Should Your Party Rental Company Join Rental Organizations?
TNT’s Rental Tough Virtual Trade Show is in full swing this month, and despite the ARA Show having been moved to October, we’re offering discounts to ARA Members. But apart from these discounts, what are the benefits of memberships in rental organizations like the ARA and IAAPA? Should you consider signing up your rental company for membership?
At face value, membership in these rental organizations might not seem important. As a small business owner, you need to be careful with how and why you’re spending money, right? But there are big benefits to these memberships that can help your rental business thrive.
Let’s take a look at the two biggest rental organizations in our industry—the ARA and IAAPA—and examine what membership in these two groups can offer. Is membership worth the cost? Let’s find out!
Who Are the ARA and IAAPA?
The ARA, or the American Rental Association, is a massive global organization that connects rental operators like you with manufacturers and retailers. They represent event and party rental companies, as well as companies in countless other industries.
The ARA offers significant networking opportunities, educational resources, training seminars, and insurance and risk management resources. They lobby for governmental change through both a PAC (political action committee) and a legislative caucus. So your member dues will bring big perks not only to your own company, but our whole industry.
IAAPA—the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions—operates in a similar fashion as ARA, but their perks are a little more aligned with commercial inflatable rentals. IAAPA members get networking and education benefits, and rental proceeds help legislative lobbying as well. They also boast a large selection of helpful safety information.
Both the ARA and IAAPA host massive yearly trade shows. The ARA Show typically takes place in February, while the North American IAAPA show takes place in November.
These trade shows offer rental operators a great chance to interact directly with manufacturers and vendors. To look at and inspect equipment up close. And to chat with and share their experience with other rental operators in attendance. Read our article on these two similar (but separate) trade shows to learn more about them.
Which Rental Organization is Right For You? The ARA or IAAPA?
You may not want to join both organizations at the same time. Many of you will want to join one organization, then join the other later on. But which organization should you join first? That really depends on how your rental company operates.
Both organizations offer fairly universal benefits for their members, but they cater to slightly different niches within our industry.
You might want to join the organization that would better improve your existing operations. Or perhaps you’re looking to explore new avenues of party rentals, in which case your membership can help soften that transition for you.
Either way, rental organizations like the ARA and IAAPA bring loads of major benefits to their members, and their membership fees are definitely justified. Joining either the ARA or IAAPA will leave you more connected to the industry, better educated, and in a stronger position to enact change for the betterment of our entire community.
Click here to join the ARA, and click here to join IAAPA!
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The ARA’s benefits are better suited to those of you working primarily with party tents, folding tables and chairs, portable dance floors, etc. IAAPA membership is more targeted toward those working with commercial inflatables and inflatable games.
