After a forced hiatus in 2020, members of the Florida equipment and event rental community were fired up to gather again at the ARA of Florida’s annual Summer Getaway event, hosted Friday, July 30-Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater Beach, Fla.
“This was a well-deserved break for us,” says Sharon Curlis, vice president, Rich Curlis Event & Party Rentals, Titusville, Fla. “Coming to this event was the first opportunity we have had in the last year-and-a-
half to get away. It was a good time to take a break from problems and enjoy some fellowship with like-minded people.”
The event offered a diverse schedule of events loaded with activities designed for both fun and rental business education.
The Summer Getaway kicked off on Friday evening with a welcome reception — the first opportunity for many attendees to catch up in person in the 17 months since The ARA Show™ 2020 in Orlando. The reception doubled as a retirement celebration for guest of honor Peggy DeFrancisco, past vice president of Taylor True Value Rental, Inverness, Fla., who also is a past ARA of Florida president and who served as American Rental Association (ARA) Region Three director from 2016-2019.
Saturday’s activities included educational sessions from Small Business Administration (SBA) expert Ami Kassar of MultiFunding; Rod Bristol from Profit Soup, who discussed business financial strategies; and Brian Taylor of Taylor’s Forklifts, who delivered a forklift certification and maintenance course. Equipment displays from industry vendor partners also were offered during the day.
Saturday evening’s main event was a continuation of the ARA of Florida’s themed parties, which have come to be a highly anticipated aspect of the Summer Getaway weekend. This year’s theme was “The Roaring '20s,” and the period gear donned by the participants showed that everyone was in the mood to have some fun.
More business education was on tap Sunday morning as Bill Ryan, an adviser with business management coaching firm tdtOne, delivered a presentation to cap off the weekend.
“It was nice to finally get back out meeting people face-to-face this year at the ARA of Florida weekend getaway,” says Tim Jamal, vice president, Jamco, Sanford, Fla. “I came back with many ideas to implement in our organization. I attended all the seminars, and each speaker presented in their own unique style various ways to take a deeper dive into current practices and strategies to improve profitability.”
As it was with Jamal, the chance to reconnect face-to-face with industry friends was a big incentive for Curlis’s attending of the Summer Getaway. For her, it was all part of the basket of benefits that go along with ARA membership.
“We all work together here in the Florida rental industry — it’s a wonderful family,” she says. “We’ve been in business for nearly 30 years and finding ARA, then joining as a member in 2016, was the best thing we’ve done. From ARA Insurance — which we switched over to, and feel more protected because of it — on down, we really enjoy it.”