September 16, 2024 • 53 mins
What makes an event truly unforgettable, even in the face of unexpected challenges like inclement weather? Join us for an in-depth chat with Charles Smitherman, CEO of APRO, as he pulls back the curtain on the immense planning and collaboration that made the recent RTO World in Orlando a grand success. Charles provides valuable insights into the intricate partnership between APRO and TRIB Group and the significance of pre-event activities like the legal summit and women's forum. These forums not only set the stage for the main event but also offer essential opportunities for industry engagement and learning.
What unique platform combines networking with meaningful discussions on industry challenges, particularly those faced by women? Discover the innovative "world cafe" concept and celebrate the growing representation of women in the rent-to-own industry, as highlighted by their dominance in the million-dollar store awards. We also explore the vibrant diversity brought by new vendors at the APRO show, offering a myriad of services and products ranging from furniture to credit card processing. The Women's Forum is spotlighted for fostering a supportive community among industry leaders, proving to be an invaluable part of the event.
Looking ahead, what makes Omaha, Nebraska, the perfect location for RTO World 2025? Unpack our conversation around the strategic choice of Omaha, benefiting from its central location and excellent convention facilities. We delve into the anticipated discussions on generational and legal issues within the RTO sector, featuring insights from Edwin, the "godfather of RTO," and Michael Helton of R,G, and Co. The episode also revisits the magical fundraising night at RTO World, where the community's enthusiasm helped raise $28,000 for the APRO Charitable Foundation. As we prepare for future events, the importance of camaraderie, feedback, and continuous improvement is underscored, ensuring that each RTO World surpasses the last.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hey everybody, welcome to the RTO Show.
I'm your host, pete Chow.
Today we're talking to CharlesSmitherman, the CEO and the man
of the hour at APRO.
And listen, we had a great RTOworld.
It was amazing.
Despite everything thathappened, charles, with the
weather and stuff, I think itturned out great.
(00:27):
I had a great time and we'redoing it again.
Right, this is Hello Orlando.
We've done Hello Indy.
Right, we're doing something alittle bit different.
And so as we go along and wetalk to everybody about
everything that's happened, Iwanted to always bring your
perspective in it, because it'sbeen such a great culture change
from what's happened to what'shappening.
(00:47):
How's everything going, charles?
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Good yeah, I'm finally decompressing a little
bit after a very busy Julygetting ready for the event and
then a very busy week in Orlandoand then a trip back to Orlando
last week for the BuddiesConference.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Let me ask you a question.
One of the things I want toknow, because a lot Orlando and
then a trip back to Orlando lastweek for the buddies conference
.
So let me ask you a question.
One of the things I want toknow, because a lot of people
don't understand this, is thereis a process that goes into
setting this up.
I mean you, you start almostlike a couple of years out and
then the year into it you reallyget narrowed in.
So there's there's a lot thatgoes behind this, behind the
scenes, to get you know the.
There's a lot that goes behindthe scenes to get the RTO World
(01:26):
2024, 2025, or what's coming upgoing right.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, I mean, it's a very in-depth process.
So we're booked we have 25 and26 booked and we're beginning
the process now to look for alocation for 27.
A location for 27.
So really, you know, beingthree years out is kind of the
norm right now in this kind ofevent space industry and making
(01:51):
sure we get a good venue and agood something that works for us
.
We've got kind of a criteria.
There are a number of kind ofthings that you know, essential
boxes that we need to check andthat we want to check, and so
it's just trying to find theright place and the right
(02:11):
location and something new.
We're not going back to thesame place every year, but it's
something we really just deliveron an exciting venue and
memorable venue.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
So which I think.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Orlando did.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So whose idea was Orlando?
So then back, you know you getto back up a couple of years.
Who's idea was early?
Was it your idea or was italready?
Was it already in the works?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
I inherited Orlando.
Fortunately, because that was a, it was a great choice for us.
I think the venue worked outexceptionally well.
I think so.
That was one, you know, kind ofcoming out post-pandemic.
There was a bit of a kind of areshuffle.
There was a high demand, therewas a lot of pinup demand from
people not having conferencesfor a couple of years, and so it
(02:56):
was hard to find a venue, andthen, fortunately, we had some
assistance in this location inOrlando to get it lined up.
So that was right before I gothere, and so next year will kind
of be the first one that youlucked out.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
You lucked out Well.
So something that I've alwayswanted to know is that.
So this is one of the biggestsituations that happen in the
tire, one of the biggestconventions, where everybody
gets together and all kinds,every manner of RTO, person and
owner and person likes to comein, vendors and all.
How is Trib directly associatedwith this?
(03:35):
Because I know that you knoweverything that happens is
either associated in some waywith APRO or some way with Trib,
and then this is a combinationeffort, right?
So how does that work?
Some way with APRO, some waywith TRIB, and then this is a
combination effort, right?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So how does that work ?
How does that happen?
Yeah, so a few years ago,whenever RTO World started, that
was a collaboration andpartnership with APRO and TRIB
Group.
Trib brings a lot of expertisein terms of putting on a great
expo.
Dennis and his team they reallydo a great job with that and so
I think there were a number offactors in play with really
(04:12):
trying to really have kind oftwo main RTO events.
I mean, we've got other onesrelated with.
Nationwide has their two eventseach year, Brandsforce has
theirs, Trib has their show inthe spring, and so APRO before
had its own show and then justthere was almost too much and I
(04:34):
think that a number of thosethings kind of led to the RTL
World Partnership, and so Ithink we're growing it each year
and I think we're gettingbetter and better each year and
that's always the goal we kindof been.
(04:54):
We're kind of in that processnow of the, the, the, the
autopsy, so to speak, of whatwent well, what didn't.
How can we make?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
it even better next year, right, right, right.
Well, I have to agree, we saidthere are a couple of things
that go on and then if you havetoo many it's almost too hard to
get to right, Because thenthere's so much going on, it's
like I can't be away from thatmuch, but it does seem like to
get grander and grander everyyear.
Talking about getting grander,we had a couple events that
actually took kind of placepre-Apro show, kind of like a
(05:22):
little bit early.
So we had the, the, the legalsummit, um, and and the women's
forum.
That kind of happened.
Can you describe a little bitlike where did these things come
from?
Like what, what brought theseon and what was the main factor
that was like we should havethis for them ahead of time?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Well, we, you know, we, we're.
We are bringing everyonetogether for these events and we
do have a number of things thatare important components of it,
with our education sessions onthe first day, the hot show, the
expo hall and all thenetworking that goes on in
between.
And what we really kind of seewith a lot of other conferences
(06:04):
and associations is the idea ofthe pre-conference, where it's
really opening up kind of deepdive, concentrated or pointed
discussions, meetings at thebeginning or really kind of the
day before the conferenceofficially opens, and so we
really wanted to kind of givethat a try.
And there were really twoimportant issues that came when
(06:26):
discussing what we could do.
That, I think, came out of it.
We usually run a legal track inthe education session, but the
idea of doing a really focusedthree-hour session on legal
issues and there are a lot ofthem and we've had a pretty busy
year and especially over thelast month, so there was a lot
(06:50):
of content and a lot of thingsthat really we wanted to really
get into and really invite bothAPRO members and non-APRO
members in to kind of have thisdiscussion really talk about
these issues that's reallyaffecting the industry and the
things that are on the horizonwith that.
So that was an idea that was putout there by Justin Hosey and
(07:14):
Daley Wilson from Hudson Cook.
We started talking about thisover a year ago the idea of
doing a really concentratedlegal summit and trying to bring
in all this expertise into thesame room and have that
conversation about how we focuson compliance and make the
industry stronger and safer bydiscussing those issues and
(07:36):
being aware of them.
So that was a big idea and abig step we took with that.
I feel like it was verysuccessful.
We had 83 registered attendeesfor it.
Honestly, I was hoping 25 or 30whenever we first kind of
started.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I was there.
I was there, I showed up.
I'm not going to lie, I showedup, because I want to explain
this a little bit.
So there's a panel, right.
So there's a panel of differentpeople and I'm guessing for
lack of better terms a bunch oflawyers who understood a lot
more of what happens behind thescenes in Rentone than I do.
And so you come in and you kindof introduce them and then you
give them a segment to reallykind of dive a little deeper
(08:14):
into each individual situationthat they have and why it's
important what they're talkingabout.
And so they start going intothis thing and it starts really
getting kind of deep.
How important is it then atthat point?
So when you have 83, versuswhat you thought of 25, 30, is
that considered a success?
Did we talk to the people thatwe need to?
(08:36):
Did we get it out there?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I mean I feel like, given the people that were in
the room that participated in,this, represents a large, I mean
a significant segment of theindustry on the legal and
compliance portion, whetherthat's in-house counsel for a
number of these companies,outside counsel with Hudson Cook
(09:01):
, burr and Foreman Pope Law Firmthat helped do the panel
discussions, and so, yeah, Imean that's kind of you know, we
there's a in terms of you know,our mandate with APRO is
protecting, safeguarding theindustry, and you can do that.
That's a multifaceted approach,whether it's going to Capitol
(09:23):
Hill and meeting withlegislators, but there's a lot
we can do in terms ofself-regulation and promoting
best practices internally.
That allows us to go up to DCand tell these guys you don't
need to regulate us becausewe're doing that ourselves.
And so, yes, I think, havingthe knowledge and the expertise
(09:44):
that was in that room discussingspecifically RTO issues I'm not
sure that's ever happened andyou know that was I think we got
a lot accomplished in seeingwhat those discussion points
were, what the differences were,where our common points are too
.
We can move forward off of that.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Charles, I got to tell you, okay, I got to tell
you it was great, I loved it.
But you know, when you'rewatching a football game and
there's somebody on the sidethat's kind of doing the
fingering thing, that they'redoing it in a language that
other people understand.
We need to do that for thelegal summit, for people like me
that show up, you just need tohave somebody inside.
This is what that means.
There was so much going on andit was so.
(10:27):
There was so much knowledge andso much factual situation going
on.
We're just like, oh my God,there is a, there's a world
beyond this that I don't.
I have no idea what's going on,and it was so great to hear,
but there there was a lot ofthings that I was like, oh my
God, I wish I had an interpreterover there to kind of, you know
, to special, tell me.
Hey, this is what that means.
If you have any questions, Ican tell you what that is.
So the legal part is a great hit.
(10:48):
I mean, we have them sitting upthere as a panel and they did a
great job, not only telling uswhat's going on, but kind of
talking to us about what wasbrought up, as individuals were
kind of saying, hey, this iswhat I think, or hey, what does
that mean, or hey, what's goingon with this, and they did a
great job of that.
How did that?
So we possibly go into nextyear doing this again.
