RTO World 18 Announced at TRIB Group’s Meeting of the Minds

Rent-to-own professionals from across the country gathered August 27-30 in Las Vegas for TRIB Group’s 2017 Meeting of the Minds & Expo. The three-day event included networking, educational sessions, an expo, two hot shows, a young professionals social event and the election of TRIB Group’s new board of directors. At the show, TRIB Group Executive Director Dennis Shields announced some exciting changes to the organization’s annual meeting and expo calendar: a new date and location for their annual Meeting of the Minds & Expo, and the collaboration between APRO and TRIB Group on RTO World 2018. St. Louis will mark the debut of RTO World 2018: The National Rent-to-Own Convention and Trade Show, August 20-23. Shields reports that both teams have already started working together in preparation for a great convention. “It’s not really a TRIB Group convention or an APRO convention—it’s an RTO industry convention,” Shields told attendees. “It’s all coming together beautifully.” Click here to read more about RTO World 2018.

This year’s daily discussions included an RTO young professionals panel, which, among other things, introduced attendees to tools such as Slack, an app used to create and encourage staff engagement. The young professionals panel included Chris Kale Jr. and Jeff Kale, Happy’s Home Centers; Eric Grow, Growby’s RTO; and Lee Tanner, HomeSource Rentals. Mike Lindell, founder of My Pillow, also spoke to attendees about overcoming adversity and the success of his business. The young professionals session, led by Kale Jr.  and Jill McClure, APRO’s new executive director, focused on nurturing the next generation of rent-to-own leaders. They covered a variety of topics such as RTO branding, incorporating technology into store marketing, and the future of rent-to-own. For more information on the young professionals session, contact McClure at 800/204-2776, ext. 101, info@rtohq.org.

TRIB Group’s event also included two highly successful hot shows that garnered $9.9 million, an expo that exceeded last year’s buying activity and a young professionals group bowling party. TRIB Group’s newly elected, or re-elected, board of directors are Dan Fisher, president; Chris Kale Jr., vice president; Marty Auble, secretary; Mike Tissot, treasurer; and board members Ben Bost, David P. David, Todd Homberger, Jeff Lebakken and Mark Williams. Mark your calendars for TRIB Group’s next Meeting of the Minds & Expo, March 4-6 in Nashville, Tennessee. Click here to view more photos of TRIB Group’s 2017 Meeting of the Minds & Expo.