CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON CHANGING COMPANIES

Inc. magazine’s annual Conference on Growing the Company, to be held Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 in Boston, Mass., will try to help executives feel more secure amid the changing dynamics of today’s workplace.

Speakers will include Michael Treacy, coauthor of The Discipline of Market Leaders; cartoonist Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip; Herman Cain, president and chief executive officer of Godfather’s Pizza; Steve Mariotti, founder of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship; and Len Schlesinger, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.

The conference will provide dozens of seminars divided into seven customized tracks: “Planning and Strategy,” “Leadership and Management,” “Customer Service,” “Marketing and Sales,” “Finance and Accounting,” “Managing Technology” and “CEO Success Stories.” Also planned are four all-day preconference workshops: “Do You Own Your Company or Does It Own You?” “Creating a Do-Able Marketing Plan,” “How to Build a Winning Quality Service Strategy” and “The Great Game of Business.”

Inc. Conferences, 44 Commercial Wharf, Boston, MA 02110; (800) 255-1080, fax (617) 248-8414.

JEF OFFERS SELF-STUDY SALES ASSOCIATE COURSE

The Jewelers Education Foundation, a non-profit subsidiary of the American Gem Society, has developed a self-study course for training jewelry store sales associates. The Graduate Sales Associate course is 50% product knowledge and 50% business fundamentals. It includes 15 lessons in diamonds, colored gems, pearls, precious metals, manufacturing techniques, watches, service, employment relations, sales and security.

“This course is exactly what most stores need to train their staff quickly, effectively and economically,” says Janice Mack-Talcott, director of education and education development for JEF. She estimates that each lesson takes about 20 minutes to read and that most sales associates complete the course in about two weeks.

Jewelers Education Foundation, 8881 W. Sahara Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89117; (702) 255-6500; fax (702) 255-7420.

GIA ALUMNI ADD DATES FOR LECTURE SERIES

Three dates have been added to the U.S. speaking tour of British gemologist Alan Hodgkinson sponsored by the Gemological Institute of America Alumni Association. Hodgkinson will speak about diamonds, the practice of gemology in Scotland and the visual optics of gemstones to 13 alumni chapters throughout the country.

The updated schedule is:

• Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 13; (330) 762-0325.

• Garland, Tex., Oct. 15; (214) 238-8852.

• San Rafael, Cal., Oct. 16; (415) 453-6568.

• Los Angeles, Cal., Oct. 17 and 18; (310) 398-2567.

• Chicago, Ill., Oct. 20; (708) 833-7250.

• Grosse Pointe, Mich., Oct. 22; (313) 881-4800.

• Bethesda, Md., Oct. 24; (301) 983-1990.

• Indianapolis, Ind., Oct. 26; (317) 452-4075.

• Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 27; (910) 765-1036.

• Rego Park, N.Y., Oct. 29; (718) 897-7305.

• Boston, Mass., Oct. 30; (617) 232-5508.

• Long Island, N.Y., Oct. 31; (516) 379-1266.

• Orlando, Fla., Nov. 3; (407) 352-0575.

Call the phone number listed with each date to obtain information about locations and times. Gemological Institute of America Alumni Association, 1660 Stewart St., Santa Monica, CA 90404-4088; (800) 421-7250 or (310) 829-2991, ext. 513; fax (310) 453-7674.

SEATTLE SCHOOL OFFERS WATCH & CLOCK PROGRAM

Students learn to make and repair timepieces of all kinds in the Watch and Clock Technology program at North Seattle Community College in Seattle, Wash. The two-year program trains students in lathe work, filing, grinding, toolmaking, gear cutting, adjusting escapements, manufacturing parts, hairspring manipulation, and the cleaning and adjusting of watches and clocks. Classes in jewelry design are also required.

Graduates earn a vocation certificate or, with more required classes, an associate of applied science degree in watch and clock technology.

North Seattle Community College, Electronics and Engineering Technologies Division, 9600 College Way North, Seattle, WA 98103-3599; (206) 527-3757; fax (206) 527-3748; http://nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu.

TWO COUPLES GIVE BACK TO GIA

Generous alumni of the Gemological Institute of America recently showed their gratitude to their alma mater in the form of educational gifts.

Hyman and Beverly Savinar donated 126 petalite gemstones ranging from four to 31 carats valued at more than $10,000 to the GIA Treasured Gifts Council. The stones will be used in laboratories for education and training. The Savinars, who have been active with the GIA Alumni Association for many years, were awarded the Treasured Gifts Award in honor of their donation.

Leonard and Sunny Friedman of Crescent Westwood Jewelers in Los Angeles, Cal., were recently honored at a distinguished award ceremony and auction held in their honor by the Southern California Guild of the American Gem Society. They decided to split the $4,000 raised at the auction between GIA and the AGS. GIA earmarked its share of the money for its annual campaign, which contributes to home study, resident and extension courses, research projects, information systems and scholarships. Leonard Friedman completed the GIA home-study course on the G.I. Bill of Rights in the 1940s.

JA REVIEWS INTERNET POTENTIAL

Jewelers of America discussed the potential of computer networks during “The Internet: Your New Source for Customers,” a seminar presented at the recent JA International Jewelry Show in New York City.

A task force formed this year to evaluate Internet use for JA members presented the following recommendations:

• Devise a means of getting names, addresses and e-mail addresses of consumers who visit JA’s World Wide Web site. These will be given to JA jewelers in those users’ areas.

• Make it easier for JA jewelers to get onto the Internet.

• Help jewelers to create their own Web sites with how-to workshops and a list of Web page designers.

• Let jewelers and industry groups, for a small fee, put links to their home pages on JA’s Web site.

• Add a secure “members only” area that can be accessed only with a number provided by JA. This area would provide information, such as security alerts, not available to the public.

JA’s Web site address is http://www. jewelers.org.

WOSTEP MOVES, ADDS PARTNERSHIPS

WOSTEP (the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Education Program) has moved into the first two floors of a renovated chalet-type building in Neuchâ#-30#tel, Switzerland. The organization will add a third floor next summer. The new address is WOSTEP, Rue des Saars 99, 2000 Neuchâ#-30#tel, Switzerland. The phone number is (41-38) 29 00 30 until Nov. 9, when it changes to (41-32) 729-0030, fax (41-32) 729-0035.

WOSTEP is now working with instructors from 10 English-speaking watchmaking schools to add to the 20 schools already included in its worldwide partnership. Each of the schools offers WOSTEP’s 3,000-hour program. Benefits include a five-week training session in Switzerland, instructors’ guides, a kit for manipulating hairsprings and balance wheels, and enlarged models of a collet, an escapement and a balance wheel.

Current WOSTEP sessions open for enrollment include a 20-week refresher course from January to June, a complicated-watch course during the same period and 10-week sessions covering precision timing and turning beginning in January and again in March.