The Front Porch

Asher Cotton

Support Solutions Engineer Asher Cotton joins us on the porch this month from Jacksonville, Florida.  He tells us about how his entrepreneurial spirit and some serendipitous encounters have guided his career across industries and to Point of Rental, the business philosophies that have guided him through running a variety of multi-location businesses, and where he got his love for the water. He explains his current role’s focus on advanced problem-solving, process guidance, and coaching support staff and how that ties in with his values and the lessons he's learned over decades of dealing with people of all kinds.

Melissa Christensen

Melissa Christensen, a Support Solutions Engineer at Point of Rental, shares her journey from literal dancing to the metaphorical dance of the rental industry. She recounts a 25-year rental-industry career, including joining LiftWorks as the second employee, working long hours to help grow it into a 75-person business, and using early manual and fax-based processes before software modernization. Melissa explains her move to Point of Rental, her role helping premier customers, her belief in relationships, extensive volunteering including a COVID “sprinkle” pay-it-forward group, and shares favorite Chicago spots and personal reflections.

How are Rental Leaders Using AI?

Point of Rental's Head of AI, Matt Gaffin, talks with industry experts Brittany Haas (Crown Rental), Grant Christopher (Christopher Equipment), and Anthony Durante (The Owl, formerly of Durante Rentals) about how rental leaders use AI in their lives.  They share practical applications like SOP and policy/manual creation, professionalizing emails and job descriptions, marketing content and images, research and event outreach, brainstorming, and drafting sensitive employee communications, while noting limitations in deeper analytics like utilization, fleet moves, and buy/sell decisions without better context and continuous data.

The Front Porch LIVE at the ARA Show: Ecommerce with Caleb Yell

Brian talks with Point of Rental e-commerce strategy lead Caleb Yell about how rental e-commerce has shifted from a "nice to have" to a business-critical tool and how you can avoid a lot of the growing pains that come from implementing it. You'll learn about the tools being used to digitize counter workflows online (e-sign, ID verification, ACH/payments), common breakdowns, and the need for optimized consumer-facing images and descriptions.  They cover underused tools, key metrics to watch, and highlight the need for great SEO, especially in the AI age.

Phil Clark

Senior implementation consultant Phil Clark shares his path, from trampolining, engineering and IT curiosity to bus driving, coaching, and ultimately training customers at Point of Rental. He talks about what good training looks like, what he enjoys most about working with customers and teams, and some standout travel experiences on the job. March is MS Awareness month, so Phil also opens up about his experience with multiple sclerosis and how it’s shaped his life and relationships. We also learned about Phil's off-the-clock stories—volunteering with an inshore lifeboat crew and doing the occasional “disco” as a hobby DJ.