Moving Forward - The SIF Week in Review Aug 17- 23, 2008

No matter what hot topics may temporarily sidetrack us, a continuing theme in the SIF community is moving our industry forward.  This past week, there were quite a few posts designed to do just that.

In an effort to continue what Craig and Yvonne started, SIF has joined forces with RESA to put on another set of Round Table discussions designed to help us work together by communicating with one another to work out the bugs within our industry. (I stole Karen's graphic, isn't it nice?)

In reference to these discussions, Maureen Bray asked us to give our inputon what topics would be most benificial to ourselves and the industry as a whole.  Karen Dembsky put out a call to action and Juliet Johnson reminded us why all of this, among other things, is so important to our industry. What are those other things, you might ask?  Check out Terrylynn Fischer's exciting announcement for our staging friends in the Northwest.

But, moving forward is not all about roundtables and staging expos.  It is really about the information we post regularly that educate the general public and specifically potential newbie stagers about the reality of professional staging.

Abby Reilly did an excellent job on explaining why a potential stager should talk to a seasoned pro before jumping on the staging wagon. Cindy Lin, in her infinite wisdom, reminded us that just because you can, doesn't mean you should (a good reminder for even the most seasoned of us)  and Kathy Nielson pointed out that your staging reputationis within your control, so you need to decide what kind of stager you want to be.

The way I see it, individual growth is really much more important than our growth as an industry, because the former has an definite benefit toward the latter.  If we as individuals are willing to expand our horizons, it only works to expand the horizons of the industry as a whole.  Janice Sutton learned a valuable lessonin that regard this week and I am personally glad she shared it with all of us. I also hope she survives her week of latrine duty. In addition to that, Carole Provenzale shared how her wide range of blog content opened a door for someone else to share their services with her. How cool is that? Finally, the lovely Joelle Green shared the benefits of opening yourself up to the possibilities of working with another stager.   Together, they achieved stunning results.  On that same note, I'd like to congratulate Karen Reynolds on her new business venture. Welcome back, Karen!

Kudos all of you for moving forward and moving the industry with you!