The 2022 edition of JCK Las Vegas is almost upon us. The show opens Friday, June 10. (Meanwhile, JCK’s sister show, Luxury, opens June 8 to invited guests and to all JCK attendees on June 10). Have you registered? If not, we urge you to snap to it (preregistered guests will be able to fast-track their entrance to the show).
By all accounts, this year’s shows are shaping up to be blockbuster events, as the industry returns to Las Vegas for the first full-on jewelry market week since 2019.
Below, Sarin Bachmann (pictured), group vice president at Reed Exhibitions’ Jewelry Group, aka the show’s head honcho, outlines all the newness coming to the Venetian Expo (formerly known as the Sands Expo) in early June.
“As an overriding theme, our education is focused on the future of retail,” Bachmann tells JCK. “What’s next in digital and innovation, and themes like digital marketing, sales, and also employee retention.”
New Show Floor Elements
We’re really excited to have all our neighborhoods back, as well as some new ones. Luxury is back on level 2, where it was in 2019, meaning all show exhibits will be on levels 1 and 2.
AGTA is back under the same roof as JCK, and will be colocated with International Gems and Fine Gems on level 2, behind Luxury and next to the Plumb Club in Hall D. They open Thursday [June 9], the day before JCK.
We have a new neighborhood called the Shoppe that will feature high-end gift products such as handbags, soaps, and candles as well as JCK swag featuring artwork by Sammy Handler of Kicks by Sammy. We had her at Luxury in 2019; she’s an incredible artist who puts together fun artwork featuring images from the show, jewelry items, and high-end items. It’s a great area for people to shop for their stores or for themselves. Eventually we’d look to grow this area to have eyewear and picture frames, but we’re starting small.
We’re excited to have our internationals back, a little bit more than we had in 2019, including some new additions such as Sri Lanka and Thailand gemstone pavilions in the Gemstone area. Hong Kong companies are coming; they have some quarantine requirements when they go back to their country, so we don’t have as many, but we do have a large contingent of people willing to put up with that quarantine. The last neighborhood I’ll mention is our Design Collective, which has been rebranded. It used to be known as the Design Center. It’s sold out and has some new additions including the Black in Jewelry Coalition, which has an area where they’ll feature BIPOC designers.
New Activations
We always make it a point to make sure JCK is new and innovative every year. This year, we’ve added a slew of new and fun activations and Instagrammable moments throughout the show floor.
At registration, for example, we’ll have ribbons that mark the number of years you’ve attended. You can pick a ribbon and put it on your badge, so everyone should start thinking about how many years they’ve been going to JCK. And there will be a nearby photo booth where they can take a photo with their ribbon, and those photos will be unveiled in a big mosaic.
We’ll have an NFT gallery in Luxury. We have a featured artist, Rozes, who made specific NFT artwork for our show. He does cartoonish artwork and has made specific ones for us where the cartoons are wearing jewelry. The theme of the show is us trying to educate the industry on what’s new and next, including NFTs and the metaverse, and how our industry can get involved in that. And we’ll have educational sessions tied into this. It’s education combined with activation.
We’ll have a JCK magazine photo booth where you can get a photo of yourself on the cover of JCK magazine. I believe it’s going to be at the back on level 2, in the Innovation Hub near the Showcase Stage, where all our education will be. The JCK Pro Lounge will be back there. This is an area where you can get all this innovation and education in one place.
There’s going to be a video booth where you can show off jewelry you’re wearing or try on jewelry from a vendor and show it off.
We’ll have a Marketplace café at the back of the Bridge neighborhood on level 2 with café seating and each afternoon between 2-3 p.m., complimentary 30th anniversary treats will be given out there.
There’s going to be a large balloon ring installation at the front of the Design Collective on level 2, sponsored by Diamonds Do Good—another cool Instagrammable moment.
We’ll have a gem-themed hallway leading to the Gems neighborhood. The hallway next to the Luxury ballroom will be lit up with gemstone colors and neon signs, so you’ll have a fun experience as you’re walking into the gem area.
And last but not least, lounges will be upgraded throughout the show. The Luxury Lounge will include a flower wall, and the one on the JCK show floor will have artwork by Kicks by Sammy. There are a lot of new ways to enjoy the experience while you’re shopping at the show.
New Events
We’re thrilled to have JCK Rocks coming back on Saturday night, June 11. As many people have heard, we’re featuring both current and past members of the cast of Hamilton. They’ll do some of the songs from Hamilton, and they’ll also mash-up current pop songs with Hamilton songs and create this unique experience you can’t see anywhere else. Big Hamilton fans will hear the songs they know and love but also experience them in a different way.
The evening starts with a networking event before the performance and ends with an after-party. The networking starts at 7:30 p.m., the show starts at 9 and the afte- party at 10:30, on Palazzo level 5 of The Venetian.
All our partner events are back, including the Diamonds Do Good gala on Thursday night [June 9]. Plumb Club is taking invited guests to see Katy Perry on Friday night [June 10]. Le Vian’s red carpet fashion show, followed by the Jewelers for Children’s Facets of Hope gala, on Sunday night [June 12].
There’s a new WJA breakfast and keynote on Saturday morning [June 11] at 8 a.m., in The Venetian on level 3 featuring Karine Bah Tahé, the founder and CEO of Blue Level Training, focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion training.
Rapaport is doing its breakfast Sunday morning, and there will be many more hosted cocktail party and events throughout the weekend, including GIA, AGS, and IDCA.
New Educational Offerings
The JCK keynote on Friday morning is sponsored by Sarine. It’s going to be about the metaverse and Web3 and what all the coming digital innovation looks like for retailers. The keynote is by Swan Sit, a digital innovator, master marketer, and formal global head of digital marketing at Nike, Estée Lauder, and Revlon. Attendees will be able to learn insights about the importance of developing strategies for new audiences in these new spaces in these new ways.
As for other education, we’re bringing back a full slate of JCK Talks programming on Thursday on level 1, including sessions taught by GIA, and sessions on sustainability, trends, digital marketing, NFTs, and more. At the end of the day, we’re going to have a “How to JCK” panel at 5 p.m. followed by a happy hour, about how to make the most of your time at JCK. I, myself, will be on the panel along with other retail veterans.
During show days, we’ll have on the Showcase Stage at the back of level 2 different educational tracks that take place at the same time each day. Topics include trends, both style and consumer shopping trends; responsibility, which includes sustainability and diversity and inclusion; sales; marketing; and what we’re calling “relevance,” which is the metaverse, NFTs, and digital fraud, so all things new and digital. What’s neat about it is if you’re interested in sales, you can come back to the Showcase Stage at the same time each day and get a new topic on sales.
(Top photo courtesy of JCK Events)
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