Articles and News
Industry News: 24K To Leave Waldorf; Free Sales Seminar Thursday; MJSA’s Design Network; More August 24, 2016 (1 comment)
After 115 Years, 24 Karat Club Banquet To Move From Waldorf Astoria
New York, NY—The 24 Karat Club of the City Of New York will hold its 115th annual Grand Banquet on January 14, 2017, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The 2017 event will be a historic occasion for the Club, as it is the last time its legendary banquet will be held in the historic Waldorf Astoria grand ballroom before the hotel closes for a three-year renovation project.
The banquet has been held at the Waldorf Astoria since 1913, when the hotel was located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Streets, today the site of the Empire State Building. When the hotel moved to its current location on Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, the banquet moved with it. The 24 Karat Club Banquet is the second-oldest event still running at the hotel: only the Pennsylvania Society banquet, which dates back to 1899, has an older tenure in the hotel’s grand ballroom.
More details—including a very special entertainment announcement—are coming soon. The new location of the banquet starting in 2018 also will be announced at a later date.
For information, contact John Kennedy, Club Secretary, at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org.
The historic grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel has been the site of the annual 24 Karat Club Banquet for decades. Above, a view from the 2016 banquet. The hotel closes for renovation shortly after the Club's 2017 banquet in January; it is not known whether or not the hotel will retain the ballroom through the renovation. Image: Hechler
Free Jewelry Sales Seminar Thursday
Tampa, FL—Mastermind LIVE!, a free sales seminar from Exsellerate, is being held this afternoon (Thursday, August 25, 2016) at 2:00 pm Eastern time. Three top performers in fine jewelry sales will share how they effectively use social media to build their customer community and sales. Webinar will be archived for later viewing. To participate in live Q&A, click here to register for the live version.
MJSA Launches Online Social Network For Jewelry Designers
Attleboro, MA—MJSA has launched the MJSA Jewelry Designer Network, an online social forum where designers can share ideas and information, discover inspiration, and find the support they need to grow their businesses.
The network is among the benefits of the new MJSA Designer Collaborative, which can be joined by any MJSA member free of charge. Facilitated by Andrea Hill, MJSA's recently appointed designer advocate and the owner of the Hill Management Group, the Collaborative provides a community in which designers can connect and collaborate.
"For many designers, creativity is often born from long hours of hard work and isolation, and that isolation can be difficult to endure," Hill says. "The MJSA Designer Collaborative, along with the new social network, offers a way for designers to overcome that challenge and get the support they need—whether it's feedback on a design idea, advice on a new business opportunity, or just a chance to say hello to their colleagues."
In addition to the social network, members of the Collaborative can also enjoy other exclusive benefits, including:
A quarterly e-newsletter featuring information about upcoming events and design contests, designer profiles and case studies, and an exclusive column about pricing strategies, written by consultant Marlene Richey, author of the award-winning MJSA Press book Profiting by Design: A Jewelry Maker's Guide to Business Success.
A new event, ConFab Creative, augmenting the "profit lessons for designers" offered in MJSA's current ConFab conference (which this year will take place Oct. 30 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City). ConFab Creative will focus on how to find design inspiration and insights, and provide technical guidance for turning design concepts into completed pieces. Members of the Designer Collaborative receive a significant discount off the price of the ConFab conferences.
Collaborative members also enjoy a 50% discount on all videos, webinars, books, podcasts, and other educational materials produced under Hill's MentorWerx brand, as well as discounted consultation rates from Marlene Richey.
To learn more about the MJSA Designer Collaborative, visit MJSA.org or call (800) 444-MJSA, ext. 333, to speak to Andrea Hill.
CIBJO Releases Marketing & Education Report: Calls On Industry To Combat Climate Change
Milan, Italy—In advance of the 2016 CIBJO Congress opening October 26 in Yerevan, Armenia, the first of the CIBJO commissions' special reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Marketing & Education Commission headed by Jonathan Kendall, the report provides an update about the organization's Jewellery Industry Greenhouse Gas Measurement Initiative launched in 2012 to help businesses in the industry understand and reduce their environmental impact.
Kendall noted it has been a successful year in terms of member engagement in the Greenhouse Gas Measurement Initiative. There are currently are about 20 jewelry organizations fully measuring their carbon footprints and working towards carbon neutrality, and more than 40 are close to joining. They include trade bodies, manufacturers, grading laboratories, watch companies, equipment manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and brands.
"The CIBJO initiative has been designed to be as simple as possible, from planning to implementation. We are here to help, and we believe it is critical that we take the initiative on this issue before we give consumers a reason to reduce their purchasing of the wonderful products we develop and sell," said Kendall. Click here to download the report.
Italian Quake Felt In Jewelry Center
Norcia, Italy—A 6.2 magnitude earthquake that shook central Italy early Wednesday morning, devastated multiple towns and villages around its epicenter near Norcia and Amatrice.
Its impact was felt more than 100 miles away in both Rome and Florence, and also in towns like Arezzo, approximately 110 miles from Norcia. Of the three primary jewelry-manufacturing centers in Italy, Arezzo is closest to the center of the quake. Vicenza and Valenza are farther north.
At press time, 120 people were reported dead in the immediate area of the quake, and no information about the jewelry industry was available.