Symposium ’25: New York City

The Plumb Club is pleased to partner with JCK, and Jewelers Mutual^® as the founding sponsor, to host the second annual retailer-focused learning forum, “Symposium ‘25”. This leadership event will take place on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at City Winery, Pier 57 (25 11th Ave, NY) during New York City’s week of jewelry festivities.

Below can be found the program of key learning areas and a robust list of renowned authorities providing insightful seminars and case studies on business, marketing, and industry trends. This program was developed with the assistance of a retailer advisory group to ensure that the information is geared toward retailer-centric pain points and topics.

We anticipate this free-of-charge, limited-seating event, to sell out. 

Jewelry Retailers Only – Pre-Register to Attend Here

Pre-registered requests will be considered first when formal registration opens in mid-December.

One free night of hotel accommodation (up to $300) will be available to all jewelry retailer attendees.  Hotel room block information will be available shortly and will be sent to all pre-registered attendees.

Program and Schedule

•  8am – 8:50am: Buffet Breakfast

•  9 am – 9:50 am: Keynote: Erica Keswin – Click Here for Complete Bio

Erica will speak on the areas of: Employee Engagement / Retention /Work-Life Balance

• • • Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, ‘Bring Your Human to Work,’ ‘Rituals Roadmap,’ and ‘The Retention Revolution.’
    • Founder, Spaghetti Project
    • Advisor to Iconic Brands Nike, NASA, the NFL, and More
    • Workplace Strategist – specializing in workforce culture

•  9:50 am – 10 am: Break

•  10 am – 10:50 am: Facilitated Keynote Breakout Session: 

Attendees will be separated into smaller facilitated groups to discuss the information acquired from the keynote session and how it can be implemented in their businesses.

•  10:50 am – 11 am: Break

•  11am – 12 pm: Paul Aaron – Click Here for Complete Bio

Paul will speak about AI in the area of:  AI applications within the Jewelry Industry

CEO & Co-Founder of Addition, an AI research and development company devoted to the future of brands in the Generative AI area. Addition works with marketing organizations like Prudential, Unilever, Google, Twitch, and The New York Times to discover insights, generate content, and create customer experiences using Generative models. In his session, Paul will include practical applications of existing AI tools to help you in your everyday business.

•  12 pm – 1:20 pm: Lunch Buffet

•  1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: Keynote: Chris Voss – Click Here for Complete Bio

Chris will speak on the area of: Employee Engagement/ Retention and Communication

• • • Former FBI Lead Hostage Negotiator and Authority in High-Stakes Negotiation
    • CEO and Founder of The Black Swan Group Ltd.
    • Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, ‘Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It’ 
    • Chris Voss imparts the tools for listening to win and speaking to inspire – helping leaders attract and retain top talent

•  2:30 pm – 2:45 pm: Break

•  2:45 pm – 3:35 pm:

Track A: Seth Mattison – Click Here for Complete Bio

Seth will speak on the area of: Connecting with Multiple Generations, Both internal (employee) and external (consumer)

• • • Workforce Strategist and Management Trendspotter     
    • Author of The War at Work
    • Editors’ Pick for Favorite Speakers by MeetingsNet
      • Mattison takes business leaders through a highly customized program focused on leadership, generational differences, and revamping workplace dynamics, even remotely.

Track B: Sheena Iyengar – Click Here for Complete Bio 

Sheena will speak on the area of:   The Power of Choice / Meaningful Choices to Spark Innovation

• • • Director, Global Leadership Matrix                 
    • Author, ‘Think Bigger’ & ‘The Art of Choosing’
    • Since her TED Talk, “The Art of Choosing,” went viral, she has been a sought-after speaker for C-Suite audiences.  As the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, Iyengar studies how we make choices, how we feel about those choices, and how leaders can harness neurological and cognitive science knowledge to lead effectively and better understand the people they lead.

•  3:35 pm – 3:45 pm: Break

•  3:45 pm – 4:35 pm:  

Track A:  Retailer / Supplier Panel—This panel will consist of pre-selected retailer and supplier symposium attendees and will be an honest and transparent conversation about how suppliers can help their retailers and how retailers can help their suppliers.

Track B: (Part 1): Harvard Business Case Study Presented by Frank Cespedes – Business Case Study pertinent to the jewelry industry  Click Here for Complete Bio 

• • • • Professor and Senior Lecturer at Harvard University and also teaches Entrepreneurial Marketing in the MBA program and the “Owner President Management” (OPM) executive program
      • Faculty Chair of the Aligning Strategy and Sales executive program at Harvard Business School
    • Author of 6 notable business books
    • Author of many articles in Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal and myriad other business publications

•  4:35 pm – 4:45 pm: Break

•  4:45 pm – 5:35 pm: 

Track A: Charles Duhigg: Click Here for Complete Bio

Charles will speak on the area of: Super Communicators: The Power of Conversation and Hidden Language of Connection

• • • New York Times Bestselling Author, ‘The Power of Habit’, ‘Smarter Faster Better’, and ‘Super Communicators’
    • Pulitzer Prize-Winning Columnist for The New York Times Magazine
    • Host the “How To!” Podcast
    • Recipient of the Business News Visionary Award
    • Duhigg’s work explores why – and how – people and companies develop habits (and how to change them) and how we can communicate during some of life’s most important and most difficult conversations.

Track B: (Part 2*): Harvard Business Case Study Presented by Frank Cespedes – Business Case Study pertinent to the jewelry industry (*requires participation in the Part 1 session at 3:45pm noted above).

•  5:35 pm—8:00 pm: Brief closing remarks followed by guests invited to a cocktail reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres, including interactive wine tastings/cheese pairings with knowledgeable sommeliers!

We anticipate this free of charge, limited seating event, to sell out. 

Jewelry Retailers Only – Pre-Register to Attend Here

Pre-registered requests will be considered first when formal registration opens in mid-December.

One free night of hotel accommodation (up to $300) will be available to all jewelry retailer attendees.  Hotel room block information will be available shortly and will be sent to all pre-registered attendees.