Jewelry Summit connects majors, world-class speakers

Atlanta—About 200 top executives from major U.S. retailers and international suppliers convened for the 2nd Annual Fine Jewelry CEO Summit, held here last month.

The event is built for C-level executives from the majors, those jewelry firms that control $22 billion in retail sales and over 38 percent of the U.S. jewelry market, according to Lee Arevian, vice president of the Nielsen Jewelry Group, which produced the conference and publishes National Jeweler.

The event featured prominent speakers such as Tom Peters, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, best-selling business author Daniel Pink and e-commerce expert Jeffrey Rayport. In addition to keynote presentations, attendees also heard case studies on issues facing retailers today.

"I need copies of all the PowerPoint slides to share with my management," said Susan Jacques of Borsheim's. "There were so many implementable ideas."

Pink, who wrote A Whole New Mind, kicked off the event with a discussion on how "artistry, empathy and creativity," key to a jewelers success, have become more important to management. Rio Tinto Diamonds, the principal sponsor of the event, sponsored his presentation.

"Speakers like Daniel Pink help to introduce the jewelry industry to cutting-edge management best practices and plant the seeds of forward-thinking ideas that will help our market segment as a whole," Rio Tinto Diamonds Marketing Manager Nirupa Bhatt said.

Business management guru Peters—who was sponsored by Collectors Universe companies the Gem Certification and Assurance Lab and the American Gemological Laboratories—emphasized innovation for the jewelry industry.

"If you're in retail and you don't screw up, you're doing the same damn thing as last year," he said.

He offered up his four "laws" of business excellence:

* De-centralize. "GE is among the most successful companies and it is also they most 'disorganized.' You don't hear the word 'synergy' at GE."

* Execution. He referenced Larry Bossidy's book, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done.

* Accountability.

* Working harder, starting earlier. GE, for example, holds meetings at 5:30 a.m.

CEOs from Bailey Banks and Biddle, Helzberg Diamonds, Sterling Jewelers and other major retailers also had the opportunity to speak with Peters in a "leadership chat," also sponsored by the labs.

Other highlights included Janie Curtis, managing director of Frank About Women, who discussed how to speak to women in a way that builds trust and long-term relationships; and Internet strategist Rayport, sponsored by Le Vian, who spoke about Web trends such as the acceleration of product lifecycles and the downward price pressures in certain industries.

The conference wrapped with technology wizard Wozniak, who collects watches and other intricate gadgets. Despite his tech-geek ways, the Apple co-founder said he prefers the in-store shopping experience.

"You have much more help in the store," he said.

Still, he predicted innovations that could make the online-shopping experience more "real." These included more personalization, super broadband, more cooperation among stores online and realism like one sees in video games: "In the future, you could have real hands turning jewelry around," he said.

Arevian said the show, recently renamed The Nielsen Fine Jewelry Leadership Summit, is continuing to evolve to fit the needs of the jewelry community.

"Our goal is to nurture the current and future leaders of our industry, to connect our attendees with a variety of the best international suppliers and to create collaboration and camaraderie among retail executives," he said.