(11:08):
Then we have the women's forumNow whole different situation,
and I wasn't able to be in thereas long as I wanted to.
I had a lot of setup and stuffgoing on and I kind of missed a
chunk of it.
Who was actually the bigspeakers in that one?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
So that was an interesting setup and I want to
just particularly mention JenTroke, who brought this idea
forward and really helped a lotand bring it into fruition, and
so she did a great job with that.
She had a vision for it and Ithink it really uh it lined up
(11:44):
with what that uh what, whatwhat we were hoping for, um.
So basically that was uh, therewas a panel discussion, uh at
the beginning and that was um,uh, uh Lauren Talitska, uh Kathy
Windsor and uh Julia Gonzalezuh led the panel discussion.
Uh, then I think that tookabout an hour and then everyone
(12:08):
broke up into roundtables and wehad a number of different
topics really up for discussion.
I think we called it like aworld cafe.
There was really kind of reallymixing a bit of a social aspect
with a really let's talk aboutsome important issues that are
facing the industry, facingwomen in the industry, some of
(12:31):
the challenges that they'refaced, and really just trying to
make some connections andnetworking.
I mean, we've got a greatconference.
There's a lot, we pack a lotinto a few days and so really
kind of giving that opportunitythat wasn't just a pure drinks
reception or hot show or runninginto someone on the trade show
(12:52):
floor.
It was a good way to bring agroup in to talk about some
common issues and some commonchallenges and solutions.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Talking about that female representation and how
important it is.
You've been doing this for alittle while now, so you can see
it.
We just need to be honest aboutit sometimes.
Do you see that maybe they'renot represented enough?
Maybe is this a male-dominatedindustry?
I kind of see that myself.
(13:23):
Something that I noticed when Iwas at the Buddies you know the
Buddies Better to Best and theconvention that just happened
last week or the week before,and so we were there and they
were giving away awards andyou've got to understand this,
because this shocked me to death.
They're giving away awards, andone of the awards that they
(13:43):
were giving away is the milliondollar stores, and so, as the
names are going on, I'm noticingthat there are a lot more women
up there than there are men.
Right, they're representing ahuge chunk.
I want to say, in mycalculations and my calculations
can be very, very off 65% or so, 60%, 65% it was dominated by
(14:06):
the women, and so it's like oneof those things like are we not
leveled out enough and what canwe do about that to get this to
happen?
And then I start thinking well,we had a woman's form, and that
is the greatest way to bringacknowledgement to that and say,
hey, you know what A little bitof diversity in the sense that
we could use to have somebodyspeaking on their behalf.
(14:27):
And listen, jen, amazing job,great idea.
I love what she does and shealways has the best ideas.
Anytime I need like a twominute idea, that's going to
take me from here to here.
I just call Jen and she's likeI'm like why did I think of that
?
But she does such a great joband so, as she was putting that
together, who else, who else,you say, spoke and you said
Lauren was there and I know thatwas Cindy High Duke a part of
(14:48):
that as well.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Cindy was there, tricia Fisher really helped,
kind of the co-chair, and we hada.
We had a committee that reallykind of helped develop, develop
the, the ideas and kind of bringthat together.
And yeah, I think that you know, I think RTO has a history of
(15:12):
some really great andinfluential women in terms of,
particularly on the APRO board,officers in APRO, yeah, and so I
think that you know, like Isaid, it's just really kind of
this was a way that wasdifferent than just running into
(15:32):
someone in the halls or hopingto meet someone or you hear
about someone.
This was a way to really bringa group together and to kind of
be able to get to know eachother.
And then I think, hopefully,you know, what we're going to
see is like a continuedcommunity that comes out of that
.
That will, you know, continueto grow and support each other.
(15:57):
And so, you know, I think thereare all types of groups and
people with specific interestsand specific things, and this is
one of those, and one that wefelt like was a really good
opportunity here, and there aremore, and I think that's
something that we want tocontinue to explore and promote
(16:17):
and try to do similar typethings in the future.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
I definitely agree with that.
So, speaking about new, so wedo the Legal Summit, we have the
Women's Forum, then we got abunch of new vendors that came
in.
I got some people that I reallydidn't know and I'm kind of
used to walking around andseeing the guys I know and there
was a few people that I didn'tknow who was new this year, who
(16:42):
was bringing something a littlebit different, with a little bit
of a different flavor,something that the APRO guys or
gals who are in there, the Tribmembers, should look at and go.
You know what?
They did have somethingdifferent.
They did bring something to thetable.
Who were those guys?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, I mean we had, I believe, 15 new vendors this
year and this is kind of thegreat thing about the APRO show
and this is really why that itis the largest show.
We had 107 total vendors.
That was up by, I think, fiveor six from last year, even
(17:16):
though we were in a smallerspace.
So you know the great thingabout the APRO show, it is open.
It's a great way for a companythat has a service, that has a
product, that has something thatwould be of interest or use for
the industry to come in and tryit.
You have to either be a Tribmember or an APRO member to come
(17:40):
into the show, but you know, itreally provides that chance to
test the waters and to see ifthere's traction, there's
interest with it, and we had afull range of that this year.
I mean that was a you know 15.
That's got to be kind oftowards our, I think, a higher
point.
You know, new furniture, newinsurance services, credit card
(18:04):
processing.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Yes, there was a lot.
There was a lot.
I actually did see theinsurance people and you guys
got to understand if you're notmade it to RTO world at any
point at this point, so youusually have the main vendor
hall and here we are to gettingto the vendor hall.
There's got at least 20 vendorsout there.
I want to say more, but therewas so many vendors just getting
(18:28):
to the hall and that's whathe's talking about Like we had
so much going on there that justgetting there there was left
and right.
There was so much being offered.
Then, as soon as you walkthrough the door, you've got
this floor plan of just amazingdifferent people and it's just
one of those things where youstart seeing a lot of new people
.
Now you got to let them know,cause I know that they're new
(18:48):
vendors.
Hey, not always everythinghappens in the first year.
People got to get to find outwho you are right and what kind
of what do you offer.
So you know, I always encouragenew vendors and if that's you
listen, guys keep coming back.
They open up, they want to knowwhat's going on.
If you didn't talk to somebody,then you might talk to somebody
new the next time you go andthey could possibly be using
(19:08):
your services.
So it was great to see all thenew vendors.
I mean, it was an amazingamount.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yeah, and I think we, you know, just all credit to
Dennis Shields.
He is a master at putting thesefloor plans together.
And you know, one of thechallenges we had with this
venue great venue, great hotel,just a great setup for us.
But the, with it being kind ofa hotel conference center, that
is usually on the smaller end ofwhat we need and so we were in
(19:35):
a more condensed space.
But I never felt it.
I don't know.
The exhibit hall looked amazing.
The exhibit hall looked amazingand with just everything, with
the drapes, the carpet,everything just looked great.
But then part of a necessity ofthat was we didn't have as much
(19:55):
room in the vendor hall so weoverflowed into that foyer space
and I think a lot of the newvendors really got a good taste.
You had to walk by thosetabletops and those, uh, the,
the 10 by 10s out in the foyertwice when you're on the way in
and then on the way out, and so,uh, we got to have a lot of
(20:20):
really good feedback from someof the new ones that were out
there and some of our you know,uh, veteran vendors too, that
that really got a lot of uh uh,uh saw, saw a lot of people
going in and got a chance totalk to people.
So that worked out really wellwith that and hopefully gave
some of our new guys a goodtaste for it.
But I'm with you, that's always, you know, one of the things
that this is a.
It's a good chance to come inwith the APRO show, but it's.
(20:40):
Or the with the RTL world, butit's also a, you know, it's a
bit of a commitment in that youreally need a couple of years to
really get a good taste for it,for people to see.
You trust you know that you'renot just kind of coming in and
maybe going the next day, so itprovides a really good chance
for that.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
So we're talking about the vendor space, we're
talking about how it is to getthere, we're talking about it
being in the hotel space and notwhere we're used to.
So then you guys got tounderstand.
This is my part of the show.
We had a live RTO show podcaststraight from the event and we
got moved to the back and it wasstill great.
(21:19):
It was an awesome time, but wegot a big room.
Instead of where I thoughtwe're going to be, we got a
really big room.
Charles, you had a chance.
You had a chance to co-host alittle bit.
How was that?
How did you feel about that?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
I you know I will not be quitting my day job anytime
soon.
I can tell you that it was alot harder than you make it.
Look on these shows.
But you know, I think I was theEd McMahon to your Johnny
Carson.
It played well.
Okay, it played well, a lotless funny but, yeah, played
(21:53):
good.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
So as you're up there right and you start seeing
people interact and you startseeing people have the questions
and kind of asking the panel,so we're going to go back to the
visual guys.
Right now you got to understandCharles and I sitting in front
of the room, we're sittingbehind the mics and we're in a
room full of people and then toour left there's four panelists.
Now these guys know whatthey're talking about, but they
(22:14):
were brought in to talk aboutdifferent sections of Rent to
Own and what they represent.
So at first we had Chip Guy soat the time the vice president
of Buddy's Home Furnishings,buddy Mac Holdings and he's
talking about AI.
Now this is something thateverybody in rental owners has
been talking to me about.
That has not changed at all.
(22:36):
Then Jerry Marshall gets to comein and he's talking about
growth despite what's going onand how to manage that growth
and when is a good time forgrowth, and he made some really
good points.
People was his main down.
Like people was the main point.
Then we had Ed Wynn talkinglegal counsel.
Wow, he kind of blew me away,did a great job.
(22:57):
As a matter of fact, he did abetter job than I expected.
So be looking to look out,because you will talk to Ed Wynn
.
We will talk to Ed Wynn soonbecause, let me tell you, he was
quite the superstar in what hehad to say.
And then Joe Luxick, talkingabout the differences between
generations and the buying powerand how they utilize that
buying power.
What are they focused on intoday's age and how we can shift
with that.
(23:17):
I couldn't think of four bettertopics or four people that
represented those topics any waybetter.
I mean, what are your thoughtson that?
What did you take out of that?
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Well, no, I love the format and really having.
I mean you did a great job withthe four people that you had
coming in, because you really Iwas sitting there taking notes
as well.
Not only it was a veryinteresting discussion, I mean,
I think all of them were verytopical and on point issues,
(23:48):
things that we all, you knowit's generational issues are
always a big thing.
Legal's always there hanging inthe background and you couldn't
(24:11):
have found anybody better thanthe godfather of RTO to come in
and talk about that.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Well, I mean, you know, when Edwin was talking,
you got to understand, no matterwhat you're doing and no matter
what's going on, when you're inone of those big studio
environments and you're your bigsettings, people talk, there
are things going on.
