Bennett Freeman To Discuss Responsible Sourcing At Portland Jewelry Symposium

Bennett Freeman

One of the nation’s prominent experts on Responsible Sourcing, Bennett Freeman, will be the keynote speaker at the Portland Jewelry Symposium.

The Symposium will be held October 2 – 3, at the Sentinel Hotel in Portland, Ore. The event provides education and networking opportunities specifically designed to address the needs of manufacturing retailers and custom designers.

“We are excited to be exploring the topic of Responsible Sourcing this year in addition to our full program” said Teresa Frye, founder of the Symposium. “Increasing interest from the consumers on the origins of precious metals and stones is something that the industry will strongly benefit from learning more about.” 

Freeman has extensive experience in the field, having worked at the intersection of multinational companies, responsible investors, NGOs, governments and international institutions to promote corporate responsibility, sustainability and human rights around the world. “We are very fortunate to have the chance to hear first-hand of his global experiences on the subject,” Frye said.

Rounding out the Responsible Sourcing program will be talks by Toby Pomeroy, designer and one of the industry’s true pioneers in fairmined gold, and Stewart Grice, VP of Mill Products at Hoover & Strong, who will be sharing his recent experiences with fair mining gold practices in Peru.

The keynote compliments the Symposium’s customary topics of Technology, Design, Business, and Bench. 

Other presentations include Andrea Hill of the Hill Management Group on Lean Manufacturing Principles, James Binnion of James Binnion Metal Arts on Successful Casting of 3D Printed Acrylics, Lake Giles of Thinkspace on SEO and Maximizing Web Presence, Chris Ploof of Chris Ploof Designs on Techniques for Creating Mokume Gane, and Teresa Frye of TechForm will present on critical bench aspects of Precious Metals Metallurgy. 

In addition to the talks, Phil Scott of Rio Grande will be hosting bench demonstrations with a focus on Innovations in Finishing. Jim Tuttle of Greenlake Jewelry, Travis Issacson of Lashbrook, and Jennifer Dawes of Dawes Designs will speak on the panel Strategies for Selling Custom Jewelry moderated by Gillian Frances of TechForm.

Sponsors for the event include TechForm, MJSA, Rio Grande, Santa Fe Symposium, Stuller, Gemological Institute of America, Platinum Guild International, Johnson Matthey, Solidscape, Instore Magazine, Metalsmith Magazine, Hoover & Strong, The Richline Group, Otto Frei, Jewelers of America, A3DM, United Precious Metals, Red Sky Plating, Superfit. Lashbrook, and Laminated Metals Technology. 

Please join me on the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet, the Forbes website and on Instagram @JewelryNewsNetwork

Speakers Announced For The Portland Jewelry Symposium

A presentation from the 2015 Portland Jewelry Symposium

The Portland Jewelry Symposium, billed as “a great think tank for jewelers who are passionate about their craft,” will be held October 2 and 3 at the Sentinel Hotel in Portland, Ore. 

The annual event brings together jewelry manufacturers and designers to learn about the newest technologies and artistic trends in the making of jewelry. 

“Methods for jewelry manufacturing are changing rapidly,” said PJS founder Teresa Frye, president of TechForm Advanced Casting Technology. “This is a one-of-a-kind event that brings together custom jewelers, designers, and retailers for knowledge, inspiration and networking.”

Topics will examine new jewelry manufacturing innovations, artistic expression and jewelry-making techniques. As of August 12, speakers and topics include the following:

Lean Manufacturing for Jewelers by Andrea Hill, CEO/owner of Hill Management Group 
Hill has been working on Lean Manufacturing concepts specifically tailored to jewelry production for nearly 20 years, and she will share some of the most beneficial applications with during this session. 

A World Behind the Design by Toby Pomeroy
Pomeroy—a designer, goldsmith and an activist for a shift in social and environmental responsibility within the jewelry industry—will discuss the power of context and how it can make a remarkable difference in self-expression, businesses and daily lives.

Mokume Gane History and How-To: A Survey of Technique by Chris Ploof of Chris Ploof Designs
Ploof, an award-winning jeweler, will showcase the history and the technique of mokume gane from its beginnings in feudal Japan to its use as a jewelry material by modern smiths around the world. This is a practical “how-to” presentation, and is the first time the full process in daily use will be presented.

A New Method For Preparing 3D Acrylic Photopolymer Patterns For Investment Casting by Jim Binnion of James Binnion Metal Arts
Binnion, a metalsmithing and goldsmithing instructor and jeweler who developed his own technique for making mokume gane using an electric kiln, will discuss the process steps to fully harden and then prepare 3D-printed acrylic photopolymers for investing and casting. 

Responsibly Sourced Artisanal Gold: A Tour of Two Peruvian Mining Communities by Stewart Grice, VP of Mill Products, Hoover & Strong
Stewart—who has 26 years of experience in alloy, product and process development, technical support and process troubleshooting—discusses the underlying principles and goals of responsibly sourced artisanal metals and will highlight two mining communities in Peru that operate under the Fairtrade and Fairmined systems. 

You Probably Shouldn’t be Paying for SEO by Lake Giles of Thinkspace Jeweler
Giles—director of Operations and Sales at Thinkspace Jeweler, a digital marketing and software development company—discusses the importance of being visible online and easy to find via Google and other search engines. Despite that necessity, he  will explore effective methods of improving visibility online through basic SEO work. 

Please join me on the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet, the Forbes website and on Instagram @JewelryNewsNetwork