So, what to do? If people don’t know our capabilities (as a profession, as individuals), the invitation to the table is not going to happen. And it’s hard to crash a party when you don’t even know when and where it’s happening.
Here are some thoughts, none of them especially original or well-informed, all overlapping:
- Become part of a client organization, as employer, leader, volunteer, or board member.
- Team with those people who are being tapped for their expertise in areas where we think we should be in on the conversation.
- Get famous. Write a book, have a tv show, win a competition. Make sure your vehicle positions you as what you want to be.
- Teach the decision-makers. That’s what Radcliffe does. Under the guise of teaching garden designers to design gardens, they’re teaching influential people how to understand and value landscape. They’re helping people of means and achievement become enlightened clients.
- Have enlightened clients.
Or, as the old joke goes: I’ll tell you how to be a millionaire. It’s easy. Ready? Ok, so first you need a million dollars . . .
Deb
Toby
I like bullet points 2 and 3. I think if you get in positions on boards or in organizations that are part of a wider ummm, way of thinking, topic area, etc. then you can make your voices heard.
And look at the success of Sarah Susanka educating people about what is almost vernacular architecture, but not. You guys together or separately have quite a bit to say to the world. You write the book, and that gets you the TV show, and all of a sudden you’re Alton Brown. (Not really - I think his onscreen presence is highly annoying, but you know what I mean.)
Have you seen or read the new book by Claire Sawyer, “The Authentic Garden”. I’m half way through it. It is a prime example of someone writing a thesis of garden-making with a few simple principles. The story is well told and it is fairly easy to digest. I’m not sure how its popularity will carry.
What happen to a TV or web show?