I have never seen somebody soquietly command a room in my
life.
When he started speaking, thevolume level in the entire place
(24:36):
, just it just started settlingand so he was able to keep just
a very, very regular tone and hejust kind of commanded the room
with the things that he wastalking about.
He was saying stuff that washappening in South Dakota, some
of the stuff that we talkedabout in New York, and it was
like he was just on top of it,fact after fact after fact, and
what was going on and how it'sgone through the years and why
(24:58):
we've done some of the things wedid.
And so Michael Helton he comesin and he's from RG Co and he's
got a lot going on and he's gota lot to say.
And he asked a very direct,solid question.
I won't get into that here, buthe asked a solid question and
without missing a beat, I thinkEd was able to tackle that just
straight on, Very, very to thepoint.
(25:18):
It was such a breath of freshair to have someone so
knowledgeable and be able tospit out the facts the way he
did and kind of control the room.
I was in awe.
I was like I don't know, maybehe should be sitting here
talking to us.
But so you don't think thatyou're going to be doing any
co-hosting anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Well, maybe next year , maybe next year, all right,
all right.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
That's the goal, hopefully.
Listen, guys, the way this isgoing we had such a good time
there.
I really believe that goinginto 2025 going we had such a
good time there.
I really believe that, goinginto 2025, rto World in Omaha
we're going to have a sessionfor you that's going to be way
better than this, and not justbecause of where it was or what
happened, but because you guysare so involved in what's going
on and you're such a part of itthat I can't believe that it
(26:00):
won't be anything more thanamazing come next year, because
I really think this is what it'sabout.
People want to hear the eventsand what's going on now, and
it's going to also give us alittle bit of time to get your
feedback.
Guys, if you ever have anyfeedback, please hit us up at
the show, the RTOPodcastcom, hitme up on the DMs, but let me
know what it is you want to knowabout, even if it's 12 months
(26:21):
out, because then I can get withCharles and we can find out
who's the right person to answerthose questions for you and
really put them on the show andmake that another situation
happen for the RTO World 2025.
So talk to me about Omaha alittle bit.
We were going from Orlando toOmaha.
It's a whole big difference,but then, like you said, it was
(26:41):
more of a hotel kind ofconference setting versus what a
convention center can do inOmaha.
So, besides the stakes, whatdoes Omaha bring to RTO World
2025?
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Well, we heard the concerns about hurricane season
in Florida.
So we are going to take thatout of the equation, swing the
complete other way of thependulum and be, hopefully knock
on wood in a hurricane safezone next year.
So I mean, omaha is one ofthose.
I think it's really kind of ablank slate in a lot of ways for
us, because not many peoplehave been.
You've either been or youhaven't had a reason to go, and
(27:25):
I think it's one of those placesthat you're probably not you
know, not necessarily on top ofthe list to go spend a weekend
or vacation.
But Omaha is a great, just agreat city.
It's about as central in theStates as we could get and they
have just a great setup for us.
(27:45):
I mentioned earlier, we're kindof looking at kind of criteria.
You know, one of our top thingsis we've got to have we're kind
of in a Goldilocks zone, wecan't have spaces too small,
which is lots of hotel,convention spaces or meeting
spaces, but we're not big enoughto go and do rent out, like you
know, the Atlanta WorldCongress Center with its a
(28:07):
million square feet of space.
So there's a you know, there'sa bit of a mix there that we
have to really play with andfinding that sweet spot.
We really have high prioritiesto try to get everyone, or as
many as possible, into one hotelwhere we've got kind of a
central place we're all staying,we've got, you know, common
(28:27):
areas to pass everyone, we'vegot a central bar restaurant
that we can kind of, you know,meet each other throughout the
event.
And so Omaha really we want tobe close, close enough to some
of our dealers and you knowOmaha was one of those places
that really checked a lot ofthose boxes.
(28:50):
It's got a great airport that'sless than five minutes from the
hotel.
We've got a convention centerthat is just an incredible
convention center.
They host, they've hosted a lotof events there and they've
hosted a lot of events there.
The US swimming Olympic timetrials, or Olympic trials, were
(29:15):
held there for several years.
They lost it this year toIndianapolis, but it's amazing
when you see them construct,like a convention center,
literally an Olympic sizedswimming pool.
So they've hosted that.
And it's also the home of theCollege World Series and the
College World Series stadium isliterally kind of almost in the
(29:37):
parking lot of the hotel.
So we've got a hotel everyonecan be in.
We've got a great conventionspace.
We've got something that'sclose to an airport, easy to get
in and out of College WorldSeries they're used to hosting
big events and it's got a greatdowntown local restaurants,
local bars.
It's just a great scene toreally kind of enjoy being
(30:01):
somewhere, not only just goingon a business trip.
That could be anywhere.
I think it would be a memorableevent in that respect and I'm
very confident people are goingto come out very well.
Omaha, that was a great placeto go to.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Well, I think I talked about it with Chaz
Fosdick a while ago and I'mgoing to say it to you If you
were to take the map of Americaand you were to throw a dart as
close to the center as you could, that would give you the
flyover state of Nebraska.
But, being that you have a lotof space where you can put a lot
of people, have a lot of eventspace where you can do things
(30:38):
that you haven't done before,and I'll tell you right now I
love what's going on with APRO.
It seems like every time weturn around, there's something
new going on.
I love what's going on withApril.
It seems like every time weturn around, there's something
new going on, and it's just oneof those things where it makes
it worthwhile for somebody to gosomewhere they haven't been,
learn things that they haven'tlearned, see people that they
haven't seen and talk to peoplethat they've wanted to talk to
(30:59):
but they couldn't have.
And that's why I love doing thepodcast, that's why I love
introducing people who are sohuge into the business and with
the people who may not have metthem before, not seen.
Hey, how does Ed Wynn play sucha role in my own career as an
account manager.
Well, the laws that we go byare probably helped, written and
(31:19):
passed by Ed and those things.
Wow, I didn't know that, and Ilove passing that knowledge on
to people because it really justgets them to understand there
is so much of a world out therethat they just don't know about,
and so the idea of the show wasalways to bring that to the
forefront.
So going to Omaha can't wait.
I'm actually looking forward toit.
If you guys are looking forwardto it too, make sure that you
(31:39):
get a hold of me and let me know, because I'd love to have all
kinds of show ideas come thenext 12 months.
Talking about show ideas, weleft sunny Florida, we went all
the way to Omaha.
We got all the good things.
What's with the executivechallenge and how will it be
next year?
Come on, spill the beans.
If you guys didn't see theexecutive challenge, it was all
over the internet.
But, charles and listen, dennisand you guys play a pretty good
(32:05):
Laurel and Hardy man, I'm goingto tell you right now.
I saw you guys on stage.
You guys were singing.
Let's break into this first.
So right now, the executivechallenge came towards the last
day, but there was fundraisingthat happened during one of the
nights of RTO World.
Can you explain that a littlebit?
And then, what was the prizethat everybody got to have if we
(32:25):
met that goal?
Speaker 2 (32:27):
So you know the well we had the venue for the
experience party and theexperience party is kind of
always the, the, the you know wehave.
We have it the last night ofthe show or the event.
Um, always try to do somethingkind of with a local flair or
something hopefully that'smemorable.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
So you it was memorable, charles, it was
memorable.
I want to put a picture up justso you know I'm going to put a
picture up of what happened thatnight.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
But yes, it was definitely memorable well, that
way, you know, you, you canremember rto world 2024 in
orlando, uh, and so that was, uh, you know, it was a great venue
for us because it was basically, you, you know, we were on
universal property and this wason site, easy to get to with the
boat or the bus or walking onthe path, and it was just a
(33:14):
great venue.
And so we kind of, you know, wehad three bars and a nice
common area with a DJ and stiltwalkers and food common area
with a DJ and stilt walkers andfood.
But I think the idea kind ofcame to us that we were, hey,
we're having, you know, we'regoing to have 500 plus people at
this event and we've got anopen bar.
(33:35):
We've also got a karaoke andlike a not just a karaoke, like
a professional backup singer,band, lights, everything in a
theater type setting.
And so we kind of, you know,we're always looking for
something fun, fun ways to do.
Particularly you can throwfundraising in.
(33:55):
And you know, with us we've withAPRO, we have the APRO
Charitable Foundation, whichsupports really two things.
It's really two things.
One, scholarships for the RTOfamily, whether that's anyone
that's an employee of an RTOcompany is eligible.
Their children of them areeligible, they're seeking any
type of higher education, tradeschool, things of that nature.
(34:17):
We also have a disaster relieffund that, if anyone in the RTO
family is ever involved in sometype of an event with involves a
major loss, that there is somesupport to help get them back on
the feet.
This is all member funded, allsupported.
But we really started.
(34:37):
Look, we've just gone through around of scholarships.
We do that every summer.
We finally hit the 1.1 millionmark this year and $1.1 million
in scholarships that the APROCharitable Foundation has given
out.
And you know we're alwayslooking at ways to kind of do
(34:57):
some fundraising to generatesome more money so we can give
out more scholarships, and OpenBar and Karaoke provided a good
opportunity to do that.
Yeah, that was it.
Yeah, yeah.
So I, we kind of I went to myteam with the idea and I I kind
of workshopped it with dennisand a few other people before
(35:20):
and they were like, yeah, okay,this sounds good.
Well, I went to my team andthey came up with the whole idea
of.
I went in with one idea.
They came back and said we'regoing to do it this way and then
, oh, by the way at the, if weget to the fifteen thousand
dollar mark, you and dennis haveto.
You and Dennis have to end theevening with a song, guys you
got to understand how it works.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
So there's levels, right, and as the night's going
on, and when it first got on itwas running a little slow and
the fundraiser wasn't oneverybody's mind, because what
is everybody doing?
They're going to the bar,they're saying hi to everybody,
they're meeting people that theyhaven't seen in a while, and so
it started off kind of slow,and so we're like we've got to
figure out how we can get theselevels going, because at
different levels we had DanFisher singing, we had Jerry
(36:03):
Marshall singing right.
So, depending on what level,you got to depend on who you got
to see listen.
Nobody wanted to see Charlesand Dennis sing more than me and
Joe, right, and Joe wanted tosee it too.
So we go over there, we getonline and Joe Lux, he can
listen, he loves the business,he loves everything that's going
on, and he's like hey, pete, weshould do this.
So we get in there and now we'recheerleading this on, we're
(36:24):
trying to get stuff going, andthen it starts picking up, and
so, before we know it, we'rejumping spots.
They're like okay, we, thisperson's supposed to sing
because they're already on thisperson.
And so there's so many thingsgoing on and there's so many
people.
