The Jewelry Independent Summit has announced it will host the fifth installment of its educational Summit on Aug. 10 in New York City—and revealed a speaker lineup comprising top indie designers and jewelry retailers.
The unique industry event, which happens three times a year, was designed as an educational platform for emerging jewelry designers looking to establish themselves in the industry. The event’s programming prioritizes intimate-feeling panels and talks with low speaker-to-attendee ratios.
The August event, entitled “The Modern Design Dilemma,” will serve as “a curated crash course in all things jewelry for those currently considering or working within the industry,” according to a statement from the company. The schedule will include morning and afternoon “Mini Tech Talk” breakout sessions, where one speaker and five audience members will sit and discuss a topic (audience members preselect sessions they’re interested in).
The Summit has always lured interesting, of-the-moment designers and retailers to speak on the practical, nitty-gritty issues facing contemporary emerging designers—and does so this time out, too.
The morning session speakers and topics are:
Jewelry designer and business owner Marla Aaron, “Protecting Your Intellectual Property”
Jewelry designer and business owner Eva Fehren, “The Millennial Designer (and Consumer)”
Jewelry designer and business owner Julez Bryant, “How You Can Help Retailers Understand Independent Designers Are the Future”
Jewelry designer and business owner Melissa Joy Manning, “Ways to Implement Eco-Friendly Practices”
Greenwich St. Jewelers co-owner Jennifer Gandia, “Consignment vs. Wholesale in 2019”
Ylang 23 owner Joanne Teichman, “Store Experiences + Eventing”
The afternoon session speakers and topics are:
Marla Aaron, “The Jewelry Industry’s Design Problem”
Eva Fehren, “The Core Strategy (Sustaining Demand for Your Signature Pieces)”
Julez Bryant, “The Downside of Being an Inspired Designer”
Jennifer Gandia, “Introducing, Following Up, and Managing your Retail Relationships”
Joanne Teichman, “Marketing and Branding for Designers and Retailers”
“The Summit’s goal is to have attendees walk away with the knowledge they need to chart their own course and make decisions for themselves and their work based on facts and knowledge over emotions,” reads the same company statement.
Guests can attend in person or pay to livestream the event (which more 800 individuals have done to date). In-person tickets are $199, while livestream tickets are $189. All tickets are available here. And from July 1-5, JCK readers can get $20 off registration by using the code “SummitJCK.”
Top: A panel at a past Summit (all photos courtesy of Jewelry Independent Summit)
Follow me on Instagram: @emilivesilind
Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
