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Events & AwardsOct 12, 2014
MJSA’s ConFab slated for early November
MJSA has announced the dates for its third annual ConFab conference, which offers presentations on business skills that help jewelry makers and designers succeed.
Attleboro Falls, Mass.--MJSA has announced the dates for its third annual ConFab conference, which offers presentations on business skills that help jewelry makers and designers succeed.
This year’s ConFab is scheduled for Nov. 2 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
A portion of the topics and presenters slated for the conference are as follows.
Business 101: The Basics Every Jewelry Business Person Needs to Know
Ben Janowski of Janos Consultants will help attendees understand current business conditions and what it takes to create a sustainable jewelry business. He will discuss developing a business plan, criteria for product development, the establishment of target markets, internal requirements, timelines, sourcing options, and financial and pricing basics.
Legal 101: A Jewelry Business Guide to Laws and Regulations
Suzan Flamm, senior counsel at the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, will cover laws that impact the making and selling of jewelry. The easy-to-understand seminar will address protecting intellectual property, marking precious metals and creating legally compliant advertising. Flamm also will discuss anti-money laundering operations and the Kimberley Process.
Merchandising: Creating a Line That Sells
Cindy Edelstein of the Jeweler’s Resource Bureau will outline how designers can create an overall design concept, direction and merchandise mix for a viable collection, which can grow and evolve over the lifespan of a designer’s career.
Digital Marketing: A 2014 Update
Eugene Brill, vice president of operations at Richline Group’s Jewelry.com, will share the latest on search engine optimization, search engine marketing, pay-per-click and social media.
Photography: Creating Images that Sell
Matthew Perosi of JewelerWebsites.com will teach attendees the basics of how to take photos that compel customers to give jewelry a second look in a competitive online environment where good images are the “holy grail” for success in marketing.
“From the basics of developing a business plan and a viable collection to pricing, merchandising and marketing, this year’s ConFab will again feature the type of information that can be put to use directly and immediately by jewelry makers and designers who are new to our field,” said MJSA President and CEO David Cochran.
Registration for MJSA’s Confab is available on MJSA.org.
In addition to ConFab, MJSA also will be offering two webinars for jewelry makers and designers in October and November, both taught by Andrea Hill, owner and CEO of Hill Management Group and StrategyWerx, a small-business consulting and education firm.
On Oct. 17, Hill
will present Better Subcontracting for Jewelry Makers and Designers, where she will explain how to develop successful relationships with subcontractors, or those who perform CAD/CAM, casting, setting, finishing and other processes needed to create jewelry. This webinar will teach attendees how to evaluate contractors and their capabilities, communicate expectations and understand theirs, establish a successful working relationship and manage outcomes.
Hill will discuss Getting Lean for the Small Jewelry Maker or Designer on Nov. 7, where she will cover how to run a small jewelry business as efficiently as possible using the lean management “5S” concept, which stands for Sort (remove/reduce), Straighten (streamline/organize), Shine (clean/inspect), Standardize (create a standard of consistent behavior) and Sustain (commit to repeatable behaviors).
MJSA Online Learning webinars are $15 for members and $25 for non-members. Additional information and registration can be found on MJSA.org.
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