Cleek is up there, all thesepeople are up there and we get
to the end of the night and thenCharles and Dennis, hand in
(36:46):
hand, get to sing Sweet Caroline, and let me tell you.
So everybody's going on and Ithink I lost part of my voice
that night.
So me and Joe are in the front,we're trying to cheerlead and
we're just getting it on, and itwas so great because we went
from 15,000 to what?
25,000.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (37:01):
We ended up topping out at 28,000.
Wow, wow.
So we almost doubled the goal.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Listen, guys, it's not possible without people like
you to help, and it's soimportant because we don't do
this ourselves.
Listen, APRO is not for profitand I'll tell you right now the
RTO show is definitely not forprofit.
We do this because we love Rentto Own and the reason that we
get you guys involved is becausewe need your help.
And it was so amazing to seeeverybody get together and hit
that goal 15,000.
(37:29):
I was like wow, we had 20,000.
I was shocked by the time thatwe're singing Sweet Caroline,
we're hitting these 25,000.
It was just amazing to seeeverybody come together and be
so supportive for theseemergency funds and for these
scholarships, because it reallyis one big family in RTO.
We're trying to make this work.
(37:49):
And so you guys got tounderstand I will be posting up
a couple more pictures of that,Charles, because everybody's got
to see you and Dennis singing.
And then, of course, as we getthrough that and we raise the
money for the foundation, thenthe next day we got the
executive challenge.
So, although we're showingcamaraderie that night and we're
(38:11):
singing together, then we gotto head to head.
So talk to me a little bitabout the executive challenge
and where that, where that endedup because it was all over the
place, quite literally all overthe place.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
So we I guess last year was the first year we did
it we're you know we're alwayslooking for some ways to try to
make the last morning of theexpo uh, increase some traffic,
make it a little bit moreexciting, you know.
So that was.
It was kind of an idea that wewould do some type of a friendly
competition, and Jennifer Moorereally takes the lead on coming
(38:48):
up with those challenges anddoes a good job of not telling
myself or Dennis what those aregoing to be, so we kind of find
out what they are.
That's awesome At the time ofpresentation.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
So you guys got to understand there was a couple of
different things going on.
So what was the first challengelike?
Speaker 2 (39:10):
So the first one was kind of a beer pong without the
beer.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
We know you've been to college, charles.
I will not tell you how well hedid or did not do, but the beer
pong challenge was awesome.
We were making that happen,dennis, a pro himself.
I don't know where he gets itfrom, but it was a pretty good
challenge.
It was fun to see, becausethere was actually no alcohol
involved, which that might havechanged things up a little bit
too much, but that was so muchfun.
So then, who won that challenge?
Speaker 2 (39:44):
You know, I think we may have tied on that one.
I think it was one of those.
We had to dump some ping pongballs out of a tissue paper box,
whoever got them in as quick aspossible.
It was very close.
I think the the the entirething was pretty close.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
It was.
It was close.
So they start off, hands tied,they get the balls out, they're
shooting it and then, as you'regoing from event to event, it
was like three events total,right, or was it four, four or
five?
I think four or five.
I think yeah.
So the last event, you got tounderstand it.
One of them ends up withcharles with a balloon sticking
to his chest as he goes back.
He looks like an you know arendition of alien with a
balloon coming out.
(40:22):
It was amazing to see and itwas fun to watch.
But, in all honesty, it wasgreat to see how you and dennis
were able to come together anddo this, uh, and when I say that
you and dennis, therepresentatives of APRO and TRIB
to get this done kind ofseamlessly and I've got to say
thank you to Dennis and thankyou to TRIB and yourself so, as
(40:43):
things were going on, one of oursponsors who was literally
sitting in front of the vendorhallway, or the vendor hall
right at the end of the hallway,was Gerard Norman, marketing,
and so, because we're teamed upwith them, we got to set up the
booth there and we literallywere able to have several people
talking to us about what wasgoing on and their thoughts of
(41:04):
the show and their thoughts ofwhat they did.
And we have marketers there andwe had people from other
businesses and we had singlestore owners and Chad Foswick
was there and there was just somuch going on.
This was an event to be had.
And and Chad Fawcett was thereand there was just so much going
on.
This was an event to be had.
And I'm so glad that we get todo these renditions and going
back over them and how we didthis and how crazy it was.
But also kind of be remindedthat camaraderie in the RTO
(41:27):
world and when I say that, Imean I don't know kind of pun
RTO world because of RTO worldand things like Trib being able
to be a part of it and Aprilbeing able to be a part of it,
having these new vendors there,having a lot of people who we
can say, hey, you know what theywere new to the industry and
this can give them a taste andthey don't have to be full on in
but you get to see, hey, isthis something I want to do, is
this something that I want to bea part of?
(41:48):
And the camaraderie thathappens in those situations when
you have old vendors and newvendors, people that are coming
up, people that are leaving, andthey get to all see this space
all together.
We get to see the legal summit,we get to hear about why we're
there, what we get to learn.
Then you get to break off inthese sessions and you really
get to hear from people who havedone it and keep doing it and
doing it well, and every year wehave these new topics that get
(42:10):
brought up and you know what.
We get to talk about all thesenew things together as a team.
And one of these breakouts well,part of the breakout sessions
is participation.
Right, if you have a question,you get to join in and you get
to say, hey, what about this, orwhat's going on with that, or I
had a question about this andyou're in a safe space.
It's okay to have one of thosequestions and you'll have
(42:31):
somebody who has the expertisein that area really be able to
break it down to you for you, orsay you know what?
I don't have an answer to that,but I can bring it up to
several people who have beendoing this for years, for
literal decades, sometimesgenerations, and maybe we can
give you a better answer soon.
In all cases, I'm going to, inall honesty, I'm going to say I
think the best part was the RTOShow Live podcast, but
(42:53):
everything else was so great andit was so nice to be a part of
it.
That was one facet of what wasan excellent RTO World
Convention.
I got to tell you, charles, Ithink it is.
I'm worried that you're goingto get to a point where, like I
don't know how to top this lastyear, we're going to have to
figure it out.
There's going to be so muchgoing on.
You know what?
Because it's heading thatdirection.
(43:14):
I think it's heading in theright direction.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
I really do yeah, I mean, that's always the.
That's the challenge I think weall we want to make how to make
it better whenever, especiallycoming off of something like
this.
I mean, I think, just from this, from start to uh, from our
opening keynote with louisgravance, and that was uh, uh,
that that was probably one ofthe best, if not the best,
keynotes I've ever seen, andthat was going through all the
(43:40):
education, all the networkingthat took place, and so, yeah, I
mean, that's what we're, youknow, we're literally our RTO
World Committee is meeting nextweek to, you know, to digest the
feedback and what went well.
We do Glows and Grows what wasgreat and more things we can get
(44:01):
better at.
That's our focus is justcontinue to do better.
I think we've got a great venuenext year.
It's going to be something newfor everyone.
It's going to be just a greatsetup for us.
I'm very excited about Omahaand our 2025 show coming up.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Well, listen, everybody, I do want you to know
.
You probably got something inyour emails that said hey, how
was RTO World and how can wemake it better?
If you weren't able to get tothat email, because I think the
time frame is already closed,feel free to email me at the
show.
Hit me up at Pete at the RTOshow podcast.
Send me an email.
You can also DM me at Facebook,instagram and LinkedIn we're
(44:42):
pretty big on all thoseplatforms and send me a message
and say, hey, I missed it, butthis is something that I'd like
to see, or this is somethingthat I thought it could be
better, and I will definitelypass that along for you because,
listen, we want to make thisbetter for you.
We want you to learn, we wantyou to buy, we want you to enjoy
.
This is a time when everybodygets together for the betterment
of rto, and hence the name rtoworld 2024, going into 2025.
(45:05):
Charles, it's always a pleasureto have you on.
I'm one of these days.
You're going to be right here,we're going to be talking to
people and it's going to be I'mgoing to get you to kind of
co-host a couple more for me.
We have a lot of good thingscoming up at least once a year.
Right, when it comes to RTOworld, we're at least going to
be a part of that because, yes,everybody, I'm going to drag
Charles into this and make surethat he does it.
(45:25):
He does it with me because hedid a great job.
And, number two, you're not sofar away that somebody feels
like they can't talk to you andI can't tell you that I've met a
lot of CEOs and I've met a lotof people who are they're not
bad people, but they have somuch going on that they're kind
(45:45):
of like away from it, and so yousometimes find it hard to talk
to them and get your maybe yourideas out of your points across
across.
Or you don't feel like, if youtold that person what your idea
is or what you thought might bebetter, that anybody's listening
, they might hear you, butthey're not listening.
And I think you embody thatvery well.
I think you have a very openstandpoint.
(46:05):
I think people feel like theycan go to you and say, hey,
charles, this is what I thinkwas going on, and good or bad, I
mean it doesn't mean thateverything gets put in there.
I mean I don't think we'regoing to have a lot of drawing
and 2025, but it's one of thosethings that being so
approachable and being so downto earth gives you that leg up
on somebody who, you know when,when they don't have.
That it's listen, it's a, it'sa bringing of culture and people
(46:26):
.
Right, and people make RTOworld.
Without you, guys, we wouldn'thave it.
So, to make it better for you,send me any suggestions that you
have.
If not, you can also feel freeto hit up April.
I think.
If you hit up with me first,I'm just going to put a little
slide to it.
I'm going to say, hey, this iswhat, this is what my guys are
thinking, and let's make thathappen.
Charles, always good to haveyou on, always good to to have
(46:48):
you a part of what's going on.
Listen is is there anythingthat you can tell us right now
about our TRL World 2025?
A little bit of a secret that'sgoing to happen over there.
Or should we just wait in thewinds and hopefully we're going
to get an email soon?
Speaker 2 (47:06):
Well, we're starting now on getting ready for it.
I mean I can tell you that I'mpretty excited.
I don't have a contract inplace yet to be able to share
where the experience party isgoing to be, but I'm pretty
excited about some of the Omahaexperience is going to be an
exciting event not to miss.
(47:27):
I think Omaha is just going tobe a really good spot for us.
I think it's going to be a cooltown, a really great place to
visit.
But we have set the goal andwe'll be working hard towards
making it the best one yet, andthat's growing and continuing to
(47:52):
do some cool things, like wedid this year with the RTO show,
like we did with some of thefundraising things I mean just
trying to introduce, like we didwith the pre-conferences.
So you know, we're very opentowards kind of these, trying
some new things and really kindof making this a great
experience and because, like yousaid is, this is the biggest
(48:14):
gathering of rto of the year andum, and we can do that and make
it a great.
You know, bring that communitytogether, uh, and share
experiences, network, uh, do funthings together, buy some
things, uh, you know all allthose things, learn some things.
