I’ve just come back from a trip to the US where the importance of actually getting out there and meeting with people was brought home to me once again.

 

The first part of the trip took place in Chicago where I was a participant in the Diamond Update: Power Panel at the Smart Show in Chicago. The panel was just one of the many, many educational events that sets the event apart from pretty much any other industry trade show. The various seminars and classes that took place across the days of the show were full and eagerly attended by retailers who came to Chicago both for the opportunity to meet with new and existing suppliers, but also to get a healthy fix of education.

 

The panel I took part in consisted of Stephane Fischler – president of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), Dr. James Shigley from GIA, Cathy Calhoun from Calhoun Jewelers and Dr Ben Chavis from the Diamond Empowerment Fund and was moderated by Terry Chandler, president and CEO.

 

The hour-long or so discussion covered a wide range of topics and included such perennial favorites as lab-grown diamonds, the absence of generic promotion, the loss of romance in selling diamonds and, of course, everyone’s favorite topic du jour – the lack of diamond buying by millennial consumers.

 

It seems to me that if we could sort out those issues and make diamonds, especially shopping for diamonds, more pertinent and relevant to this powerful group of consumers, then perhaps the millennial shopper could become a favorite demographic rather than one that consumers are suspicious of and even a little intimidated by.

 

The second part of my US tour took me to the fabled city of New Orleans for AGS Conclave. I last attended Conclave in Denver in 2007 and boy, have I been missing out in the years in between. There were fabulous keynote speakers – Stephen Dubner of Freakonomics fame was a personal favorite – great breakout speakers (including myself!) and simply the best networking events of the industry.

 

The whole set up is geared not just towards learning – which is a fundamental component of the whole event – and just towards having a blast – which I did – but in meeting and schmoozing with people from across the whole industry.

 

We say repeatedly that the diamond (and jewelry) industry is all about people. But sometimes, when you are stuck at a computer, floundering under a full inbox that never seems to get any emptier, when the majority of your communication takes place via messenger, Whatsapp and Facebook and when you forget that your phone even has a talk function, it’s easy to forget that there is a whole world out there just waiting for you.

 

My take home from my time away is that it’s really important to take a break from the screen and the emails and the workload and to get out and meet people. You never know who you are going to sit with and what you are going to learn.

 

Have a fabulous – and sociable – weekend.