Michigan held its very first SIF Roundtable discussion on Tuesday and it was well received. In attendance were:
Rita Moffitt, Real Estage Plus, Stockbridge
Marianne Sweet, Home Sweet Home Staging, Rochester Hills
Bethany Hickman, Staged Transitions, Rochester
Tod Barker, Tod Barker Designs, Ypsilanti
Heather Durren, Staging Places, Beverly Hills
Christine Uhl, Accent Home Staging, Brighton
Tracy Allen, Address For Success, Rochester
Kathi Presutti, Re:Style, Brighton
Deborah Chene, Staging Impressions, Farmington Hills
Wally Dean, Picture It Sold, Waterford
Darla Rowley, Impact! Interior Design Solutions, Royal Oak
Heather Roberts, The English Touch, Clarkston
Debbie Sosa, Set the Stage, Troy
J.J. Cook, Amazing Room Touch-ups, St Clair Shores
Jill Neugebauer, Step Up Staging, Clawson
Cari Pilon, SMART Stagers, Brighton
After spending way too much time on the first question :) things got underway. I was very happy to see that everyone was eager to join in. The group consisted of some seasoned veterans and some very new stagers.
We were unable to get through all the questions presented, however they were answered in some form throughout the discussion. The overwhelming consensus was that we need to educate the consumer more effectively on what staging is, how it works, what they can expect from their stager and how it will benefit them.
Those who have had experience working with real estate agents agreed that some still present a challenge. The status of some agents in our market is unstable; we agreed that we cannot expect them to pay for our services. We also cannot expect them to promote our services for us, we can only hope that they support and recognize our industry.
We held our meeting at Cort Furniture Rental in Novi, MI. Rebekah DuBois was the Event coordinator and provided us with a great lunch and the perfect atmosphere to have our roundtable. I want to thank her for all her efforts. Rebekah also provided us with some insight on the furniture rental's thoughts on staging. Her goal is to come up with a package or program that can mutually benefit both the rental company and the Michigan staging industry. We ended the meeting with the plans of getting together again.
I was privileged to have been the facilitator for our first Roundtable and would love to continue to do so. My goal was to bring together a group of peers in an environment that is open, encouraging and educational. I hoped that everyone was able to walk away with something that they felt was tangible - even if it was just a kick in the pants to start talking staging!
Thank you to all that were able to attend and I look forward to the next time.
UPDATE*** Ask and you shall receive! Here are the pictures!
Our Gathering Space
Rita Moffitt, budding new stager. That's Tracey Allen in back hiding whatever she is eating. Marianne busted with potato chips.
Tracy Allen would rather be skiing maybe? Kathi Presutti trying to answer question number one so we could move on...
Marianne Sweet and Bethany Hickman not doing a good job of hiding the chips (sorry Marianne) Tod Barker and Heather Durren having fun
Darla Rowley receiving a text message from a Radio host re her booking this weekend! Heather Roberts and Debbie Sosa feeling the chill from the snow just beyond that window.
No I am not that short, but Jill Neugebauer is that tall!
;)
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