CHA and New Motherhood

One thing that I love about the scrapbook industry is that children are allowed. While I am critical of the child-centered,  mom-guilt narrative that is often used as a marketing strategy, at least the industry is supportive of families, too. And by supportive, I mean that (at least some) babies were welcomed on the CHA floor. I was psyched to see Amy Tan’s blog post of her with her son and her with other industry leaders and their newish babies at Winter CHA.

I am curious though, will the children still be welcome on the CHA floor as they grow older? I’m pretty sure I know the answer to that question…

What about the the team/support people (e.g., dad, grandma, nanny) who are helping take care of the babies? Are these working moms really doing it alone on the show floor? I admire Ali Edwards public acknolwedgment of her nanny. Honestly, I’ve unsubscribed to a number of blogs so I don’t know if there are other industry leaders who do the same.

I do wonder about the working moms who must attend CHA that are not celebrities or thought leaders? What about the anonymous folks working the booth? Would their companies support them bringing their babies on the show floor? And by support, I mean would they allow it?

Hmmm…curiosity got the best of me and I decided to explore the CHA website. I could not find an across the board policy, but did find the policy below for the CHA 2014 Paper Arts Show:

Children and Minors Policy for Trade Show Floor

Minors are not permitted at the Event. Requests for variances to this policy must be made in writing a minimum of 15 days prior to the event

I suppose that answers that question…

Maybe the scrapbook industry is more like Yahoo afterall. Sigh…These really are questions to explore more deeply at a later date, but I wanted to post and see what you’ll think, too. How does the scrapbook industry compare to other industries regarding working moms within the industry?