Nothing Stays the Same, Why Would EDS Be Any Different?
May 15, 2024
There’s a Keystone in every great invention.
The EDS Conference has been an electronic components industry “must attend” event for decades. Eight decades as a matter of fact. 
EDS began as the May Parts Show in 1937; it took a hiatus during World War II and resumed in 1946. For the first 20 years it was held in New York at the Hilton, and there were special trains running from Chicago so attendees from the Midwest and West Coast could attend. At that time, it was primarily a radio parts show, and emerged in the 1980s as EDS. The trade show rotated between New York, Las Vegas, and Chicago for a number of years, with occasional stops in New Orleans and Orlando. Las Vegas eventually become the preferred venue due to its location and hospitality options.
My How Things Change
An April 1963 article in Electronics World magazine stated that the domestic vacuum tube sales were expected to be between $230-270 million in 1963. Transistor sales were expected to be $289 million with integrated circuit sales expected to $10-20 million. Depending on which source searched, the global electronic components market size in 2023 was estimated between USD $363.93 billion and $484.6 billion. It is expected to reach between USD $700 billion and $848 billion by 2032.
And the Changes Continue
This year, the EDS Leadership Summit had to suddenly change venues and dates due to the Mirage, the home in recent years, announcing it will be undergoing a major remodeling and could not accommodate the conference this year. So, the electronic components industry dealt with another unexpected challenge; selected a new venue, adjusted some dates, and communicated the changes to roughly 4000 attendees now preparing to attend EDS 2024 at Resorts World from May 21 through May 24.
Somethings Don’t Change
EDS has impacted the electronic components industry in ways that no other show, exhibition or conference could. EDS is one of the most unique conferences and platforms where owners, presidents, VPs, marketing managers, sales managers, manufacturers, distributors, and sales reps gather to review past year performances, introduce new product introduction plans, discuss ways to improve sales performance and strategize to find new ways of competing and growing in an ever changing industry.
Whether meetings are conducted in a show floor booth, an upper floor suite, or even in an elevator ride, no conference has fostered more face-to-face business relationships, strengthened partnerships, and facilitated new business connections. This year will be no different. Meetings to discuss taking on new lines, presenting new product launches, discussing inventory adjustments and stocking programs, introducing new marketing promotions and honoring the previous year’s best performers, are all part of what makes EDS unique, and something to look forward to. What will be the new take aways from this year’s summit? How many action items will be on the list? What knowledge will be shared amongst friends that will impact the rest of 2024? Let’s find out next week.
Keystone Electronics will be in Conference Unit B-401. We look forward to seeing everyone there.
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