(48:36):
When you kind of combine allthat in that's, that's the keys
to success for a great show.
So so I'm excited.
I think you'll be hearing moreand more as we kind of hype and
promote it over the comingmonths, and then we'll be ready
to do this all over again nextAugust.
Speaker 1 (48:54):
Well, listen, guys, next year we're going to be
having Hello Omaha.
It's going to be comingstraight to you.
If you guys have any questions,any ideas or anything that you
want to talk to Charles aboutagain, feel free to hit up the
show at Pete atTheRTOShowPodcastcom, Hit us up
on the DMs and I'm going to tellyou Charles, you're going to
have to stay with me this nextyear, but everybody this next
(49:17):
year, but everybody, get yourcollections low, get your sales
high.
Hey everybody, welcome to the RTO Show.
I'm your host, pete Chow.
Today we're talking to CharlesSmitherman, the CEO and the man
of the hour at APRO.
And listen, we had a great RTOworld.
It was amazing.
Despite everything thathappened, charles, with the
weather and stuff, I think itturned out great.
(00:27):
I had a great time and we'redoing it again.
Right, this is Hello Orlando.
We've done Hello Indy.
Right, we're doing something alittle bit different.
And so as we go along and wetalk to everybody about
everything that's happened, Iwanted to always bring your
perspective in it, because it'sbeen such a great culture change
from what's happened to what'shappening.
(00:47):
How's everything going, charles?
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Good yeah, I'm finally decompressing a little
bit after a very busy Julygetting ready for the event and
then a very busy week in Orlandoand then a trip back to Orlando
last week for the BuddiesConference.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Let me ask you a question.
One of the things I want toknow, because a lot Orlando and
then a trip back to Orlando lastweek for the buddies conference
.
So let me ask you a question.
One of the things I want toknow, because a lot of people
don't understand this, is thereis a process that goes into
setting this up.
I mean you, you start almostlike a couple of years out and
then the year into it you reallyget narrowed in.
So there's there's a lot thatgoes behind this, behind the
scenes, to get you know the.
There's a lot that goes behindthe scenes to get the RTO World
(01:26):
2024, 2025, or what's coming upgoing right.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, I mean, it's a very in-depth process.
So we're booked we have 25 and26 booked and we're beginning
the process now to look for alocation for 27.
A location for 27.
So really, you know, beingthree years out is kind of the
norm right now in this kind ofevent space industry and making
(01:51):
sure we get a good venue and agood something that works for us
.
We've got kind of a criteria.
There are a number of kind ofthings that you know, essential
boxes that we need to check andthat we want to check, and so
it's just trying to find theright place and the right
(02:11):
location and something new.
We're not going back to thesame place every year, but it's
something we really just deliveron an exciting venue and
memorable venue.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
So which I think.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Orlando did.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So whose idea was Orlando?
So then back, you know you getto back up a couple of years.
Who's idea was early?
Was it your idea or was italready?
Was it already in the works?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
I inherited Orlando.
Fortunately, because that was a, it was a great choice for us.
I think the venue worked outexceptionally well.
I think so.
That was one, you know, kind ofcoming out post-pandemic.
There was a bit of a kind of areshuffle.
There was a high demand, therewas a lot of pinup demand from
people not having conferencesfor a couple of years, and so it
(02:56):
was hard to find a venue, andthen, fortunately, we had some
assistance in this location inOrlando to get it lined up.
So that was right before I gothere, and so next year will kind
of be the first one that youlucked out.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
You lucked out Well.
So something that I've alwayswanted to know is that.
So this is one of the biggestsituations that happen in the
tire, one of the biggestconventions, where everybody
gets together and all kinds,every manner of RTO, person and
owner and person likes to comein, vendors and all.
How is Trib directly associatedwith this?
(03:35):
Because I know that you knoweverything that happens is
either associated in some waywith APRO or some way with Trib,
and then this is a combinationeffort, right?
So how does that work?
Some way with APRO, some waywith TRIB, and then this is a
combination effort, right?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So how does that work ?
How does that happen?
Yeah, so a few years ago,whenever RTO World started, that
was a collaboration andpartnership with APRO and TRIB
Group.
Trib brings a lot of expertisein terms of putting on a great
expo.
Dennis and his team they reallydo a great job with that and so
I think there were a number offactors in play with really
(04:12):
trying to really have kind oftwo main RTO events.
I mean, we've got other onesrelated with.
Nationwide has their two eventseach year, Brandsforce has
theirs, Trib has their show inthe spring, and so APRO before
had its own show and then justthere was almost too much and I
(04:34):
think that a number of thosethings kind of led to the RTL
World Partnership, and so Ithink we're growing it each year
and I think we're gettingbetter and better each year and
that's always the goal we kindof been.
(04:54):
We're kind of in that processnow of the, the, the, the
autopsy, so to speak, of whatwent well, what didn't.
How can we make?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
it even better next year, right, right, right.
Well, I have to agree, we saidthere are a couple of things
that go on and then if you havetoo many it's almost too hard to
get to right, Because thenthere's so much going on, it's
like I can't be away from thatmuch, but it does seem like to
get grander and grander everyyear.
Talking about getting grander,we had a couple events that
actually took kind of placepre-Apro show, kind of like a
(05:22):
little bit early.
So we had the, the, the legalsummit, um, and and the women's
forum.
That kind of happened.
Can you describe a little bitlike where did these things come
from?
Like what, what brought theseon and what was the main factor
that was like we should havethis for them ahead of time?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Well, we, you know, we, we're.
We are bringing everyonetogether for these events and we
do have a number of things thatare important components of it,
with our education sessions onthe first day, the hot show, the
expo hall and all thenetworking that goes on in
between.
And what we really kind of seewith a lot of other conferences
(06:04):
and associations is the idea ofthe pre-conference, where it's
really opening up kind of deepdive, concentrated or pointed
discussions, meetings at thebeginning or really kind of the
day before the conferenceofficially opens, and so we
really wanted to kind of givethat a try.
And there were really twoimportant issues that came when
(06:26):
discussing what we could do.
That, I think, came out of it.
We usually run a legal track inthe education session, but the
idea of doing a really focusedthree-hour session on legal
issues and there are a lot ofthem and we've had a pretty busy
year and especially over thelast month, so there was a lot
(06:50):
of content and a lot of thingsthat really we wanted to really
get into and really invite bothAPRO members and non-APRO
members in to kind of have thisdiscussion really talk about
these issues that's reallyaffecting the industry and the
things that are on the horizonwith that.
So that was an idea that was putout there by Justin Hosey and
(07:14):
Daley Wilson from Hudson Cook.
We started talking about thisover a year ago the idea of
doing a really concentratedlegal summit and trying to bring
in all this expertise into thesame room and have that
conversation about how we focuson compliance and make the
industry stronger and safer bydiscussing those issues and
(07:36):
being aware of them.
So that was a big idea and abig step we took with that.
I feel like it was verysuccessful.
We had 83 registered attendeesfor it.
Honestly, I was hoping 25 or 30whenever we first kind of
started.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I was there.
I was there, I showed up.
I'm not going to lie, I showedup, because I want to explain
this a little bit.
So there's a panel, right.
So there's a panel of differentpeople and I'm guessing for
lack of better terms a bunch oflawyers who understood a lot
more of what happens behind thescenes in Rentone than I do.
And so you come in and you kindof introduce them and then you
give them a segment to reallykind of dive a little deeper
(08:14):
into each individual situationthat they have and why it's
important what they're talkingabout.
And so they start going intothis thing and it starts really
getting kind of deep.
How important is it then atthat point?
So when you have 83, versuswhat you thought of 25, 30, is
that considered a success?
Did we talk to the people thatwe need to?
(08:36):
Did we get it out there?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I mean I feel like, given the people that were in
the room that participated in,this, represents a large, I mean
a significant segment of theindustry on the legal and
compliance portion, whetherthat's in-house counsel for a
number of these companies,outside counsel with Hudson Cook
(09:01):
, burr and Foreman Pope Law Firmthat helped do the panel
discussions, and so, yeah, Imean that's kind of you know, we
there's a in terms of you know,our mandate with APRO is
protecting, safeguarding theindustry, and you can do that.
That's a multifaceted approach,whether it's going to Capitol
(09:23):
Hill and meeting withlegislators, but there's a lot
we can do in terms ofself-regulation and promoting
best practices internally.
That allows us to go up to DCand tell these guys you don't
need to regulate us becausewe're doing that ourselves.
And so, yes, I think, havingthe knowledge and the expertise
(09:44):
that was in that room discussingspecifically RTO issues I'm not
sure that's ever happened andyou know that was I think we got
a lot accomplished in seeingwhat those discussion points
were, what the differences were,where our common points are too
.
We can move forward off of that.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Charles, I got to tell you, okay, I got to tell
you it was great, I loved it.
But you know, when you'rewatching a football game and
there's somebody on the sidethat's kind of doing the
fingering thing, that they'redoing it in a language that
other people understand.
We need to do that for thelegal summit, for people like me
that show up, you just need tohave somebody inside.
This is what that means.
There was so much going on andit was so.
(10:27):
There was so much knowledge andso much factual situation going
on.
We're just like, oh my God,there is a, there's a world
beyond this that I don't.
I have no idea what's going on,and it was so great to hear,
but there there was a lot ofthings that I was like, oh my
God, I wish I had an interpreterover there to kind of, you know
, to special, tell me.
Hey, this is what that means.
If you have any questions, Ican tell you what that is.
So the legal part is a great hit.
(10:48):
I mean, we have them sitting upthere as a panel and they did a
great job, not only telling uswhat's going on, but kind of
talking to us about what wasbrought up, as individuals were
kind of saying, hey, this iswhat I think, or hey, what does
that mean, or hey, what's goingon with this, and they did a
great job of that.
How did that?
So we possibly go into nextyear doing this again.
(11:08):
Then we have the women's forumNow whole different situation,
and I wasn't able to be in thereas long as I wanted to.
I had a lot of setup and stuffgoing on and I kind of missed a
chunk of it.
Who was actually the bigspeakers in that one?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
So that was an interesting setup and I want to
just particularly mention JenTroke, who brought this idea
forward and really helped a lotand bring it into fruition, and
so she did a great job with that.
She had a vision for it and Ithink it really uh it lined up
(11:44):
with what that uh what, whatwhat we were hoping for, um.
So basically that was uh, therewas a panel discussion, uh at
the beginning and that was um,uh, uh Lauren Talitska, uh Kathy
Windsor and uh Julia Gonzalezuh led the panel discussion.
