Social Recreational Dance "Industry"

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

Profession or business

The terms "profession" and "business" are different faces of many enterprises; and to some people there is little difference.  But those who see their enterprise as related to one, or the other, tend to naturally focus on the one, or the other, face.

The two concepts have developed over the centuries.  Long ago there was no money; there was only subsistence living.  One did not "make" or "earn" "a living"; one foraged and gathered it, or hunted it, or with the development of agriculture, cultivated it.

Then "exchange" naturally occurred; you give me some of the excess which you grew in exchange for some of the excess that I caught.  Then "looking for a better exchange" naturally occurred; and a medium of exchange, money, developed.

Then "occupation", making a living, became relevant.  Then specialization and the concept of having a "trade" was invented; historically a trade indicates an occupation involving manual training and skill.  And then the concept of "craft" developed; in the occupational context first, and in "arts and crafts" later.  One with a craft (a craftsman) is assumed to have more specialized skill than one with merely a trade.

And other concepts evolved including "artisan" and "artist".

Then "profession" was distinguished from the other concepts; the term profession indicates more intellectual than physical; knowledge and mental-intellectual skill more than manual-physical skill; working with ideas more than working with things.

In previous times an occupation itself was distinguished as a trade, a craft, an art, a profession.

But today the distinction is also influenced by how one approaches the occupation; the craft focuses on the doing of the job, the profession focuses on the ideas and the intellectual faces of it.  Any occupation today can be embraced as a trade, a craft, an art, a profession; they each have different perspectives.

Business occupations

We certainly have had dealmakers right from the beginning. But the institutionalization of the "intermediary" occupations came later.  In the very beginning of commerce, much of the focus was on the "producer"; of food and of other things and services.

But some people saw that their own relative advantage was in transporting things, eventually called 'goods', from one place to another, and making deals; or in setting up a 'place' in which to bring goods to sell.  And trading caravans and marketplaces evolved.

The people who did this were not seen as producers but as intermediaries (a modern term that is not negatively value-loaded).  Their occupation is dealmaking; their skills are quite different from the skills of the producer; the risks they take are also different.

"Merchants" and retailers and "businessmen/businesswomen" came into being and flourished.

"Business", as with any occupation, can also be embraced as a trade, craft, art, profession.  The professional level of business, the intellectual approach to it, is the focus of the MBA, especially at the top business schools.  Undergraduate business-focus degrees (BS in Business Administration) orient to the doing of, and managing of, business operations.  And two-year college business-focus programs orient to the doing of special functions of business; while seminars, workshops, and other special programs orient to the doing of special functions of business and/or a focus on particular types of business.

The educational focus of industry associations is on seminars, workshops, special programs, and publications all oriented to the particular type of business.

Conventions

Industries usually have an annual convention. Most often the industry/trade association convenes this; and when it is missing, the industry most often does not have any meaningful industry meetings.

But in a few industries, most visibly in the high-tech world, private event promoters sponsor the top industry meetings; and, in some cases, individual vendor-companies, for example, Apple, produce major annual shindigs.

The industry-association convention is a series of committe meetings and membership confabs to conduct the business of the association; and there are usually educational programs including presentations, seminars, and workshops on various business-related topics.  Additionally the convention often includes a trade show.

In social-recreational dancing we are missing a lot of potential industry value in our lack of industry business conventions.

Educational events

Business-side education!  This is one of the most powerful forces for success in small-business industries.  And at the same time it is one of the most absent elements of them.

In the social-recreational dance industry we need a lot more of this.  It will make a huge difference.

One small business-side-education initiative for social-recreational dance business-people has possible potential; but it may be a poor stepchild to its siblings, and also perhaps is more oriented to credentialing than to business education or information.