In Florida for a few days prior to our fifth annual SMART Show. From Monday to Wednesday, my primary goal in life will be finishing a round of golf with a score that doesn’t begin with a “1”. But from Thursday on, our team deploys in Chicago and we put the final touches on the fifth edition of the best, most useful trade event for jewelry retailers anywhere.

Looking forward to seeing you there. Here are a few things I’m excited about:

• Clued-in show attendees will of course be on hand for marketing guru Martin Lindstrom’s big keynote speech “Buyology: How To Win the Marketing Mind Game” on Saturday at 9 am. But a smaller group of retailers could be in position to get an even more valuable dose of information from Lindstrom’s reservation-only, follow-up session “If I Owned a Jewelry Store”. (Saturday at 10:15 am in the Marketing Experience area. Ticket holders only. Event fully booked.)”If I Owned” has long been one of our signature INDESIGN sections, and a reliable supply of fresh ideas from outside the jewelry industry. Creating a live version of this department format featuring top speakers was one of those slap-your-forehead, why-didn’t-we-think-of-this-before ideas.
• For the maximum SMART Show experience, don’t miss our Sunday night shindig, the SMART Party Chicago — at the very worst, the second-best jewelry industry party of the year. (Right now, I’m tilting slightly towards the SMART Party Dallas at the spectacularly-located Glass Cactus as the best party of the year.) Expect: yummy finger food, a couple of free drinks, pumping music, and the indelible sight of a few hundred jewelers shaking their moneymakers — and by money-makers, we DON’T mean their bead departments.
• We’ve added expanded appointment hours to our show photo studio this year. Make an appointment to have your pictures taken. (For store owners and top managers only.) Not only will you have professional portraits to use as you wish on your store website and in your store promotions, you’ll also ratchet up the odds that your store gets additional editorial love in INSTORE. Portraits are shot in the photo studio in Room 324 — on the second floor, right up the stairs behind the “Cool Stores Experience” area. Drop by the INSTORE booth to book an appointment time.
• Speaking of the INSTORE booth, we’re located right in front of the revamped Town Square at the center of the show. Come see us, and while you’re in Town Square, have a coffee or glass of wine (depending on the time of day) at Smarty’s Bar and Cafe, or get your fortune told by Madame Zandra, or have your cariacture drawn by one of Chicago’s top cariacture artists.
  
  

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