On behalf of 125 dry-docked stagers in NY Metro, thank you Stagers List's Kym Hough, TerryLynn Fisher and Christine Rae, for the energy and spunk to put together such the wonderfully instructive Staging EXP and then taking it on the road. The wisdom and experience shared inspired us all. I heartily recommend this event to one and all. Further, you all need to contact Kym and TerryLynn to get on the list for 09 and 10.
From the local coordinator's point of view, it's not an easy task to take on. It's a lot of work, and instead of getting paid for your time, you wind up creating an environment where your competition is better equipped than they were the day before... better equipped to run their business, and better equipped to compete with you. The speakers are building their businesses, as are the sponsors, thereby indirectly getting paid... but the local coordinator(s) could potentially lose market share. Or so one might think. Further, it might look like just altruism.
It's not, of course.
A rising tide lifts all boats. We have to keep this in mind if we are to grow individually, and jointly.
When staging becomes a staple in your market, you will NOT have time to properly service every listing. (Can you imagine a world where you HAVE TO REFER OUT business because you simply can't handle it all?) Plus, you must allow for personality differences and working styles - gone are the days of one doctor per town, one attorney, one dentist, etc.
In order for staging to become a staple -- everyone has to be good. Everyone has to have good results... or else, everyone gets smeared by one bad reputation. Look at the Atlanta girls' distress over that stager/house manager scandal earlier this year. Consumers tend to lump everyone together and think all stagers are "like that" no matter what the "like that" is.
The more unity we can build, the better contracts and deals we can negotiate with our vendors; the stronger our fee structure can be. Then we can focus on building standards of excellence not just for ourselves but for our clients, as to how we expect to be treated, and compensated. I have negotiated a host of excellent priveleges from American Furniture Rental for RESA members in NJ... and I look forward to doing the same with as many other vendors as I can find. It works for me, it works for my chapter members, and brings those vendors better quality of business. Hopefully, more of it, too!
Eventually, the day will come when being an ASP vs. CSP vs. ASHSR vs. SAR will be similar to flying United, American, Lufthansa or Quantas... dependent upon schedule, geography and personal preference and then price. If you take the cheapest route, then you can expect to arrive the most disshevelled with the longest recovery time. Either way it's your choice and does not negate one or the other, you still get there.
The vituperative squabbling about staging's alphabet soup designation needs to stop. We need to respect one another and work towards all of us profitably contributing to the real estate landscape.
We ALL need to join RESA, and work to make that trade association our own. The more successful StagersList.com's events are, the faster the chances of Shell getting a National Conference up and running.
We need it.
You need it. Your business will flourish if you implement even 1/10th of the things you will learn at a national conference!
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What's next?
In NY and NJ Barbara Brock (RESA-NY State Prez) and I (RESA-NJ State Prez) are hosting industry round tables to celebrate November being Home Staging Awareness Month! She in NYC (location TBD) and me in NJ at the Ikea in Elizabeth on Friday, November 21st.
Ad Hoc RT -- we are looking into hosting a virtual RT for those who don't have one within driving distance. Stay tuned for more details.
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In addition to running Juliet Johnson Staging, Juliet Johnson teaches a webinar series on Web 2.0 for Real Estate for everyone in real estate related fields.
