by Angie Ash, Executive Vice President “Grin and bear it” were words my Dad sometimes said as I was growing up. Certainly, I’ve thought about those four words more in the past few months. My Dad is 88 years old this year, and he certainly has been through his share of hardship in his life thus far....
By Ellen Fruchtman, President Current Information and Strategy Right now, we are looking at an extremely fluid situation, which everyone will agree is changing hourly (let alone daily). With every major event cancellation, there will no doubt be a local economic impact. There are already tremendous stock market implications, which will undoubtedly have a trickle-down effect and will...
By Shane O'Neill, Vice President Ahh, Facebook, the most widely discussed social channel. Every trade show is packed with speakers on the subject. “How to get the most from Facebook”, “How to Sell on Facebook”, “Get More Fans on Facebook”, the list goes on and on. Yet, almost all of you are using the channel wrong and...
By Ellen Fruchtman, President Tipping Point: the critical point in a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place. We’re at a tipping point. And lab-grown diamonds have brought us here. The magnitude of which this product will affect the industry has yet to be truly felt. But, rest assured, you will feel it. Many,...
by Ellen Fruchtman, President Almost 20 years ago, a book was published (September 1998), which had a profound impact on how I looked at business. The book, Who Moved My Cheese, became a topic in an article I wrote about the industry and its need to change a few years ago. At that time, there was no...
By now you would have to be living under a rock if you weren’t aware of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the famous hashtag which continues to gain traction. Hollywood has gotten the attention of what permeates several workplaces even to this day. It ran rampant, as many women will attest to (including me) when I...
Are you ready for JCK? In approximately 4 weeks, retailers will descend upon one of the largest (if not the largest) jewelry shows in the world. There is no doubt doing business for retailers, suppliers and vendors is getting tougher each and every year. So, perhaps this will be the year to step back and assess exactly...