From a different perspective I would like to talk about a community that I have been a member for 8 years, the picture framing community. This community I would best describe as an odd community of business owners that are very unique in their approach to their business and lack the recognition of being a community. This is an industry that resists growth and technology in an age of technological explosion. The resistance to welcome in modern times is both unifying in that people will stay the course and defeating for the industry in that the course is wrong. Having been involved in the retail and distribution side of the community I have seen the effects of a closed community on the entire industry. Due to the closed community success becomes harder; people maintain the status quo and opportunities pass the industry by due to the stagnant nature of this community.
I would suggest the community is dominated by two American based corporations that manage to maintain this stagnate environment. Operating as essentially monopolies in the industry information is controlled as much as possible thus creating a lack of community knowledge or desire to get involved. The community is a business community so to argue the semantics of corporations trying to maximize profits seems ridiculous but there is no doubt in my mind that the industry has not advanced due to this community structure. There is one giant and the rest of us are there to pick off the scraps and not challenge the oppressor. Technically I am the competition of this juggernaut and while I do accept the fact that there is a market share differential, I will not accept the idea of a brain dead community following the almighty due to lack of will and desire. I see a lot of hard working people with talents, ideas and a genuine love for what they do but along with it a systemic community blockade that for the most part is accepted.
Accepting a perceived lot in life will not help grow a community. When I tell people what I do for a living people tend to look at me with bewilderment and curiosity. Your average person looks at a framed picture on the wall and the frame is not discussed yet there are frames on 85% of all pictures. A salesman told me once that he thinks that 90% of the population knows nothing about framing and 10% knows very little yet everybody has a picture frame. The process of the picture framing community has to change. There is a giant opportunity for the community to embrace that our product is everywhere and with greater involvement by community members their ideas and knowledge can be brought to the public. Self actualization for the community is the biggest opportunity of all!!
