DRIVE-BY comment hits one of my blog posts

Well my "other" blog on Active Rain has been “hit” with a annonymous comment which is QUITE RARE on Active Rain. The hit occured last night on a blog I posted way back on August 10th entitled Stepping on "accredited/certified” stager’s toes (Click link to view blog and scroll down to read actual comment).

And while I could let just the anonymous comment sit there quietly and go unnoticed, I think it points at and speaks to the need for respecting and understanding within the staging industry and amongst staging piers.

While for the most part the Anonymous Commment was insightful from their perspective it did take a bit of a “pot shot”… regarding "those without formal training and a resource for ongoing education” they question training, abilities, success and ethics. They went on to make sure I understood who Barb Schwartz was and what Stagedhomes.com is and offers.

It is obvious that the commenter is passionate about home staging and their affilation with Barb and Stagedhomes.com and wanted to make it clear why they were so… which I TOTALLY respect.

I agree 100% with what they say about EDUCATION it can help and is WONDERFUL! I have said this over and over and over. But there is more then one place to gain knowledge and an education.

Lessons learned in a class can be applied in our life/field. But what is often forgotten is that the lessons learned in life/field are brought back to the class and IS what IS thought.

The commenter goes on to speak of Barb Schwartz and the role she has plays in the industry. I agree, since Barb coined the term “staging” she has worked tirelessly to bring it life, perfect it and create credibility for it within the Real Estate Industry. EVERY stager (good or bad) needs to acknowledge and respect that fact.

However, while the concept may not have had a name, the idea of preparing a home so that it looked it absolute best when it went up for sale, has long been in existence. To deny this fact is an insult to realtors who have done so for years.

My own training in “staging” started years ago… with every move my family made. Prior to each move, my father, a sales executive, exhaustively prepared lists of projects we had to accomplish and maintain each time we were about to sell our house. (He took the same approach to selling our used cars… we “detailed” our cars long before it was the term used to describe the process.)

So while Barb definitely “graduated” way ahead of me, I and MANY others could say we went to the same school… that school being the School of Hard Knocks for Stagers. We have learned by doing.

Again I think it bears repeating… Lessons learned in a class can be applied in our life/field. But what is often forgotten is that the lessons learned in life/field are brought back to the class and IS what IS thought.

Under the name Barb first gave it… an entire industry is rising. Now there ARE many entities offering training. One of the concerns I have is that people WILL be duped and taken by less then credible stagers and training “schools”.

Also and unfortunately, as the industry rises, there seems to be a network of feudal staging war lords who have developed their own staging kingdoms… and are right now battling it out. At times the “industry” is more focused on discrediting each other and has reduced itself into being petty bickering bunch.

I could easily take any number of course on staging… but I choose to stay non-aligned with any staging “kingdom”. I have become a LOUD voice for unity within the staging community and have found an audience among stagers who share my thoughts and hopes for an industry built out of competitive kindness. I know a healthy industry will not only benefit and protect the consumer but also those people who chose to make staging a career.

I believe that if there is to be accreditation /certification the INDUSTRY and it’s members should govern the process. It is easy for a company to say they do, it is easy for a school to say it does… but I believe an INDUSTRY (NOT JUST ONE PERSON, ONE COMPANY OR ONE SCHOOL) should dictate what ultimately constitutes accredited professionalism amongst those who call themselves “Stager”.

Some final thoughts... after reading what "Anonymous" wrote, I do not understand their need to hide. What they said was a genuinely fair assessment from their perspective.

As for my persepective, I stand with my name behind my words… even if at times that means I stand corrected.

PS: A benifit of a "drive by comment"... it sure can inspire dialogue!