The American Rental Association (ARA) Women in Rental and Young Professional Network (YPN) conferences, held concurrently at The Scott Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz., Nov. 29-30, offered just what attendees were looking for — valuable networking, inspiration and insight into how to bring their best selves to both their personal and professional lives.
The two conferences offered combined receptions, meals and optional social activities, including hiking up McDowell Mountain, taking a pedal bike tour of historic Scottsdale, having a yoga experience, shopping or taking part in a “giving back” project. Women in Rental Conference attendees were able to help a local women’s domestic abuse shelter and YPN Conference attendees assisted active military abroad.
Dynamic speakers led interactive sessions that offered thought-provoking perspectives and problem-solving skill sets:
- At the Women in Rental Conference, Sara Frasca presented “The 3 Core Mindsets of Innovation.” Her workshop armed attendees with new, practical tools and fresh ideas for tackling problems and seizing opportunities.
- At the YPN Conference, Galen Emanuele presented “Transforming Impact: Next Level Leadership, Culture & Feedback.” His workshop showed attendees how to be effective leaders and impact others.
Attendees at both conferences left with new ideas, connections, resources and valuable tools. See what those from Region Eight had to say about their conference experiences:
“It’s great to be around industry peers, talk shop, catch up and see how everyone is doing,” says Kyle Tegner, CERP, president, Special Occasions, Corvallis, Ore., and a member of the ARA of Oregon board of directors. “It was very encouraging to see a lot of engagement from people across the country, age range for the group and positions within the industry.”
Tegner adds that Emanuele’s sessions were “excellent; our leadership team is already working through the process of taking our core values and applying them to what our team culture really is and how we can measure or see actions that are truly inside or outside of the culture we want. I just received a text from someone else who was at the conference mentioning how they had applied lessons learned from Galen to have a conversation with one of their technicians.”
Annie Ricci, MA, LMFT, MCC, co-owner of Bigfork Rentals in Bigfork, Mont., attended the Women in Rental conference and says it was a great opportunity for “women to connect with other women in the industry. I believe the networking and connections made through those networking opportunities were invaluable for the attendees. The speaker challenged us to embrace creative thinking to discover solutions outside the typical box we often try to brainstorm from. I think everyone walked away with new friends and new ways of thinking.”
The YPN gathering in Scottsdale was the first for Adam Sneed, co-owner, Big Sky Rents & Events, Kalispell, Mont., outside of The ARA Show™. “It’s been great,” he says. “The speaker was awesome and on top of it, I’ve gotten a lot out of the networking. It’s great to bounce ideas around with each other and I feel like I’m always learning from that part. The conference has helped bring me back to where I should be and shake things up from the regular parts of having a business — it kind of gives you the spark back. The conferences are one of the greatest things for the younger generation to get around others in the industry. It gives you motivation to try new things and keep going, so I would recommend it.”
Sneed also says he enjoyed taking part in the service project involving creating care packages for those serving in the military. “The military giveback definitely hits home, which is why we decided to participate in this project,” Sneed says. “We like to make a difference when we can, and this was a great way to do that.”
Click here to learn more about YPN. For information on Women in Rental, click here.