Appoints Andrea Hill as Designer Advocate
MJSA, the U.S. trade association dedicated to professional excellence in jewelry making & design, has announced plans to launch the MJSA Designer Collaborative, a community through which jewelry designers can share ideas, discover inspiration, and find the support needed to improve their businesses.
Additionally, Andrea Hill, owner of Hill Management Group, has been appointed MJSA Designer Advocate. In this new role, Hill will be responsible for ensuring that the concerns and needs of jewelry designers are heard and addressed by the association. Hill will continue in her current position as CEO of the Hill Management Group, which provides strategic consulting and marketing services to many small and mid-sized jewelry businesses.
“Designers are the creative backbone of the jewelry industry, and we want to ensure they have the resources needed to thrive in today’s market,” said MJSA President/CEO David W. Cochran. “Andrea has a long history dedicated to advancing designers’ careers, and I can’t think of a better person to advocate on their behalf. Through the new collaborative we’ll be able to provide a fertile ground for her advocacy efforts to bear fruit, and to provide designers with a community that they feel truly represents their interests.”
The collaborative, which any MJSA member can join free of charge, will provide designers with several ways in which to connect and collaborate:
• The MJSA Jewelry Designer Network, an exclusive online social community that enables designers to share information, solicit ideas and feedback, and test new business models and opportunities. The network will launch Aug. 1.
• A quarterly e-newsletter, MJSA Design Insights, featuring news and updates of interest to jewelry designers (e.g., contest announcements and deadlines, educational programs). It will also offer pricing strategies from consultant Marlene Richey, author of the award-winning MJSA Press book Profiting by Design: A Jewelry Maker’s Guide to Business Success.
• A new event, ConFab Creative, augmenting the “profit lessons for designers” offered in MJSA’s current ConFab conference (which will take place Oct. 30 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City). ConFab Creative will focus on ways to find design inspiration and insights, and provide technical guidance for turning design concepts into completed pieces. Members of the Designer Collaborative will receive a significant discount off the regular registration fee.
• A members-only online archive of free design-related articles from MJSA Journal, the association’s award-winning monthly magazine. The Journal will also launch a new “Behind the Design” section starting in the January 2017 issue, featuring case studies, interviews, and practical tips related to jewelry design.
Collaborative members will also receive a 50 percent discount on all videos, webinars, books, podcasts, and other educational materials produced under Hill’s MentorWerx brand.
To learn more about the MJSA Designer Collaborative, visit MJSA.org or call 800-444-MJSA for either Andrea Hill (ext. 333) or MJSA Membership Manager Travis Searle (ext. 3024).
