GeoArt at the University of Delaware

There I was... hanging amongst the suits in my GeoArt jewels and slick little black dress-fashionistas unite!

On Friday, April 23, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion for The President's Forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware, my Alma Mater. I'm shown here with U of D's President, Pat Harker, a visionary on the subject of creating the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Delaware and beyond. Also pictured is Monica Taylor, VP for Development and Alumni Relations. Present were delegates from federal and state government, including John Fernandez, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development under Obama. Alfred Spector, the Vice President of Research and Special Initiatives for Google, was another distinguished panel speaker. Also attending were members of the local business community, University staff members and U of D students interested in entrepreneurship-a unique mix!

As both a business owner as well as the solo female speaker at the Forum, I found myself in a unique position. As women, we tend to become immediately personal with the audience and openly share our business and life experiences. Therefore, it was instinctual for me to include my husband and teenage children in the conversation. Glenn, Isabelle and Ian sat in the audience and blushed furiously as I referenced them throughout my talk! GeoArt's creative entrepreneurial niche which focuses on globally inspired sterling silver jewelry design, giving back to the community, engaging in international travel and developing close customer contact were all touched upon. I was honored to be quoted in an article that appeared on the front page of the next morning's Delaware News Journal.

Museums and More in Austin

This is Olga jumping in as a guest on Cynthia’s GeoArt blog. I just attended my very first Museum Store Association Show, which was held in Austin, TX this past weekend and I just HAD to write about it somewhere. First impressions: everyone in Texas is awesome, cowboy boots are the new black and museum buyers are the sweetest. It was great catching up with our accounts one-on-one and meeting new clients for product development. Our City That Never Sleeps collection was a hit, with many raving about the designs and we are in the process of adding cufflinks to the collection due to demand! Crazy how a concept can catch on. On the down side, we somehow managed to forget the line plan at the office, so it was a late night of printing from a slow VPN via the hotel room… college years flashback.

On Sunday evening, we had the amazing opportunity to be one of the vendor-hosts of two MSA after parties, one at the Blanton Museum of Art (great job organizing, Mary!) and one at the Ghost Room thanks to David Howell. An excellent opportunity for networking, we were able to follow up our conversations from the Museum with a display at the Blanton and a conga line on the dance floor. Now that everything is rock and rolling at the office, it is time to hold down the fort while Cynthia is off to the University of Delaware for her panel discussion on entrepreneurship this weekend. Never a dull moment!