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Matthew Tratner Joins JA New York
The industry veteran is the organization’s new group show director.
Matthew Tratner is JA New York’s new group show director.
New York—JA New York has announced Matthew Tratner will be its new group show director, a role he will step into before the upcoming JA New York Fall Show this month.
Emerald, the company that owns JA New York as well as the Couture show, cited Tratner’s strong leadership skills, his long-standing industry relationships and his “extensive experience spearheading substantive programs and initiatives” as motivation for bringing him on to direct the century-old show.
“We are thrilled that Matthew is joining JA New York as show director,” said Emerald Executive Vice President Gannon Brousseau.
“This industry is fueled by relationships, and Matthew has meaningful connections that extend throughout all facets of the jewelry industry ecosystem. His enthusiasm, coupled with his knowledge and experience, will truly be an asset to our events and we are delighted to welcome him to the team.”
Tratner succeeds longtime JA New York Group Show Director Drew Lawsky, who retired after a 29-year tenure with the show.
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Emerald, the company that owns JA New York as well as the Couture show, cited Tratner’s strong leadership skills, his long-standing industry relationships and his “extensive experience spearheading substantive programs and initiatives” as motivation for bringing him on to direct the century-old show.
“We are thrilled that Matthew is joining JA New York as show director,” said Emerald Executive Vice President Gannon Brousseau.
“This industry is fueled by relationships, and Matthew has meaningful connections that extend throughout all facets of the jewelry industry ecosystem. His enthusiasm, coupled with his knowledge and experience, will truly be an asset to our events and we are delighted to welcome him to the team.”
Tratner succeeds longtime JA New York Group Show Director Drew Lawsky, who retired after a 29-year tenure with the show.
Prior to joining JA New York, Tratner was vice president of business development and marketing for GCAL by Sarine, a role he assumed after being part of the team that brokered the GCAL/Sarine partnership as vice president and general manager of Sarine North America.
Before his time at Sarine, Tratner was director of global business development at the Gemological Institute of America, where he created and implemented sales and marketing strategies for new and existing services like the Diamond Origin Program and the Lab-Grown Diamond Report.
Preceding that, he served as director of membership and sales for trade association and former owner of JA New York, Jewelers of America. He oversaw operations, increased annual revenue year-over-year, and grew supplier-side membership by 15 percent.
Tratner also served as publisher of National Jeweler following its acquisition by JA in 2015.
He officially will start his role as group show director Oct. 23, a week before the JA New York Fall Show, slated for Oct. 29-31 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
JA New York’s spring show, which relaunched last year after a break since 2019, is scheduled for March 10-12, 2024.
The organization announced last year it has nixed its summer show.
“I’m very excited to join JA New York as group show director,” said Tratner.
“Based on location and longevity alone, JA New York shows are uniquely positioned to be destination events for our industry. I look forward to leveraging my relationships, strengthening existing partnerships and working closely with the shows’ dedicated team to ensure that JA New York is a relied-upon resource serving the nuanced needs of this incredible industry.”
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