The Heart of America Regional Conference for Jewelry Store Owners and Managers has a new name: The Jewelers Executive Conference (JEC). The fourth conference is scheduled for March 6-7, 2004, at the Doubletree Hotel in Overland Park, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City, Mo.

Jewelers of America and four of its affiliates—the Kansas Jewelers Association, the Missouri Jewelers and Watchmakers Association, the Oklahoma Jewelers Association, and the Nebraska/South Dakota Jewelers Association—are sponsors of the Jewelers Executive Conference, which is held every other year. The most recent conference was held in 2002 and was attended by jewelers from 11 states.

Conference chairs Lane Roberds of B.C. Clark Jewelers in Oklahoma City, and Carolyn Pope of Crews Jewelry in Grandview, Mo., said, “The name has changed but the purpose stays the same. We have been told that some jewelry executives have not attended past conferences because they did not have a managerial title.” Roberds said that the conference would continue to be tailored for owners and managers, with educational presentations and roundtable discussions led by industry leaders, and with vendor displays featuring the latest styles of jewelry and watches. The planning committee hoped the name change would help executives who might not have a managerial title understand that the conference is for every jewelry executive who manages people and/or inventory, merchandising, or buying.

Attendance at the Jewelers Executive Conference is limited to the first 200 jewelers registering. For additional information, contact Sharon and Bill Blair at (913) 661-0084, e-mail: sjblair38@kc.it.com.