Social Recreational Dance "Industry"

"Rising tide" principle

A rising tide lifts all boats.

Captains of boats can either wait for an act of God to create a rising tide; or they can, in combination and cooperation, seek to create one, becoming, in so doing, effectively lesser gods.

Industry associations and professional associations seek, among other things, to help create a rising tide for their industry.  In social-recreational dancing we would greatly benefit from more of that.

Industry superstructure & infrastructure

Industry superstructure and infrastructure includes

• industry/trade associations
• professional associations
• trade magazines
• trade shows
• conventions
• educational events, and
• other industry-level foundations oriented to the business side, not just the craft or professional side, of the business

Professional associations & industry/trade associations

We already have professional associations doing an excellent job in relation to their missions.

The mission of a professional association is not the business side of things (except when the profession is 'businessperson'). The business side of things is the mission of "trade"/industry associations.

Industry association or professional association

People working in the realm of social-recreational dancing see themselves in different ways.  It's not clear what percentage see themselves primarily in terms of one facet or another. 

To use dance teaching as example,

• many see themselves as primarily dance teachers, who choose to do that teaching by means of a business. In contrast,
• some see themselves as primarily businesspeople, who choose to do that business by means of dance teaching.

In relation to Social-Recreational Dance 'Industry', the key issue is that an industry association, aka trade association, is business oriented.  An industry association is not a professional association.

The premise of an industry association is that the businesses which they serve already know how to perform the profession, craft and trade aspects of the enterprise; and that the task of the industry association is to focus on the business aspects.

The premise of a professional association is that the persons and businesses which they serve already know how to perform the business aspects of the enterprise; and that the task of the professional association is to focus on the profession, craft or trade aspects of the enterprise.

Professional associations

In social-recreational dancing we do already have some excellent professional associations.  They focus on the teaching and dancing. 

It is important to recognize that, not only are they the foundation of the social-recreational dancing profession, they are also critically important to the social-recreational dancing industry.

In addition to already existing professional associations in social-recreational dancing, we also have event-sanctioning bodies and member-run organizations, both of which contribute greatly to the industry. I will be writing more on these types of organizations at a later time.

The focus here now is the need for a strong industry/trade association and the great benefits of it.

Professionalization

In the growth and development of industries and professions, there is often a professionalization phase.  This is a period of laying, or renovating, the professional-level foundations for the industry going forward.  It's a stage in industry development between the Wild-West, anything goes, phase and the mature phase.

The professionalization phase of an industry is a bit analogous to post-teenage or post-puberty - at the end of the late childhood years and a part of beginning maturity.

Professionalization is critical to successful development of an industry; an industry which has aged but not become successfully professionalized is an industry which is a lot more amateurish and of less stature and lower respect than an industry which has become successfully professionalized.

Some important parts of social recreational dance industry are in professionalization phase; and it is steadily moving ahead and gaining ground. Some parts of social recreational dance industry are already successfully professionalized; and some parts were, but had lost ground due to various circumstances, and are now re-gaining some good yardage.

If the social recreational dance industry were not already in the process of ongoing professionalizing, I would, at the same time I'm calling for development of the business side through a strong industry/trade association, also be calling for more industry focus on professionalizing.

Credentialing

Credentialing is an excellent way to raise the level of professionalism in an industry; and that is the primary focus of some of the professional organizations in social-recreational dance.

"The Commons" principle

The principle of "the commons" has been interpreted and applied in many ways; concretely, abstractly, and metaphorically.  Anything shared "in common" can be considered as "a commons".

In the social-recreational dance industry, I see the issues of "quality" and "bad behavior" as very important elements of the commons of social-recreational dance.

The principle of the commons begins with "the tragedy of the commons"; which in general can be interpreted as the observation that a commons is used by many, will be abused by some, and eventually can be diminished or even ruined for all.  The "environment" (of pretty much anything) is an example of a commons.

The principle of the commons is that, to avoid the tragedy, some attempt must be made to reduce abuse, or overuse, of the commons.

In any industry or profession, matters of "the commons" are a key reason for the initiation, development, support and sustenance of industry/trade associations, professional associations, credentialing, and professionalization.