Uh, then I think that tookabout an hour and then everyone
(12:08):
broke up into roundtables and wehad a number of different
topics really up for discussion.
I think we called it like aworld cafe.
There was really kind of reallymixing a bit of a social aspect
with a really let's talk aboutsome important issues that are
facing the industry, facingwomen in the industry, some of
(12:31):
the challenges that they'refaced, and really just trying to
make some connections andnetworking.
I mean, we've got a greatconference.
There's a lot, we pack a lotinto a few days and so really
kind of giving that opportunitythat wasn't just a pure drinks
reception or hot show or runninginto someone on the trade show
(12:52):
floor.
It was a good way to bring agroup in to talk about some
common issues and some commonchallenges and solutions.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Talking about that female representation and how
important it is.
You've been doing this for alittle while now, so you can see
it.
We just need to be honest aboutit sometimes.
Do you see that maybe they'renot represented enough?
Maybe is this a male-dominatedindustry?
I kind of see that myself.
(13:23):
Something that I noticed when Iwas at the Buddies you know the
Buddies Better to Best and theconvention that just happened
last week or the week before,and so we were there and they
were giving away awards andyou've got to understand this,
because this shocked me to death.
They're giving away awards, andone of the awards that they
(13:43):
were giving away is the milliondollar stores, and so, as the
names are going on, I'm noticingthat there are a lot more women
up there than there are men.
Right, they're representing ahuge chunk.
I want to say, in mycalculations and my calculations
can be very, very off 65% or so, 60%, 65% it was dominated by
(14:06):
the women, and so it's like oneof those things like are we not
leveled out enough and what canwe do about that to get this to
happen?
And then I start thinking well,we had a woman's form, and that
is the greatest way to bringacknowledgement to that and say,
hey, you know what A little bitof diversity in the sense that
we could use to have somebodyspeaking on their behalf.
(14:27):
And listen, jen, amazing job,great idea.
I love what she does and shealways has the best ideas.
Anytime I need like a twominute idea, that's going to
take me from here to here.
I just call Jen and she's likeI'm like why did I think of that
?
But she does such a great joband so, as she was putting that
together, who else, who else,you say, spoke and you said
Lauren was there and I know thatwas Cindy High Duke a part of
(14:48):
that as well.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Cindy was there, tricia Fisher really helped,
kind of the co-chair, and we hada.
We had a committee that reallykind of helped develop, develop
the, the ideas and kind of bringthat together.
And yeah, I think that you know, I think RTO has a history of
(15:12):
some really great andinfluential women in terms of,
particularly on the APRO board,officers in APRO, yeah, and so I
think that you know, like Isaid, it's just really kind of
this was a way that wasdifferent than just running into
(15:32):
someone in the halls or hopingto meet someone or you hear
about someone.
This was a way to really bringa group together and to kind of
be able to get to know eachother.
And then I think, hopefully,you know, what we're going to
see is like a continuedcommunity that comes out of that
.
That will, you know, continueto grow and support each other.
(15:57):
And so, you know, I think thereare all types of groups and
people with specific interestsand specific things, and this is
one of those, and one that wefelt like was a really good
opportunity here, and there aremore, and I think that's
something that we want tocontinue to explore and promote
(16:17):
and try to do similar typethings in the future.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
I definitely agree with that.
So, speaking about new, so wedo the Legal Summit, we have the
Women's Forum, then we got abunch of new vendors that came
in.
I got some people that I reallydidn't know and I'm kind of
used to walking around andseeing the guys I know and there
was a few people that I didn'tknow who was new this year, who
(16:42):
was bringing something a littlebit different, with a little bit
of a different flavor,something that the APRO guys or
gals who are in there, the Tribmembers, should look at and go.
You know what?
They did have somethingdifferent.
They did bring something to thetable.
Who were those guys?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, I mean we had, I believe, 15 new vendors this
year and this is kind of thegreat thing about the APRO show
and this is really why that itis the largest show.
We had 107 total vendors.
That was up by, I think, fiveor six from last year, even
(17:16):
though we were in a smallerspace.
So you know the great thingabout the APRO show, it is open.
It's a great way for a companythat has a service, that has a
product, that has something thatwould be of interest or use for
the industry to come in and tryit.
You have to either be a Tribmember or an APRO member to come
(17:40):
into the show, but you know, itreally provides that chance to
test the waters and to see ifthere's traction, there's
interest with it, and we had afull range of that this year.
I mean that was a you know 15.
That's got to be kind oftowards our, I think, a higher
point.
You know, new furniture, newinsurance services, credit card
(18:04):
processing.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Yes, there was a lot.
There was a lot.
I actually did see theinsurance people and you guys
got to understand if you're notmade it to RTO world at any
point at this point, so youusually have the main vendor
hall and here we are to gettingto the vendor hall.
There's got at least 20 vendorsout there.
I want to say more, but therewas so many vendors just getting
(18:28):
to the hall and that's whathe's talking about Like we had
so much going on there that justgetting there there was left
and right.
There was so much being offered.
Then, as soon as you walkthrough the door, you've got
this floor plan of just amazingdifferent people and it's just
one of those things where youstart seeing a lot of new people
.
Now you got to let them know,cause I know that they're new
(18:48):
vendors.
Hey, not always everythinghappens in the first year.
People got to get to find outwho you are right and what kind
of what do you offer.
So you know, I always encouragenew vendors and if that's you
listen, guys keep coming back.
They open up, they want to knowwhat's going on.
If you didn't talk to somebody,then you might talk to somebody
new the next time you go andthey could possibly be using
(19:08):
your services.
So it was great to see all thenew vendors.
I mean, it was an amazingamount.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yeah, and I think we, you know, just all credit to
Dennis Shields.
He is a master at putting thesefloor plans together.
And you know, one of thechallenges we had with this
venue great venue, great hotel,just a great setup for us.
But the, with it being kind ofa hotel conference center, that
is usually on the smaller end ofwhat we need and so we were in
(19:35):
a more condensed space.
But I never felt it.
I don't know.
The exhibit hall looked amazing.
The exhibit hall looked amazingand with just everything, with
the drapes, the carpet,everything just looked great.
But then part of a necessity ofthat was we didn't have as much
(19:55):
room in the vendor hall so weoverflowed into that foyer space
and I think a lot of the newvendors really got a good taste.
You had to walk by thosetabletops and those, uh, the,
the 10 by 10s out in the foyertwice when you're on the way in
and then on the way out, and so,uh, we got to have a lot of
(20:20):
really good feedback from someof the new ones that were out
there and some of our you know,uh, veteran vendors too, that
that really got a lot of uh uh,uh saw, saw a lot of people
going in and got a chance totalk to people.
So that worked out really wellwith that and hopefully gave
some of our new guys a goodtaste for it.
But I'm with you, that's always, you know, one of the things
that this is a.
It's a good chance to come inwith the APRO show, but it's.
(20:40):
Or the with the RTL world, butit's also a, you know, it's a
bit of a commitment in that youreally need a couple of years to
really get a good taste for it,for people to see.
You trust you know that you'renot just kind of coming in and
maybe going the next day, so itprovides a really good chance
for that.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
So we're talking about the vendor space, we're
talking about how it is to getthere, we're talking about it
being in the hotel space and notwhere we're used to.
So then you guys got tounderstand.
This is my part of the show.
We had a live RTO show podcaststraight from the event and we
got moved to the back and it wasstill great.
(21:19):
It was an awesome time, but wegot a big room.
Instead of where I thoughtwe're going to be, we got a
really big room.
Charles, you had a chance.
You had a chance to co-host alittle bit.
How was that?
How did you feel about that?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
I you know I will not be quitting my day job anytime
soon.
I can tell you that it was alot harder than you make it.
Look on these shows.
But you know, I think I was theEd McMahon to your Johnny
Carson.
It played well.
Okay, it played well, a lotless funny but, yeah, played
(21:53):
good.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
So as you're up there right and you start seeing
people interact and you startseeing people have the questions
and kind of asking the panel,so we're going to go back to the
visual guys.
Right now you got to understandCharles and I sitting in front
of the room, we're sittingbehind the mics and we're in a
room full of people and then toour left there's four panelists.
Now these guys know whatthey're talking about, but they
(22:14):
were brought in to talk aboutdifferent sections of Rent to
Own and what they represent.
So at first we had Chip Guy soat the time the vice president
of Buddy's Home Furnishings,buddy Mac Holdings and he's
talking about AI.
Now this is something thateverybody in rental owners has
been talking to me about.
That has not changed at all.
(22:36):
Then Jerry Marshall gets to comein and he's talking about
growth despite what's going onand how to manage that growth
and when is a good time forgrowth, and he made some really
good points.
People was his main down.
Like people was the main point.
Then we had Ed Wynn talkinglegal counsel.
Wow, he kind of blew me away,did a great job.
(22:57):
As a matter of fact, he did abetter job than I expected.
So be looking to look out,because you will talk to Ed Wynn
.
We will talk to Ed Wynn soonbecause, let me tell you, he was
quite the superstar in what hehad to say.
And then Joe Luxick, talkingabout the differences between
generations and the buying powerand how they utilize that
buying power.
What are they focused on intoday's age and how we can shift
with that.
(23:17):
I couldn't think of four bettertopics or four people that
represented those topics any waybetter.
I mean, what are your thoughtson that?
What did you take out of that?
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Well, no, I love the format and really having.
I mean you did a great job withthe four people that you had
coming in, because you really Iwas sitting there taking notes
as well.
Not only it was a veryinteresting discussion, I mean,
I think all of them were verytopical and on point issues,
(23:48):
things that we all, you knowit's generational issues are
always a big thing.
Legal's always there hanging inthe background and you couldn't
(24:11):
have found anybody better thanthe godfather of RTO to come in
and talk about that.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Well, I mean, you know, when Edwin was talking,
you got to understand, no matterwhat you're doing and no matter
what's going on, when you're inone of those big studio
environments and you're your bigsettings, people talk, there
are things going on.
I have never seen somebody soquietly command a room in my
life.
When he started speaking, thevolume level in the entire place
(24:36):
, just it just started settlingand so he was able to keep just
a very, very regular tone and hejust kind of commanded the room
with the things that he wastalking about.
He was saying stuff that washappening in South Dakota, some
of the stuff that we talkedabout in New York, and it was
like he was just on top of it,fact after fact after fact, and
what was going on and how it'sgone through the years and why
(24:58):
we've done some of the things wedid.
And so Michael Helton he comesin and he's from RG Co and he's
got a lot going on and he's gota lot to say.
And he asked a very direct,solid question.
I won't get into that here, buthe asked a solid question and
without missing a beat, I thinkEd was able to tackle that just
straight on, Very, very to thepoint.
