Message from the CEO

Johnnie White, CEO: February 2020 Travels

This past February I had the opportunity to travel to Tucson and a number of cities in Florida to talk and interact with gems & jewelry professionals, equipment managers and event venue representatives.

The month started off with visits to Tucson, AZ for the Accredited Gemologists Association (AGA) 2020 Conference and the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) 2020 GemFair events. ASA had a strong presence at both events as a sponsor and exhibitor. The Society also debuted its new Ally membership program to attendees and its new Fundamentals of Jewelry Appraisal course to a group of students seeking to learn how to appraise jewelry. It was truly an eye-opening experience to meet with so many prospective members and experience one of the greatest marketplaces in the world.

I then headed south to the sunshine state and visited a number of cities in Florida to meet with event venue representatives to conduct site visits for potential future ASA International Conference locations to help determine potential best fits for our members and attendees.

While in Florida, I also meet with equipment managers and other allied professionals attending the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s (ELFA) 2020 Equipment Management Conference & Exhibition in Orlando. Several ASA-MTS members were on hand to assist in networking and promoting the Society to attendees. While attending this event, I also had the opportunity to meet with ELFA’s CEO and discuss future collaborative opportunities.

Lastly, in between travels, myself and other staff had to opportunity to host two special VIP guests at ASA headquarters, Mr. John Barton, ASA, from Lyndell, PA and Mr. Mohammed Al Maa from Saudi Arabia.

To read more about my travels and other important news visit my Message from the CEO column on ASA’s Blog, or follow me on Twitter @johnniewhiteCEO and LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/johnnniewhiteceo for more ASA updates.