ATLANTA JEWELRY SHOW TOWN HALL KEYNOTE HEADLINES AJS UNIVERSITY LINE-UP FOR FEBRUARY 28 MARCH 2, 2015 EDITION

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1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Suzanne Pruitt ATLANTA JEWELRY SHOW TOWN HALL KEYNOTE HEADLINES AJS UNIVERSITY LINE-UP FOR FEBRUARY 28 MARCH 2, 2015 EDITION Panel Of Industry Leaders, Independent Jewelers Gather To Discuss Emerging Issues And New Opportunities For Growth ATLANTA (December 31, 2014) -- What new tools, strategies and emerging trends will help the independent jeweler not only survive, but thrive in coming years? Jewelers and industry members are invited to participate in the Atlanta Jewelry Show Town Hall Meeting to find out. As the keynote session for the February 28 March 2, 2015 edition s popular AJS U educational series, this important program joins an expansive roster of free sessions full of practical, profitable tips and innovative ideas to help retailers strengthen their sales and store practices. In addition, the Atlanta Jewelry Show will also sponsor and bring GIA lab sessions to attendees. (Editor s note: Headshots available via request, ftp download or by clicking this link. See end of release for details.) Moderated by Kathy Beall, K. Beall Associates, the keynote event, Atlanta Jewelry Show Town Hall Meeting: State Of The Independent Jeweler, will be held on Sunday, March 1 from 9-10:30 am. Attendees are invited to join Beall, a panel of experts (to be announced in upcoming weeks), representing every facet of the industry, and other members of the jewelry community, to discuss emerging issues and new opportunities for growth. Jewelers are encouraged to bring their own perspectives and questions to the table. They are sure to leave energized, inspired and full of actionable ideas to take back and put to work in their stores now and into the future. In addition, the Atlanta Jewelry Show will once again sponsor and bring hands-on GIA grading lab sessions to attendees, including the GIA Colored Stone Grading Lab Session from Wednesday Friday, February and the Pearl Grading Lab Session on Saturday, February 28. For complete details, including registration information and price, contact Judy Lince at the Atlanta Jewelry Show: (800) or jlince@atlantajewelryshow.com. The AJS U educational series includes a wide range of free programs for the Spring 2015 Atlanta Jewelry Show at the Cobb Galleria Centre. Registration is recommended ( Programs include: Saturday, February 28 MARKETING MADE SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE & FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE Speakers: Amy Minnick and Elesa Dillon, Southern Jewelry News 9:45-10:45 am, Room 103 Whether you re a retailer or wholesaler, marketing is a must. But many people believe effective marketing requires thousands of dollars and, at the very least, a small staff. Not true! Let Elesa Dillon and Amy Minnick walk you through the basics of everyday marketing tactics that are easy, effective and surprisingly inexpensive. They wil show you how to coral your marketing needs into manageable tasks that don t break your budget. You ll learn from other retailers around the country who ve uncovered creative ways

2 to get their names out there while, at the same time, gaining a rich understanding of just how effective telling your business story can be. Learn the basics of press release writing, including when to write it, how to write it and where to submit it. And learn how to capitalize on the community activities your employees may already be involved in. It s time to uncover the power of your store, your staff and your story without eating into your profit. LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE LATEST RASH OF ROOFTOP BURGLARIES! Speaker: Mark Cumicek, Director of Commercial Lines Underwriting and Loss Prevention, Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co. 11:00 am - 12:15 pm, Room 104 In this presentation, Mark Cumicek will discuss practical lessons learned from the latest rash of rooftop burglaries. An expert in the deterrence of crimes against jewelry businesses, Cumicek will help you understand effective burglar alarm protection for a jewelry store, what it takes to maintain and most importantly, how line security is your connection to protection. DISCOVER THE PERFECT SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL FOR YOUR BUSINESS Speaker: : Liz Bolen, Marketing Coordinator, SnapRetail 11:15 am 12:15 pm, Room 103 Popular social media sites such as Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter continue to evolve while new platforms rapidly gain popularity, making it hard to decide which to use to engage with customers and drive sales. Attend this informative session to learn which social media sites work best for your store type and target audience. You ll walk away with tactics and strategies that you can implement quickly for your business. CAFÉ CONVERSATIONS With Kathy Beall, K. Beall Associates Location: Marketplace Café 12:15-1:30 pm Grab your $5 hot buffet lunch and join in the conversation! These casual, open networking sessions on Saturday and Sunday, offer the perfect opportunity to meet new people, discover new ideas and share strategies, success stories and common challenges. Popular industry trainer and consultant, Kathy Beall will guide the discussion and help spark what promise to be lively and idea-filled discussions. Join us and you re sure to leave with real solutions to take back to your store. Potential topics could include in-store promotions, pricing, marketing tools, trends and more. HOW TO INCREASE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR BRIDAL MARKETING TO MILLENNIALS Speaker: George Prout, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Gems One Corporation 2:00-3:15 pm, Room 104 The portion of bridal purchases made by Millennials rises each year, yet most independent jewelers find it difficult to develop and deliver the right marketing messages to this lucrative target customer. Adding to the challenge, MIllennials share certain purchasing predispositions that impact both the in-store selling dynamic, as well as the products that they are likely to desire. George Prout will help you identify the right messages, as well as the right delivery vehicles for communicating with prebridal Millennials. You ll also discover practical, proven ways to adjust your product offerings to attract today's bridal consumer.

