I've just returned from Tucson, Ariz., where I attended the Centurion show and the AGTA show.
As always, the warmth of Tucson (figuratively and literally) was a terrific escape and the trip was a chance to see our friends in the industry. Topic No. 1, of course, was the economy and its continuing negative impact on the jewelry industry.
Amid the concerns, there were several fascinating topics of conversation, the most interesting being the rise of Facebook. Suddenly, everyone in the industry is talking about the hugely successful networking site and its impact on their personal and professional lives.
For an industry that once lagged behind the population as a whole with regard to the Internet, it seems we're finally catching up. JCKonline.com's traffic numbers continue to boom, with 162,000 unique visitors (individual persons) visiting our site in the month of January alone, our h