Las Vegas Strip

My wife and I would go to do some buying, but mainly to vacation, eat good food, gamble, sit at the pool and just have fun. I never went (or was invited to) any industry events. In fact, I don’t even think I knew or cared that they were going on.

The show has changed for a me for a couple reasons. One reason is the economy. The exhibitors (jewelry brands, wholesalers, etc) got knocked off their high horse and are finally starting to realize that they should be thankful for all of their customers, and not have the attitude that they’re doing us a favor by selling to us.

The show has also changed for me as my business progressed and I started building our store brand and, most recently, my personal brand.  Last year was my first year speaking about Social Media. We spoke to a pretty empty room. This year, we spoke to a jam packed room with a lively audience participation. I also had the opportunity to speak/present at the exclusive high end Couture Show at The Wynn. It was weird for me to be there, but I actually enjoyed that experience and felt like the audience responded to our talk.

JCK Las Vegas 2010

These talks provided me with the opportunity to share our new brand, The Social Jeweler. We soft launched it last week, and the response was great.  Right now, it’s about creating custom facebook pages for jewelers and jewelry brands.

As far as social events, we had a great time. There was a great party Friday night at Mandalay Bay, where the show is next year, and of course our annual Face-to-Face party at TAO Beach.  Both very fun, although I will say that the management at TAO is terrible. Wouldn’t let some of my guests in because of dress code stuff (come on, it’s Vegas and 107 degrees out). Also were very unaccommodating to me. The JCK people took the lead on this party so I was just along for the ride, and I should have known about the TAO people because they were the same way last year. Overall, all who attended had fun, however, looking back, it wasn’t a great move to have the party on a Saturday night at the most popular club on earth.  But..you live and learn, so next year we’ll have it at a more intimate place that wants the business.

Sleep, relaxation? No way. It was just work and fun and then up for work again. Overall it was a great show and although I didn’t buy much, I did sell a lot and meet some great people.

Here are the latest write ups about my talks:

Engagement 101 Video Shoot

JCK Las Vegas: Social Media Can Help Jewelers, Panel Agrees

ABJ Panelists Help Solve Social Networking Issues

I also shoot a very cool video with Engagement101 magazine that should be up soon.

Here’s the write up on that one:

Jewelry Fashion Week Roundup

See ya next year Vegas!

Now doesn't this look like FACEBOOK BEFORE THERE WAS FACEBOOK?

Way before the internet, facebook, twitter, blogs, and the idea of “sharing content” across your network , The Grateful Dead were sharing their music with fans across the world through tapes, not computers. They were one of the first bands to allow and actually encourage taping of their live shows. How often did you go to a concert and see “No Cameras” on the ticket? Or even asked to stop recording or taping? Never at a Dead Show, where there was always a “Tapers Section” with tapers even receiving special tickets and passes to do their thing. I recently read an article titled “Management Secrets of The Grateful Dead” which discussed,

the Dead were visionary geniuses in the way they created “customer value,” promoted social networking, and did strategic business planning…Much of the talk about “Internet business models” presupposes that they are blindingly new and different. But the connection between the Internet and the Dead’s business model was made 15 years ago by the band’s lyricist, John Perry Barlow, who became an Internet guru. Writing in Wired in 1994, Barlow posited that in the information economy, “the best way to raise demand for your product is to give it away.” As Barlow explained to me: “What people today are beginning to realize is what became obvious to us back then—the important correlation is the one between familiarity and value, not scarcity and value. Adam Smith taught that the scarcer you make something, the more valuable it becomes. In the physical world, that works beautifully. But we couldn’t regulate [taping at] our shows, and you can’t online. The Internet doesn’t behave that way. But here’s the thing: if I give my song away to 20 people, and they give it to 20 people, pretty soon everybody knows me, and my value as a creator is dramatically enhanced. That was the value proposition with the Dead.” The Dead thrived for decades, in good times and bad. In a recession, Barnes says, strategic improvisation is more important then ever. “If you’re going to survive this economic downturn, you better be able to turn on a dime,” he says. “The Dead were exemplars.”

John Perry Barlow, lyricist for the Dead has a quote that really nails it and I’ll say it again, “the best way to raise demand for your product is to give it away.”