(25:18):
It was such a breath of freshair to have someone so
knowledgeable and be able tospit out the facts the way he
did and kind of control the room.
I was in awe.
I was like I don't know, maybehe should be sitting here
talking to us.
But so you don't think thatyou're going to be doing any
co-hosting anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Well, maybe next year , maybe next year, all right,
all right.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
That's the goal, hopefully.
Listen, guys, the way this isgoing we had such a good time
there.
I really believe that goinginto 2025 going we had such a
good time there.
I really believe that, goinginto 2025, rto World in Omaha
we're going to have a sessionfor you that's going to be way
better than this, and not justbecause of where it was or what
happened, but because you guysare so involved in what's going
on and you're such a part of itthat I can't believe that it
(26:00):
won't be anything more thanamazing come next year, because
I really think this is what it'sabout.
People want to hear the eventsand what's going on now, and
it's going to also give us alittle bit of time to get your
feedback.
Guys, if you ever have anyfeedback, please hit us up at
the show, the RTOPodcastcom, hitme up on the DMs, but let me
know what it is you want to knowabout, even if it's 12 months
(26:21):
out, because then I can get withCharles and we can find out
who's the right person to answerthose questions for you and
really put them on the show andmake that another situation
happen for the RTO World 2025.
So talk to me about Omaha alittle bit.
We were going from Orlando toOmaha.
It's a whole big difference,but then, like you said, it was
(26:41):
more of a hotel kind ofconference setting versus what a
convention center can do inOmaha.
So, besides the stakes, whatdoes Omaha bring to RTO World
2025?
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Well, we heard the concerns about hurricane season
in Florida.
So we are going to take thatout of the equation, swing the
complete other way of thependulum and be, hopefully knock
on wood in a hurricane safezone next year.
So I mean, omaha is one ofthose.
I think it's really kind of ablank slate in a lot of ways for
us, because not many peoplehave been.
You've either been or youhaven't had a reason to go, and
(27:25):
I think it's one of those placesthat you're probably not you
know, not necessarily on top ofthe list to go spend a weekend
or vacation.
But Omaha is a great, just agreat city.
It's about as central in theStates as we could get and they
have just a great setup for us.
(27:45):
I mentioned earlier, we're kindof looking at kind of criteria.
You know, one of our top thingsis we've got to have we're kind
of in a Goldilocks zone, wecan't have spaces too small,
which is lots of hotel,convention spaces or meeting
spaces, but we're not big enoughto go and do rent out, like you
know, the Atlanta WorldCongress Center with its a
(28:07):
million square feet of space.
So there's a you know, there'sa bit of a mix there that we
have to really play with andfinding that sweet spot.
We really have high prioritiesto try to get everyone, or as
many as possible, into one hotelwhere we've got kind of a
central place we're all staying,we've got, you know, common
(28:27):
areas to pass everyone, we'vegot a central bar restaurant
that we can kind of, you know,meet each other throughout the
event.
And so Omaha really we want tobe close, close enough to some
of our dealers and you knowOmaha was one of those places
that really checked a lot ofthose boxes.
(28:50):
It's got a great airport that'sless than five minutes from the
hotel.
We've got a convention centerthat is just an incredible
convention center.
They host, they've hosted a lotof events there and they've
hosted a lot of events there.
The US swimming Olympic timetrials, or Olympic trials, were
(29:15):
held there for several years.
They lost it this year toIndianapolis, but it's amazing
when you see them construct,like a convention center,
literally an Olympic sizedswimming pool.
So they've hosted that.
And it's also the home of theCollege World Series and the
College World Series stadium isliterally kind of almost in the
(29:37):
parking lot of the hotel.
So we've got a hotel everyonecan be in.
We've got a great conventionspace.
We've got something that'sclose to an airport, easy to get
in and out of College WorldSeries they're used to hosting
big events and it's got a greatdowntown local restaurants,
local bars.
It's just a great scene toreally kind of enjoy being
(30:01):
somewhere, not only just goingon a business trip.
That could be anywhere.
I think it would be a memorableevent in that respect and I'm
very confident people are goingto come out very well.
Omaha, that was a great placeto go to.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Well, I think I talked about it with Chaz
Fosdick a while ago and I'mgoing to say it to you If you
were to take the map of Americaand you were to throw a dart as
close to the center as you could, that would give you the
flyover state of Nebraska.
But, being that you have a lotof space where you can put a lot
of people, have a lot of eventspace where you can do things
(30:38):
that you haven't done before,and I'll tell you right now I
love what's going on with APRO.
It seems like every time weturn around, there's something
new going on.
I love what's going on withApril.
It seems like every time weturn around, there's something
new going on, and it's just oneof those things where it makes
it worthwhile for somebody to gosomewhere they haven't been,
learn things that they haven'tlearned, see people that they
haven't seen and talk to peoplethat they've wanted to talk to
(30:59):
but they couldn't have.
And that's why I love doing thepodcast, that's why I love
introducing people who are sohuge into the business and with
the people who may not have metthem before, not seen.
Hey, how does Ed Wynn play sucha role in my own career as an
account manager.
Well, the laws that we go byare probably helped, written and
(31:19):
passed by Ed and those things.
Wow, I didn't know that, and Ilove passing that knowledge on
to people because it really justgets them to understand there
is so much of a world out therethat they just don't know about,
and so the idea of the show wasalways to bring that to the
forefront.
So going to Omaha can't wait.
I'm actually looking forward toit.
If you guys are looking forwardto it too, make sure that you
(31:39):
get a hold of me and let me know, because I'd love to have all
kinds of show ideas come thenext 12 months.
Talking about show ideas, weleft sunny Florida, we went all
the way to Omaha.
We got all the good things.
What's with the executivechallenge and how will it be
next year?
Come on, spill the beans.
If you guys didn't see theexecutive challenge, it was all
over the internet.
But, charles and listen, dennisand you guys play a pretty good
(32:05):
Laurel and Hardy man, I'm goingto tell you right now.
I saw you guys on stage.
You guys were singing.
Let's break into this first.
So right now, the executivechallenge came towards the last
day, but there was fundraisingthat happened during one of the
nights of RTO World.
Can you explain that a littlebit?
And then, what was the prizethat everybody got to have if we
(32:25):
met that goal?
Speaker 2 (32:27):
So you know the well we had the venue for the
experience party and theexperience party is kind of
always the, the, the you know wehave.
We have it the last night ofthe show or the event.
Um, always try to do somethingkind of with a local flair or
something hopefully that'smemorable.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
So you it was memorable, charles, it was
memorable.
I want to put a picture up justso you know I'm going to put a
picture up of what happened thatnight.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
But yes, it was definitely memorable well, that
way, you know, you, you canremember rto world 2024 in
orlando, uh, and so that was, uh, you know, it was a great venue
for us because it was basically, you, you know, we were on
universal property and this wason site, easy to get to with the
boat or the bus or walking onthe path, and it was just a
(33:14):
great venue.
And so we kind of, you know, wehad three bars and a nice
common area with a DJ and stiltwalkers and food common area
with a DJ and stilt walkers andfood.
But I think the idea kind ofcame to us that we were, hey,
we're having, you know, we'regoing to have 500 plus people at
this event and we've got anopen bar.
(33:35):
We've also got a karaoke andlike a not just a karaoke, like
a professional backup singer,band, lights, everything in a
theater type setting.
And so we kind of, you know,we're always looking for
something fun, fun ways to do.
Particularly you can throwfundraising in.
(33:55):
And you know, with us we've withAPRO, we have the APRO
Charitable Foundation, whichsupports really two things.
It's really two things.
One, scholarships for the RTOfamily, whether that's anyone
that's an employee of an RTOcompany is eligible.
Their children of them areeligible, they're seeking any
type of higher education, tradeschool, things of that nature.
(34:17):
We also have a disaster relieffund that, if anyone in the RTO
family is ever involved in sometype of an event with involves a
major loss, that there is somesupport to help get them back on
the feet.
This is all member funded, allsupported.
But we really started.
(34:37):
Look, we've just gone through around of scholarships.
We do that every summer.
We finally hit the 1.1 millionmark this year and $1.1 million
in scholarships that the APROCharitable Foundation has given
out.
And you know we're alwayslooking at ways to kind of do
(34:57):
some fundraising to generatesome more money so we can give
out more scholarships, and OpenBar and Karaoke provided a good
opportunity to do that.
Yeah, that was it.
Yeah, yeah.
So I, we kind of I went to myteam with the idea and I I kind
of workshopped it with dennisand a few other people before
(35:20):
and they were like, yeah, okay,this sounds good.
Well, I went to my team andthey came up with the whole idea
of.
I went in with one idea.
They came back and said we'regoing to do it this way and then
, oh, by the way at the, if weget to the fifteen thousand
dollar mark, you and dennis haveto.
You and Dennis have to end theevening with a song, guys you
got to understand how it works.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
So there's levels, right, and as the night's going
on, and when it first got on itwas running a little slow and
the fundraiser wasn't oneverybody's mind, because what
is everybody doing?
They're going to the bar,they're saying hi to everybody,
they're meeting people that theyhaven't seen in a while, and so
it started off kind of slow,and so we're like we've got to
figure out how we can get theselevels going, because at
different levels we had DanFisher singing, we had Jerry
(36:03):
Marshall singing right.
So, depending on what level,you got to depend on who you got
to see listen.
Nobody wanted to see Charlesand Dennis sing more than me and
Joe, right, and Joe wanted tosee it too.
So we go over there, we getonline and Joe Lux, he can
listen, he loves the business,he loves everything that's going
on, and he's like hey, pete, weshould do this.
So we get in there and now we'recheerleading this on, we're
(36:24):
trying to get stuff going, andthen it starts picking up, and
so, before we know it, we'rejumping spots.
They're like okay, we, thisperson's supposed to sing
because they're already on thisperson.
And so there's so many thingsgoing on and there's so many
people.
Cleek is up there, all thesepeople are up there and we get
to the end of the night and thenCharles and Dennis, hand in
(36:46):
hand, get to sing Sweet Caroline, and let me tell you.
So everybody's going on and Ithink I lost part of my voice
that night.
So me and Joe are in the front,we're trying to cheerlead and
we're just getting it on, and itwas so great because we went
from 15,000 to what?
25,000.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (37:01):
We ended up topping out at 28,000.
Wow, wow.
So we almost doubled the goal.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Listen, guys, it's not possible without people like
you to help, and it's soimportant because we don't do
this ourselves.
Listen, APRO is not for profitand I'll tell you right now the
RTO show is definitely not forprofit.
We do this because we love Rentto Own and the reason that we
get you guys involved is becausewe need your help.
And it was so amazing to seeeverybody get together and hit
that goal 15,000.
