Canadian Rental Association President’s Message: Strong rental events fuel growth across Canada

I had the pleasure of attending the Atlantic show, The ARA show and the Prairie show. All these shows have a couple things in common, the first being professional and very informative plus some great bargains. For me though the most important feature is the networking that goes along with the gathering on the show floor and includes the social events.

At the Atlantic show we had our banquet, followed by an entertaining evening from three local comedians. In Orlando there was the Canadian Hospitality night at Cuba Libre with over 450 in attendance. A new record for attendance and everyone was enjoying themselves. This was followed by our regional reception, another sold-out event. The ARA show also featured many social events, Universal Studios and Jay Leno just to name a few. After this I wrapped up my show season with a trip to Edmonton for the Prairie show and banquet.

 All my life I have had people telling me how wonderful and friendly Maritimers are.  Well, I can tell you that the same can be said for rental people all around the globe. Over the past few months I have had the pleasure of spending time in meetings and social events with people from an lot of different places. I attended the Global Alliance meetings and dinner, had meetings and lunch with the ARA and of course attended all the Canadian events.

In all the conversation I had the pleasure to be included in there was a common theme: the future of the rental industry. Two items that kept coming up were technology and the younger generation (that’s what we old people call you under-40s). As I see it these are really one in the same as you cannot excel in one without the other.

As far as technology goes I think the best teacher and promoters are the under-40’s. Yes, they are the future of this and every other industry out there so we need to embrace them. We need to tap into those young brains for ideas and direction. There are things we can share with the younger generation they have things to share with us.

I would challenge everyone out there to step up and join your local board, whether you are younger than 40 or over 40. Share your knowledge and ideas. Take the step, teach each other. Tells us what you want. Tell us what you think.

According to the ARA Rental Market Monitor the Canadian rental market forecast over the next five years is 5.3 per cent growth. If we work together and share ideas and knowledge I think we can beat that number. But only if we do it as a team.

If we rely on each other then the rewards will come in the form of better business results which will spin off into more happiness and fun at the events mentioned above. We can do this, you can do this. Contact your local board. Share your ideas, or volunteer. The feeling you will get from being part of a successful event or helping out someone makes it all worth it. Add in the knowledge you will receive and the friends you will make and you won’t stop smiling.

Over the next year I hope to meet many more of you and be reacquainted with the people I have already met. I look forward to listening to your stories of success and sharing mine with you.