Top Stories of 2016: CRA Rental Rally Continues to Grow with Positive Las Vegas Show
The California Rental Association’s annual Rental Rally continued to grow with a show at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas, Jan. 26 through 28. Although official numbers are still being calculated, executive director Dale Blackwell told RER there were more than 400 preregistered attendees from more than 18 states, Canada, Mexico and Australia. Blackwell estimates about 450 attendees including onsite registrations, compared to about 300 a year ago.
There were 308 vendor booths displayed, compared to 187 a year ago. Vendors expressed appreciation for the efforts of CRA and the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of attendees. CRA organized a cocktail party on opening night as well as a variety-filled “crawl” that took in a number of Las Vegas nightspots.
The annual James Gartland Award, named for RER’s founder, was given to Patricia Sarris, CRA chairman and owner of A Party Center/Easy Rentals & Sales, as rental person of the year. The Bud Loeber Friendship Award, named for the late former CRA assistant executive director and presented annually to a CRA member who exhibits a positive and helpful attitude, was given to manufacturers’ rep Steve Soares, owner of Wirant Sales.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.