Now you can take a look on YouTube and see pretty much any band’s live show, and of course live concerts are taped on a regular basis. So next time you’re “Sharing With Your Network” you can thank the Grateful Dead for pioneering this idea!

Now we have some new social networks that popped up – Gowalla, Foursquare, Brightkite, even Google Buzz. These are social networks that share your exact location, using GPS technology, to your friends on Facebook and Twitter. You can earn badges and points if you “check in” to more places, so it’s like an addicting game (if you buy into it). When I first saw a status update or tweet saying, “I’m at Starbucks” or “I’m at the Safeway on York Road” I thought to myself, “WHO CARES!” Why do I care if you’re at Starbucks, Safeway, or Shell Gas Station? What does that do for me?

Well, before I trashed this idea, I had to hop on Foursquare myself to see what it’s all about. After all, there are some pretty bright guys invested in this company, including Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey. I wanted to find out what’s there from a marketing standpoint. I assume that they will find a way to make money from this. Once you know where someone is, you can market to them through their mobile device in all kinds of creative ways.

Since being on Foursquare, and even before joining, I saw a big problem with this concept. Then came the site that affirmed my paranoia called Please Rob Me. The site is basically a live stream from Twitter titled “Recent Empty Homes” and those people are labeled as “New Opportunities”. I am so glad that this site is out.  Read what they say on their “why” page:

Hey, do you have a Twitter account? Have you ever noticed those messages in which people tell you where they are? Pretty annoying, eh. Well, they’re actually also potentially pretty dangerous. We’re about to tell you why.

Don’t get us wrong, we love the whole location-aware thing. The information is very interesting and can be used to create some pretty awesome applications. However, the way in which people are stimulated to participate in sharing this information, is less awesome. Services like Foursquare allow you to fulfill some primeval urge to colonize the planet. A part of that is letting everyone know you own that specific spot. You get to tell where you are and if you’re there first, it’s yours. O, and of course there’s badges..

The danger is publicly telling people where you are. This is because it leaves one place you’re definitely not… home. So here we are; on one end we’re leaving lights on when we’re going on a holiday, and on the other we’re telling everybody on the internet we’re not home. It gets even worse if you have “friends” who want to colonize your house. That means they have to enter your address, to tell everyone where they are. Your address.. on the internet.. Now you know what to do when people reach for their phone as soon as they enter your home. That’s right, slap them across the face.

The goal of this website is to raise some awareness on this issue and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc. Because all this site is, is a dressed up Twitter search page. Everybody can get this information.

Foursquare and other similar sites fill the self-promoting way of the status update and tweet. People LOVE to say “I’m at the beach” or “I’m on vacation” so others can see how cool they are and what an exciting life they lead. These sites feed right into that need. I found myself doing it in New York City last week. It was sooo cool of me to be at Radio City Music Hall watching a concert while all of you were home watching The Bachelor. Guess what? It’s stupid! My wife was home alone. In the jewelry business, it would be extra stupid for a salesperson to tell anyone where they are.

One other thought that is not addressed on Please Rob Me goes out to women who are telling us guys where they are all the time. Now, I’m a happily married man and a good person. But there are a lot of sick people out there! If you’re an attractive woman, do you really want every guy on Twitter to know where you are so they can happen to just show up to see you? Or even worse to hurt you?

Maybe I’ll eat my words and these sites will be the next Facebook, but remember that the internet is full of stalkers, criminals and psychopaths, so use some common sense here people!

What do you think of these sites?  Are they game changers or a stalkers heaven?

“I am a fan. I will say pre FB, who would have thought I would be a fan of a jewelry store I have not even been to. Or even just a jewelry store for that matter..Yet I know the history of the store, and watched the footage. Prince on the big screen etc..Even Ron’s Strat…
PS..Ron, go for a Gretch Nashville next…Heaven on Earth!”

There you go.  It’s not about shoving product down people’s throats.  It’s not about selling yourself all the time.  It’s about being yourself and showing everyone your brand and what YOU are all about.  Whether it’s next week or in 10 years, if this guy is ever in the market for a diamond, I think I’ll be on his list.  And even better, maybe we’ll have a jam session!