Industry Workers: Spreading the Gospel of Scrapbooking

Each Wednesday, I write a post that is from my dissertation.

Industry workers are one of the main purveyors of scrapbooking norms. Some go as far as saying they “spread the gospel of scrapbooking.”
Becoming Knowledgeable
Industry workers are encouraged to learn more about scrapbooking. They often take scrapbook classes for free or for the cost of supplies and given scrapbook magazine subscriptions or at the very least, encouraged to flip through the magazines while at work. Industry workers are expected to be knowledgeable about scrapbooking. They have to attract customers and convince customers to buy their products.
Scrapbook Experts
Industry workers typically do not have any formal training regarding scrapbooking. A person doesn’t major in scrapbooking in college. There is no apprenticeship. Many industry workers are self-taught or learn as they go. Regardless of not having any formal scrapbook training, industry workers believe that customers perceive them as the experts—customers come to scrapbook store employees to solve their problems or get help with ideas.
Knowledge + Passion
Industry workers are hired because they are not only knowledgeable about scrapbooking, but also passionate. Most scrapbook stores do hire non-scrapbookers, but only under certain circumstances. For example, a potential employee may not scrapbook but does other paper crafts (e.g., handmade card making or altered books). The level of scrapbooking experience among employees varies. For example, my experience was very limited before I became an industry worker. I had only made a couple of scrapbooks before I was hired in the industry and looking back at those albums, they are more like “glorified” photo albums than scrapbooks as I currently understand them. I had the basic knowledge and the desire and ability to learn more. Passion is important, too, because as one respondent states “you don‟t get paid a whole lot and it‟s a lot of work.” These are important words. If you are looking to hire employees in your scrapbook business, they must be passionate about the hobby. If you are looking to start working in the industry, you need to be passionate about the hobby. Even though I did not have much scrapbooking experience when I became an industry worker, I practiced the spirit of scrapbooking–I was recording memories, making collages out of magazines, and taking dozens of photographs of the mundane and spectacular.
What do Industry Workers Do?
Industry workers work at convincing others to become scrapbookers and to buy more scrapbooking supplies. Classes and crop time are offered so that people make their scrapbooks, but in the process buy more. Scrapbookers do not need more supplies unless they actually use what they have, so crops are important. Though sales are important, relationships with customers are emphasized by both local scrapbook store workers and independent consultants. These relationships are thought to be critical for the businesses that are not chains or big box stores because they typically are not able to compete with those retailers on price. A few industry workers, ironically, consider themselves not be sales people. They do not like to push product on people.
Different Types of Industry Workers
Industry workers are varied. There are employees of local scrapbook stores. There are owners of online kit clubs. There are scrapbooking celebrities–often scrapbook magazine writers or scrapbook supply designers that have been elevated to celebrity status. Industry workers, such as scrapbooking celebrities, are a source of scrapbooking norms while other industry workers are simply the messenger of these norms. Scrapbookers scrapbook in nearly any form that scrapbooking celebrities suggest. Non-celebrity industry workers, however, do have control over what products they sell and in this way influence what ultimately is considered scrapworthy even if they do not have hundreds or thousands of followers of how they actually scrapbook. They also influence what people scrapbook through their reactions and interactions with customers to topics scrapbookers may consider scrapworthy but the industry worker does not. For example, industry workers recounted stories about some of the stranger scrapbooking topics customers had come in with, such as a story about a customer who did a page about things the person’s dog ate. Because I did not formally observe the way in which industry workers interact with customers it is difficult to know what influence they have on customers, but from my informal observations as an industry worker, it is safe to say that they do have some influence.
Conclusion
I realize that it is obvious that industry workers are a source of scrapbooking norms. It is important, however, to consider a person’s role within the industry in relation to the types of scrapbook norms they influence.
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