December 12, 2023
Left to right: Mary Crosslin, Kara Longmire and Beth Hoff Blackmer offer a toast at the Women in Rental Conference.
The American Rental Association (ARA) recently held its annual Women in Rental and Young Professional Network (YPN) conferences in Clearwater Beach, Fla. The Women in Rental event took place from Oct. 23-24, and the YPN Conference followed from Oct. 25-26. Both conferences were sold out, and attendees spent two days focused on networking and professional development with their rental peers.
See what some of the attendees who traveled from ARA’s Region Seven had to say about the events.
Tricia Steinbock, Best Event Rentals, Fort Collins, Colo., came back motivated
Steinbock, owner of Best Event Rentals, who serves on the ARA of Colorado board, has attended every ARA Women in Rental Conference because “I get to meet with my peers, whether in party or equipment, am able to talk, bounce ideas off them and ask questions. A lot of us find out we have the same issues about certain things. You might think you are alone in some issue, but it is nice to find someone else who has the same one and you can talk it out and come up with a solution,” she says.
Steinbock was impressed with Sara Ross, the keynote speaker, who presented “Activate Your Aliveness Factor.”
“She made me realize that people can get burned out in whatever industry they are in. When you recognize the signs of being burnt-out, you can do something to get yourself out of the situation. As women, especially as owners and managers, we put everything we have into our business and then go home and give everything to our families. You want to be successful but also want to be at home with your family. It can pull you in two different directions. There has to be balance everywhere. You don’t have to be everybody’s everything,” Steinbock says.
Amber Mathias, left, and Tricia Steinbock enjoy a quiet moment during the boat cruise. (Photo courtesy of Amber Mathias)
For Steinbock, “being with your peers can be uplifting. When you come back, you are motivated and refreshed. You learn and bring different aspects back so you can do better,” she says, adding, “I have it written on my calendar for the day registration opens next year so we can go.”
Amber Mathias, Best Event Rentals, Fort Collins, Colo., learned boundaries
Mathias, manager, “has been lucky enough to go every year with Tricia [Steinbock],” she says, adding that she comes back with great friendships.
“Every year I find I gain five or six more friends. It is amazing. We connect with those we know and meet some new gals who we have never met before. It is an opportunity to network and share ideas,” she says.
Like Steinbock, Mathias was impressed with Ross’s presentation. “She had a lot of great tips. My favorite one was allowing yourself time to take your lunch break, take your breaks and take time off from work. She talked about what you need in your life. Work is work and home is home. Don’t take your work home. Keeping that boundary is what I am implementing. It is easy to let it blur,” she says.
Another benefit was that “this location was amazing and the option to lay on the beach was awesome. You can’t beat that. It was something we all needed more than we realized,” she says.
Charles Burnette, Best Rental, Fort Collins, Colo., gained insights to benefit his business
Burnette, manager at Best Rental, who serves on the ARA of Colorado board, loves to go to the YPN Conference because “there are a wide range of people to network with. That is super-helpful. I learn a lot every year just from talking with others and learning about what other people do,” he says.
Artificial intelligence “wasn’t on our radar” until hearing James Taylor’s keynote presentation, “Supercreativity™: Augmenting Human Creativity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” Burnette says.
Both conferences offered plenty of networking opportunities with rental peers.
“After this, I think there are some things that could be easily implemented that would take some things off our plates on a daily basis. It is something we will look into now that I have some good ideas. One thing he talked about was a chat feature for your website that customers could use to easily find information rather than feeling like they have to call or search through the website. We do not have a chat feature. We will look into it. Another thing was to make email a quicker process. Monthly emails to customers can be time-consuming. That would be interesting to look at,” Burnette adds.
Another aspect of Taylor’s presentation addressed different ways to problem-solve. “He talked about how to get people together and think in different ways about what the problem is and what you are trying to solve. I think we [at Best Rental] are pretty open with people being able to contribute ideas. I think this will give us a step up in getting everyone together in how we are approaching problems and solutions,” he adds.
A dinner boat cruise was the perfect note to end the conference. “We saw the sunset. That was awesome — really cool. ARA does it up right for us,” he says.
