From The Desk Of The President
For those who didn’t attend the annual leadership conference Sept 18 & 19 in Topeka, you missed an exciting time. Along with the camaraderie of movie night, dinner, and the wonderful speakers who attended, there were several important decisions made.
The speakers at this year’s conference were very well received, and all three sessions ran longer than the allotted time. On Saturday afternoon, we had Carl York from the State of Kansas walk us through the sales tax rules and regulations, and answer any questions we had concerning taxation. Jana Taylor, who led a workshop on making the best first impression with your store as well as making your store a destination place, was an upbeat and inspiring speaker. She came prepared with many no-cost or low-cost ideas to promote your business and opened the floodgates to a brainstorming session among the attendees. We then had great demonstration on the different lighting options available in today’s market. Our guide through this was Howard Gurock from Econo-Lite of New York.
(to read more please see our Fall 2010 Newsletter.)
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SEPTEMBER 24-25, 2011
Great Wolf Lodge - Kansas City
The weekend of September 23-25 played host to another exciting and successful Kansas Jewelers Association convention! The convention took place in Kansas City at the Great Wolf Lodge. Stores from all over the state of Kansas and a few out of state visitors were welcomed Friday night by an evening of pure fun. On our “night out” we all shared a delicious meal at Wild Bill’s Steakhouse followed by a comedy show at Stanford and Sons. During the afternoon on Saturday the 24th, an open forum round table discussion over social media and online presence in today’s jewelry market took place. It was a perfect time to share and gain knowledge over what has been beneficial in our store’s online success and what has proved to be trying.
That evening was celebrated with KJA’s annual “Welcome Dinner” and “Silent Auction”. Guests were wined and dined while placing bids on numerous items such as loose gemstones donated by Tropical Imports, Scentsy baskets, and even a Tailgating gift set. Throughout the night everyone took part in voting on design contest pieces. Each year the design contest brings exciting and inventive new ideas to the convention, making the competition not only a close race but a tantalizing sight. After the silent auction and dinner had concluded everyone prepared for a round of nighttime mini golf. Needless to say, it was an intense game of match play.
Sunday the 25th was a day full of intriguing seminars and the awards ceremony. Our guest speaker was John Russo (UK) of iThink! Retail, who is a non-verbal and body language communications expert. John has spent the past few years working with such companies as Hearts on Fire, Tiffany & Co., as well as top luxury retailers across Australia, New Zealand, and Asia helping to develop new sales approaches. His workshops did not disappoint, everyone’s undivided attention was given to him as he introduced new techniques to apply in our everyday business. KJA was able to secure John Russo for our 2012 convention where he will be bringing a whole new set of workshops.
That afternoon the awards ceremony was conducted for the design competition. In the Open Fabrication Category B, Katie Westphal-Griest(Westphal Jewelers) took first and second was Colton Bartel(Collins Diamonds). In Open Fabrication Category A, another big win for Westphal Jewelers own Katie Westphal-Griest. Daron Woelk of Woelk's House of Diamonds took first in the CADCAM category. Then in Professional Category B, first place went to Katie Westphal-Griest and second went to Mary Stine of Roth Jewelry. Sheila Reitmeyer took first place in the Professional Category A and second was Katie Westphal-Griest. The two most coveted awards are Best in Show and People's Choice. People's Choice was a design by Daron Woelk of Woelk's House of Diamonds. The Best Of Show winner advances onto the national competition to represent the state of Kansas and we couldn't be more pleased to announce that Katie Westphal-Griest of Westphal Jewelers will be representing the KJA! We know next year will be just as exciting, so don't miss out on the opportunity to be a part of the event!
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