Staging: The Hot Career Choice

Thanks for commenting, Roy. It's overcast in Louisiana.

~Michelle

Hi Kathy,

I thought it was a WONDERFUL article.

I especially liked the line that said "To be taken seriously in an industry that has no regulation puts a burden of proof on the stager."

So very TRUE...and RESA is a fabulous way to do that!

~Michelle

Thank you Cathy for commenting!

~Michelle

Hi Sheila!

I completely hear what you are saying!

However, the fact is, and the point I think the author was trying to make, is that anyone CAN hang out a shingle and call themself a stager, as we have no governing authority that decides who can be a "stager" and who is not a stager. Presently, it is inconsequential if one has even the tiniest smidge of  skill, talent, or experience. A business card can be all it takes to be "in business" as a stager.

And that is why RESA was formed, and is highly involved with the evolution, ethics, and the separating of the truly dedicated and concerned from those who are not. Membership alone does not make one talented, or dedicated, or even concerned about the health and long-term viability of the staging industry. But, with access to on-going education, and the new RESA-PRO designation, RESA leaders and members are activley steering the industry in the right direction, and membership in such an organization can say a lot about a stager's passion for ethical business prectices at the very least.

But the fact still remains... Anyone can be a stager, and therefore, Buyer Beware!

~Michelle

Thank YOU Kathy for commenting!

~Michelle

Hi Valerie!

You got that right.

Anyone from the butcher, the baker, to the candlestick maker can join RESA.

As a member-governed organization, there is the ability and responsibility to shape the industry for the better, and RESA has been doing that since it's inception, and with each member that joins, the association just keeps getting stronger in leadership and influence.

I agree that talent is very important, but talent does not a stager make. To be a successful stager, you have to be a business person with talent. Even somewhat mediocre stagers with a strong business background can create a viable staging business, as staging is not rocket science, and it definitely has a formulaic vibe to it in many instances.

Some stagers I know actually have pre-inspired rental packages in different price-ranges that they sell as a unit and simply set them up over and over in different settings. Some only consult, and never plump a pillow or hang a picture.  Some, like myself, stage using a computer much of the time. So, talent comes in many forms including extremely creative marketing talent.

RESA has all the different types of stagers in it's membership in all their various states of experience level, price points,  and business models. It's inclusive, not exclusive, and what better possible way to insure access for all to quality educational opportunities,  to professional services, to building relationships with the top stagers across continents? Such an environment doesn't elevate a select few, it elevates an entire industry.

I don't know what other stagers want in their future, but I want fortified peers who are pushing me harder to be a better stager, because there is no stimulus to excel in a vacuum. And I don't want to be "the most talented" in a field of incompetents. What I do want is to have staging peers who are business savvy and educated in the most ethical staging practices, and to be the spearhead force to assist the public's impression of staging and stagers, and who are positively influencing the direction staging is heading.

RESA does that, and  the butchers, the bakers, and the candle-stick makers who decided to become stagers are people I am proud to call my peers, and help to insure that there are MANY who are truly worthy of my admiration and are hale and hearty competitors.

And yes, it is Caveat Emptor is the order of the day, and it always should be be. Even the most stringent assocations on the planet have a legal departments to cover their associate's assets.

~Michelle