful companies. Too many of you are satisfied with picking up the scraps left behind to see the brighter future of obtaining a bigger piece of the pie by working together to further the industry and creating a “more perfect union”.

As I see it there are two sides of the tech care industry. One side is more of a non-profit side that is more concerned with environmental issues. The other side is more focused on profit and the numerous opportunities the industry holds. The question I have for both sides is this, how bad do you want it?

I believe we can in fact form a more perfect union that can work together across ideologically bonds to produce much needed change accompanied by much more opportunity for the Tech Care Industry. I’ll be rolling out those ideas in the coming days and weeks.

In closing I would again like to congratulate Sarah Kim and everyone involved in putting on ERC 2020. It was a fabulous show! I truly can’t wait until next year to attend… maybe even in person?!

Thanks for the read! 
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