(37:29):
I was like wow, we had 20,000.
I was shocked by the time thatwe're singing Sweet Caroline,
we're hitting these 25,000.
It was just amazing to seeeverybody come together and be
so supportive for theseemergency funds and for these
scholarships, because it reallyis one big family in RTO.
We're trying to make this work.
(37:49):
And so you guys got tounderstand I will be posting up
a couple more pictures of that,Charles, because everybody's got
to see you and Dennis singing.
And then, of course, as we getthrough that and we raise the
money for the foundation, thenthe next day we got the
executive challenge.
So, although we're showingcamaraderie that night and we're
(38:11):
singing together, then we gotto head to head.
So talk to me a little bitabout the executive challenge
and where that, where that endedup because it was all over the
place, quite literally all overthe place.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
So we I guess last year was the first year we did
it we're you know we're alwayslooking for some ways to try to
make the last morning of theexpo uh, increase some traffic,
make it a little bit moreexciting, you know.
So that was.
It was kind of an idea that wewould do some type of a friendly
competition, and Jennifer Moorereally takes the lead on coming
(38:48):
up with those challenges anddoes a good job of not telling
myself or Dennis what those aregoing to be, so we kind of find
out what they are.
That's awesome At the time ofpresentation.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
So you guys got to understand there was a couple of
different things going on.
So what was the first challengelike?
Speaker 2 (39:10):
So the first one was kind of a beer pong without the
beer.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
We know you've been to college, charles.
I will not tell you how well hedid or did not do, but the beer
pong challenge was awesome.
We were making that happen,dennis, a pro himself.
I don't know where he gets itfrom, but it was a pretty good
challenge.
It was fun to see, becausethere was actually no alcohol
involved, which that might havechanged things up a little bit
too much, but that was so muchfun.
So then, who won that challenge?
Speaker 2 (39:44):
You know, I think we may have tied on that one.
I think it was one of those.
We had to dump some ping pongballs out of a tissue paper box,
whoever got them in as quick aspossible.
It was very close.
I think the the the entirething was pretty close.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
It was.
It was close.
So they start off, hands tied,they get the balls out, they're
shooting it and then, as you'regoing from event to event, it
was like three events total,right, or was it four, four or
five?
I think four or five.
I think yeah.
So the last event, you got tounderstand it.
One of them ends up withcharles with a balloon sticking
to his chest as he goes back.
He looks like an you know arendition of alien with a
balloon coming out.
(40:22):
It was amazing to see and itwas fun to watch.
But, in all honesty, it wasgreat to see how you and dennis
were able to come together anddo this, uh, and when I say that
you and dennis, therepresentatives of APRO and TRIB
to get this done kind ofseamlessly and I've got to say
thank you to Dennis and thankyou to TRIB and yourself so, as
(40:43):
things were going on, one of oursponsors who was literally
sitting in front of the vendorhallway, or the vendor hall
right at the end of the hallway,was Gerard Norman, marketing,
and so, because we're teamed upwith them, we got to set up the
booth there and we literallywere able to have several people
talking to us about what wasgoing on and their thoughts of
(41:04):
the show and their thoughts ofwhat they did.
And we have marketers there andwe had people from other
businesses and we had singlestore owners and Chad Foswick
was there and there was just somuch going on.
This was an event to be had.
And and Chad Fawcett was thereand there was just so much going
on.
This was an event to be had.
And I'm so glad that we get todo these renditions and going
back over them and how we didthis and how crazy it was.
But also kind of be remindedthat camaraderie in the RTO
(41:27):
world and when I say that, Imean I don't know kind of pun
RTO world because of RTO worldand things like Trib being able
to be a part of it and Aprilbeing able to be a part of it,
having these new vendors there,having a lot of people who we
can say, hey, you know what theywere new to the industry and
this can give them a taste andthey don't have to be full on in
but you get to see, hey, isthis something I want to do, is
this something that I want to bea part of?
(41:48):
And the camaraderie thathappens in those situations when
you have old vendors and newvendors, people that are coming
up, people that are leaving, andthey get to all see this space
all together.
We get to see the legal summit,we get to hear about why we're
there, what we get to learn.
Then you get to break off inthese sessions and you really
get to hear from people who havedone it and keep doing it and
doing it well, and every year wehave these new topics that get
(42:10):
brought up and you know what.
We get to talk about all thesenew things together as a team.
And one of these breakouts well,part of the breakout sessions
is participation.
Right, if you have a question,you get to join in and you get
to say, hey, what about this, orwhat's going on with that, or I
had a question about this andyou're in a safe space.
It's okay to have one of thosequestions and you'll have
(42:31):
somebody who has the expertisein that area really be able to
break it down to you for you, orsay you know what?
I don't have an answer to that,but I can bring it up to
several people who have beendoing this for years, for
literal decades, sometimesgenerations, and maybe we can
give you a better answer soon.
In all cases, I'm going to, inall honesty, I'm going to say I
think the best part was the RTOShow Live podcast, but
(42:53):
everything else was so great andit was so nice to be a part of
it.
That was one facet of what wasan excellent RTO World
Convention.
I got to tell you, charles, Ithink it is.
I'm worried that you're goingto get to a point where, like I
don't know how to top this lastyear, we're going to have to
figure it out.
There's going to be so muchgoing on.
You know what?
Because it's heading thatdirection.
(43:14):
I think it's heading in theright direction.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
I really do yeah, I mean, that's always the.
That's the challenge I think weall we want to make how to make
it better whenever, especiallycoming off of something like
this.
I mean, I think, just from this, from start to uh, from our
opening keynote with louisgravance, and that was uh, uh,
that that was probably one ofthe best, if not the best,
keynotes I've ever seen, andthat was going through all the
(43:40):
education, all the networkingthat took place, and so, yeah, I
mean, that's what we're, youknow, we're literally our RTO
World Committee is meeting nextweek to, you know, to digest the
feedback and what went well.
We do Glows and Grows what wasgreat and more things we can get
(44:01):
better at.
That's our focus is justcontinue to do better.
I think we've got a great venuenext year.
It's going to be something newfor everyone.
It's going to be just a greatsetup for us.
I'm very excited about Omahaand our 2025 show coming up.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Well, listen, everybody, I do want you to know
.
You probably got something inyour emails that said hey, how
was RTO World and how can wemake it better?
If you weren't able to get tothat email, because I think the
time frame is already closed,feel free to email me at the
show.
Hit me up at Pete at the RTOshow podcast.
Send me an email.
You can also DM me at Facebook,instagram and LinkedIn we're
(44:42):
pretty big on all thoseplatforms and send me a message
and say, hey, I missed it, butthis is something that I'd like
to see, or this is somethingthat I thought it could be
better, and I will definitelypass that along for you because,
listen, we want to make thisbetter for you.
We want you to learn, we wantyou to buy, we want you to enjoy
.
This is a time when everybodygets together for the betterment
of rto, and hence the name rtoworld 2024, going into 2025.
(45:05):
Charles, it's always a pleasureto have you on.
I'm one of these days.
You're going to be right here,we're going to be talking to
people and it's going to be I'mgoing to get you to kind of
co-host a couple more for me.
We have a lot of good thingscoming up at least once a year.
Right, when it comes to RTOworld, we're at least going to
be a part of that because, yes,everybody, I'm going to drag
Charles into this and make surethat he does it.
(45:25):
He does it with me because hedid a great job.
And, number two, you're not sofar away that somebody feels
like they can't talk to you andI can't tell you that I've met a
lot of CEOs and I've met a lotof people who are they're not
bad people, but they have somuch going on that they're kind
(45:45):
of like away from it, and so yousometimes find it hard to talk
to them and get your maybe yourideas out of your points across
across.
Or you don't feel like, if youtold that person what your idea
is or what you thought might bebetter, that anybody's listening
, they might hear you, butthey're not listening.
And I think you embody thatvery well.
I think you have a very openstandpoint.
(46:05):
I think people feel like theycan go to you and say, hey,
charles, this is what I thinkwas going on, and good or bad, I
mean it doesn't mean thateverything gets put in there.
I mean I don't think we'regoing to have a lot of drawing
and 2025, but it's one of thosethings that being so
approachable and being so downto earth gives you that leg up
on somebody who, you know when,when they don't have.
That it's listen, it's a, it'sa bringing of culture and people
(46:26):
.
Right, and people make RTOworld.
Without you, guys, we wouldn'thave it.
So, to make it better for you,send me any suggestions that you
have.
If not, you can also feel freeto hit up April.
I think.
If you hit up with me first,I'm just going to put a little
slide to it.
I'm going to say, hey, this iswhat, this is what my guys are
thinking, and let's make thathappen.
Charles, always good to haveyou on, always good to to have
(46:48):
you a part of what's going on.
Listen is is there anythingthat you can tell us right now
about our TRL World 2025?
A little bit of a secret that'sgoing to happen over there.
Or should we just wait in thewinds and hopefully we're going
to get an email soon?
Speaker 2 (47:06):
Well, we're starting now on getting ready for it.
I mean I can tell you that I'mpretty excited.
I don't have a contract inplace yet to be able to share
where the experience party isgoing to be, but I'm pretty
excited about some of the Omahaexperience is going to be an
exciting event not to miss.
(47:27):
I think Omaha is just going tobe a really good spot for us.
I think it's going to be a cooltown, a really great place to
visit.
But we have set the goal andwe'll be working hard towards
making it the best one yet, andthat's growing and continuing to
(47:52):
do some cool things, like wedid this year with the RTO show,
like we did with some of thefundraising things I mean just
trying to introduce, like we didwith the pre-conferences.
So you know, we're very opentowards kind of these, trying
some new things and really kindof making this a great
experience and because, like yousaid is, this is the biggest
(48:14):
gathering of rto of the year andum, and we can do that and make
it a great.
You know, bring that communitytogether, uh, and share
experiences, network, uh, do funthings together, buy some
things, uh, you know all allthose things, learn some things.
(48:36):
When you kind of combine allthat in that's, that's the keys
to success for a great show.
So so I'm excited.
I think you'll be hearing moreand more as we kind of hype and
promote it over the comingmonths, and then we'll be ready
to do this all over again nextAugust.
Speaker 1 (48:54):
Well, listen, guys, next year we're going to be
having Hello Omaha.
It's going to be comingstraight to you.
If you guys have any questions,any ideas or anything that you
want to talk to Charles aboutagain, feel free to hit up the
show at Pete atTheRTOShowPodcastcom, Hit us up
on the DMs and I'm going to tellyou Charles, you're going to
have to stay with me this nextyear, but everybody this next
(49:17):
year, but everybody, get yourcollections low, get your sales
high.
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