3 TECHNOLOGY FIRST, THEN MARKETING (PART 1) Speaker: Larry Chasin, Director of Business Development, Thinkspace Jeweler 3:30-4:30 pm, Room 103 It s a fact that very few independent jewelry retailers do meaningful e-commerce business via their website. The reason? The sheer difficulty of the website creation process combined with the never-ending need for specific employees to manage the technology and online marketing strategy. Larry Chasin, Director of Business Development of Thinkspace Jeweler, will reveal the essential website tools required to truly engage your clients, options for technology platforms, the importance of quality data, and how to succeed at gathering information from online customers. Once the right technology is in place, your website can become the virtual extension of your store and a meaningful marketing message can be delivered to engage with your customers. Sunday, March 1 KEYNOTE: ATLANTA JEWELRY SHOW TOWN HALL MEETING: STATE OF THE INDEPENDENT JEWELER Speakers: Moderator Kathy Beall, K. Beall Associates will be joined by our panel of industry experts 9-10:30 am, Room 103 (see above) TECHNOLOGY IN PLACE, NOW THE MARKETING! (PART 2) Speaker: Rami Kassab, CEO, Thinkspace 10:45-11:45 am, Room 104 Now that your website s technology foundation is firmly in place, how do you attract customers and drive traffic to your website. Some of the topics that Rami Kassab, CEO of Thinkspace Jeweler will cover include ways to increase the visibility of your website in search results (search engine marketing), methods to ensure that the content, HTML and coding of your website is optimized to ensure that it is listed earlier (or higher up) as well as more frequently in natural search engine results for Google and Facebook (search engine optimization or SEO). How to do a keyword analysis and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) with Google Analytics will also be explained during the second part of this session from Thinkspace Jeweler. CAFÉ CONVERSATIONS With Kathy Beall, K. Beall Associates Location: Marketplace Café 12:00-1:15 pm Grab your $5 hot buffet lunch and join in the conversation! These casual, open networking sessions on Saturday and Sunday offer the perfect opportunity to meet new people, discover new ideas and share strategies, success stories and common challenges. Popular industry trainer and consultant, Kathy Beall will guide the discussion and help spark what promise to be lively and idea-filled discussions. Join us and you re sure to leave with real solutions to take back to your store. Potential topics could include in-store promotions, pricing, marketing tools, trends and more.

4 GO VIRAL WITH SOCIAL SHARING Speaker: Liz Bolen, Marketing Coordinator, SnapRetail 1:30 2:30 pm, Room 103 Sharing content within the social landscape leads to an exponential growth in product sales and brand exposure. More than 40% of social media users purchase an item after sharing it online. Learn the secrets of social sharing across popular sites like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and others to expand your customer base. During this information-packed presentation, you ll learn how to empower your loyal following to create buzz around your store using social media. ESTATE JEWELRY INSIGHTS: A VISUAL GUIDE TO ERA, STYLES AND MOTIFS OF THE LATE GEORGIAN AND VICTORIAN MOVEMENTS Speaker: Gail Brett Levine, GIA, GG, Executive Director, NAJA 2:45-3:45 pm, Room 104 Estate jewelry can be a great profit center for jewelers. To effectively sell it, you need to be able to remance it -- to share its unique characteristics and story with potential customers. During this informative session, you ll gain insights into the history, gemstones and design motifs that defined jewelry of the Late Georgian, as well as Early, Mid and Late Victorian eras. We ll take a look at valuing elements, factors that make pieces indicative of the era they represent, the influences and how that supports the prices realized. The program will also highlight the first and foremost consideration of any piece of jewelry -- condition. INFLUENCE CUSTOMERS WITH INSTAGRAM Speaker: Liz Bolen, Marketing Coordinator, SnapRetail 3:00 4:00 pm, Room 103 There s a reason why 91% of major retail brands have adopted Instagram into their online marketing strategy. With more than 200 million active and engaged Instagram users, the potential buying power is huge and it s paying off in sales. Get the skinny on Instagram and learn how to incorporate visual marketing into your current strategy. You ll walk away with the latest trends and best practices to grow and engage your Instagram following and convert those followers into paying customers. ATLANTA JEWELRY SHOW QUICK FACTS: WHEN: Saturday - Monday, February 28 March 2, 2015 HOURS: 10 am 6 pm, February 28 March 1; 10 am 3 pm, March 2 WHERE: Cobb Galleria Centre, Two Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, GA IINFORMATION: or ABOUT SJTA Celebrating its 65 th Anniversary, the Southern Jewelry Travelers Association is the nation s oldest association for independent jewelry representatives and the official sponsor and producer of the Atlanta Jewelry Show. For more information-- visit info@atlantajewelryshow.com; phone: or ### EDITOR'S NOTE: Images shown available via request to Suzanne Pruitt at Suzanne@marshmeadowsmarketing.com or or via download link and ftp access: Click to download:

5 Via ftp access: Go to: ftp.speartek.com Login: 3mweb Password: 3m30144 Folder: Atlanta Jewelry Show AJS 215 Seminar Speaker Headshots