Learning a Lot!

(From JCK Toronto)

Wow, I’ve learned a lot of disparate things this weekend and at JCK Toronto, like for instance:

-John Anderson is actually from Davidson’s Jewellers in Ottawa (not Richardson’s as I mentioned yesterday.  Sorry about that John.)

-Kim Markwart of Tisdale, SK is the incoming chairperson of the Canadian Jewellers Association and Wayne Fisher of Lloydminster, AB is the new president of the CJG buying group.  Thank you both for your hard work, leadership and for representing Western Canada so well.

-My friend Brad Huisken has released a jewellery staff training system that guides the staffing process from the interview through hiring, training and promoting to various levels of selling and product knowledge and staff leadership.  It gives newer staff an exciting progression of levels to achieve, as opposed to years and years of being a “sales clerk.”

-I met a jeweller who keeps a baseball under the counter in order to peg-off any would-be thieves.  True story!

-Social Media Marketing is like achieving wealth; many people want it but not everyone is ready to do the work.  I met some ambitious folks at the JCK social media seminar and I think we on the panel encouraged some really good practices.

-The JCK Toronto Show actually looked really good this year, and there were reports of strong sales.  The show is still weak on support from Canadian exhibitors.  We’ll see if the rumors are true that the show is up for sale, and might even be mothballed next year.

-Some people are offended when a waitress comes up to a group of men and women and says, “Can I get you GUYS some drinks?”  Be careful how you address different genders.