The American Rental Association last week announced that The Rental Showhas received the results of the first event audit conducted of the show by BPA Worldwide, a global media auditor based in Shelton, Conn. The audit verified the attendance numbers, demographics and geographic distribution for the 2008 show, held Feb. 11-14 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

The audit results indicated that more than 10,700 rental professionals attended The Rental Show2008, including 5,565 convention and exhibit-only rental business attendees and 5,118 exhibitor personnel. More than 40 media also were among those attending the show. Of the rental business attendees, 31 percent were business owners, 25 percent were managers and 9 percent were company presidents, while the remainder held a variety of other positions ranging from CEO to employee. The primary business for 56 percent of attendees was construction, while general tool and party/special events were each the primary businesses for 53 percent of attendees. (Attendees could choose more than one primary business category.)

“We are pleased with the results of the first audit since The Rental Showapplied for event membership in BPA Worldwide,” said Allison Box, vice president of association services for the American Rental Association. “The final outcome was on target with what we anticipated. In joining BPA, our commitment was to give our exhibitors and the rental industry complete and accurate information about show attendance.”

Show exhibitors also are pleased that The Rental Showis providing audited information from BPA Worldwide. “Exhibitors need and want to know who is attending the show and as much information about them as they can get,” said Chuck Hutchinson, vice president of Bil-Jax, Archbold, Ohio.

“Having BPA-audited attendance figures for The Rental Showgives us the assurance as exhibitors that the buyers we expect to see are actually there,” said Clay Eubanks, president of Takeuchi Manufacturing, Pendergrass, Ga.

According to Exhibitor Magazine’s April 2008 issue, audits of trade show attendance are not common — less than 1 percent of shows provide exhibitors with third-party audits. “Having audited third-party data provides greater value to all exhibitors as well as to ARA,” Box said. “It gives us a better understanding of who attends The Rental Show, which we can communicate to current and prospective exhibitors to create a more successful show that’s beneficial to all involved.”

BPA Worldwide’s audit of The Rental Showcomplies with standards set forth by the Exhibition and Event Industry Audit Commission, a not-for-profit corporation organized to manage the exhibition industry’s independent audit process.

The Rental Show will be audited annually by BPA Worldwide. The next show is March 2-5, 2009, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Moline, Ill.-based ARA is an international trade association for the owners of equipment rental businesses and the manufacturers and suppliers of construction/industrial, general tool and party/event rental equipment.