Four Weeks Old And Still Howling!!!
My vision for FairJewelry.Org as an outpost for the outcast views of the Jewelry Industry’s “Moral Minority.”
I worked on this site for six weeks, mainly writing articles and supporting our web development team. My company runs five websites, two of which are blogs. The JCK Vegas show was the deadline and we launched publicly May 28 with a press release. Google approves of this website.
We also got considerable attention from places I would have never thought would even consider these issues, such as the Israeli Diamond Industry.
It is obvious that this movement is real and gaining momentum. Just review the current interview with Torry Hoover, President of Hoover and Strong. Consider what Greg Velario has seen over the past ten years. We are on an up curve.
I thank Cheryl Krackow and Ivan Solotaroff at Modern Jeweler for putting Reflective Images on the fair trade map. Their gutsy cover story last January supported this whole movement toward fair and responsible sourcing.
Paul Holwa at Instore has generously featured our jewelry in their recent eco jewelry section. He recently called me a “pioneer” in these efforts.
Thanks also to Rapaport Group for their continued high profile support of these issue and my efforts, and their recent interest in publishing some of my articles.
Thanks to Gary Roskin at JCK Magazine, who published one of our press releases online and give me encouragement at a critical point in my thought processes.
Yet part of my writing this blog is because I felt my views are not likely to be expressed in a conservative, pro-business-leaning trade publication such as JCK Magazine. I wrote a blistering rebuttal of Frank Dullahan’s calling “NGO’s attacks in the industry ‘arrogant’.” I submitted a version of, Turning Lead Bullets Into Gold to JCK Magazine.
They could never publish such a rant. But someone in this business world has to howl (in honor of Allen Ginsburg). My howl is an attempt to drive us deeper into our common humanity, so that even those in dialectical opposition might awaken from their consensus trance and work toward solutions.
JCK recently did a press release on Fair Trade issues, mentioning the efforts of the Rapaport Group.
Amy Riemer was actually writing this press release in the press room at the Vegas show when I personally gave her my press release on this site’s launch. Certainly, if you have one paragraph, the Rapaport’s efforts were the logical choice, but what about the rest of us?
Fairjewelry.org will be publishing articles, interviews, and covering the news related to fair trade and ethically, environmentally sourced materials. If you have leads, ideas or press releases, contact me.
This blog is only part of what I do. With my wife, I run a jewelry manufacturing company employing eleven people. I direct sales and marketing and deal with all levels of strategic planning. Right now, I am personally producing our annual catalog: doing the photography, writing copy, etc. I also have another blog that I write: www.circlemanifesto.com. My goal is to post two to three times a week, which is about as much as I can do if I am to maintain a high level of interesting content.
Two years ago I was kayaking in Northern Minnesota and I heard wolves howl in the night. It was such a beautiful sound, I will never forget. Those of us working to change the consensus trance in the jewelry industry, my community of friends, known and unknown, now have a place for our Wolf song.
In my office, writing away.
FairJewelry.Org is a forest for all of us, the Moral Minority, of the jewelry industry to howl away. I welcome you and look forward to hearing your voice.
