The Gemological Institute of America celebrated its 80th anniversary in style with its Fifth International Gemological Symposium May 29–30 at the GIA campus in Carlsbad, Calif. The event, which had never been held at GIA’s home base, seemed significantly scaled down from past symposiums; still, it was well received, drawing some 700 attendees from 35-plus countries and covering everything from gemological discoveries to business issues such as sustainability and social networking. “It surpassed all expectations,” GIA president Donna Baker told JCK. “We are absolutely thrilled with how it turned out. It was a lot of fun bringing people to the GIA campus; it felt like we were bringing people into our home.” Among the highlights: • Keynote speaker Steve Forbes said that rather than the “new normal,” we are living through “the new abnormal”: “We are experiencing