It won’t be long until someone notes on social media that there are only 20 (or so) Fridays left until Christmas. That’s a bit of a stretch, since certain parts of the country have yet to enjoy consistently warm weather, and we still have a little more than three weeks until the official start of summer. As such, only the hardcore holiday followers can hear the sleigh bells ring.
However, we won’t begrudge Mike Stramaglio’s countdown until next February, when Executive Connection Summit (ECS) 2026 kicks off (coincidentally, on Super Bowl Sunday, so pun intended). Why look so far into the future? Two reasons: One, early bird registration is now open. Two, unlike jolly old St. Nick coming to town or the Philadelphia Eagles defending their title, finding ways for dealers to become more efficient internally and more competitive in the field is not a seasonal pursuit but rather a year-round quest.
Stramaglio, founder of ECS and half of the event’s one-two punch with Hiro Ueda, has been contemplating the conference since this past January’s gathering wrapped up. He’s also been taking the pulse of The Consortium, the industry group he founded alongside Ueda, to find ways to elevate ECS’ value proposition. He heard the requests to push the Summit back a few weeks, as Arizona is a bit chilly in the mornings and evenings in January. As a result, ECS 2026 returns to the Scottsdale Resort and Spa Feb. 8-11.
While Stramaglio doesn’t want to spoil the surprises for 2026, the 15th edition of the conference will have some notable wrinkles. In general, the ECS agenda will be loosened up a bit scheduling-wise in order for attendees to enjoy more meeting/collaboration time with fellow dealers, sponsors, source matter experts and keynote speakers.
ECS 2026 will feature a first when it comes to speakers. Pei-yu (Sharon) Chen, a chairperson and professor at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, will deliver a keynote address on AI that chronicles what the program is doing in terms of curriculum, technology partners and how students are leveraging AI. It’s part of ECS’ ongoing quest to perform deeper dives into the subjects that have the potential to impact the dealer community and their clients, and Stramaglio is particularly excited about her talk track.
“There are some exciting nuggets inside what she’s going to talk about,” he said. “It will be very uniquely constructed and offer a lot of value for the dealer.”
Stramaglio admits it is a tall task to ensure the content remains contemporary, relevant and exciting. Of the three buckets in ECS’ value proposition, technology is perhaps the toughest portion of the program. Advancing the conversations surrounding AI, quantum computing and data centers call for lots of research and identifying/securing source matter experts (such as Chen) who can clearly articulate and paint a picture of what developments could mean for dealer execs.
“People know about AI, quantum computing and data centers. Now we extract what’s new in that world,” Stramaglio said. “Attendees think, ‘You said this last year, but now where are we?’ They want to know if it’s working, whether it’s a good investment and what’s the potential impact on the dealer community. It’s up to us to find experts to articulate the story in an intelligent and businesslike manner.”
While technology is always a crowd please, ECS also dedicates time and content to the people inside the industry, the difference-makers, next-generation leadership and their inspirational stories. The third bucket brings it all home, offering dealers insights into business growth, profitability, hiring/recruiting, increasing efficiency and leveraging technology. All buckets/roads lead to bringing value and strategy to the dealer community.
ECS has already lined up three Platinum-level sponsors for 2026—Konica Minolta, GreatAmerica Financial Services and ConnectWise. Stramaglio anticipates further additions, both traditional and new partners.
Early bird registrants can enjoy a 20% discount through Aug. 31. Stramaglio anticipates a cap of around 320-340 attendees, so he encourages dealers to make sure they’ve carved out a spot for ECS 2026.
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