Next Meeting 12-04-11

Our next meeting will be the 4th of December at the Crawford United Methodist Church.  This will be a combined meeting instead of a November and a December meeting, due to the holidays.

 

We will be honored to hear a quick verison of Lori Magno's talk on Social Media, which she presented at Metalwerx Vendor's Day and then we will have a Play with Clay day.  So, basically gab and work!  Bring a few goodies and we'll supply the tea and coffee.  Hope to see you all there!  And no more storms!

Sterling PMC Coming in December 2011

Today, there was an announcement on the PMC Guild website that Sterling PMC is coming in December!

Mitsubishi Materials Announces an Important New Product
After two years of research, Mitsubishi announced today the release of a new product called "PMC Sterling." The clay contains 92.5% silver and therefore meets the legal standard of sterling. Like traditional sterling, the alloy is strong, hard, and bright.
PMS Sterling will be available for purchase starting in December 2011. Technical details will be coming in the next months, but for now, here is the short version:

• Like other types of PMC, it can be molded, joined, carved, and modeled.
• The clay works like fine silver PMC, though some testers feel that it has a longer working time.
• Use the same tools and kiln as for other metal clays.
• Fire half hour in air and a half hour in carbon.
• Cost will be consistent with other forms of silver metal clay.

For more details, follow the links below:

• PMC Sterling Press Release (381K pdf)
• PMC Sterling Package Insert (247K pdf)

Social Media with Lori Magno

This past Sunday, Lori Magno of Moda di Magno, gave a presentation on Social Media at Metalwerx's Vendor Day.

And as you can see by the photo below, there's so many ways to put your work out there. It's pick and choose.  Overwhelmed by the choices?  Lori suggests to just start with one. 

Sites like Google, Yahoo, Bing, MSN - they want to find you. Keywords are how they find you. Use them wisely. Do a test. Think of something you want to buy and then choose some keywords to describe it. What links do you get? Change the keywords and see what other links you get. 

The three main reasons to use social media are:

1. Your audience needs to find you and you need to be in communication with them.

2. They need to find your work, whether your work is branded under your name - or a company name.

3. It provides opportunities to connect to your market. You need to be in contact with your customers - keep them close, keep them informed -- not always selling, sometimes just sharing.

There are other opportunities via social media:

1. Connect to other artists

2. Connect to your suppliers and vendors

3. Shows are using social media to announce ‘call for artists’ (the days of mailing in slides and CDs of images are quickly coming to an end!)

There's something else to think about. The keywords you use - they stay out there. Say for instance you made a bridal necklace and it sold. The keywords you entered for that item on your page will still bring traffic to your site.

And finally, Lori talked a little about Google+.  Another social networking site.  It opened to the public on September 20th and has attracted 40 million users.  It took their rival Facebook three years to reach the 25 million users mark.  So people seem to be flocking to Google+.  Here's a brief video that talks about circles and sharing. 



And one of the nice features of Gmail is the chat. So, it would make sense they would take the chat feature and pump it up.  It's called the hangouts . . .  what do you think?

Next Meeting - October 23, 2011

Our next meeting will be held at the Armenian Cultural Center, 47 Nichols Avenue, Watertown, MA., October 23, 2011. Metalwerx will be holding Vendor's Day (yippee!!) there that day from 10:00 to 4:00. Metalwerx Vendor's Day is a much anticipated yearly event. Just a few of the vendors are AllCraft Jewelry Supply, Fretz Design, Blue Heron Designs, Sierra Madre and J. Stachura. Get there early to make sure you get what you need!

Our own talented, Lori Magno, will be giving a talk on using Social Media. Lori has co-authored a number of books on this subject and this lecture will be open to the public. Exact details on Lori's lecture and times will be posted a little closer to the event.

Road Trip - Gemstar Gems

Back in August, a number of us from the guild took a road trip up to New Hampshire to Gemstar Gems.  For those of us who had never been there before, it was quite the experience. There were numerous gasps heard as we stepped onto the property . . . the never-never-land of gems.  From the base of the property all the way up to the store entrance, there were gems everywhere. They were loose on the ground, on benches, in sheds, and on shelves.  It was crow heaven I tell you. Here's a few photos from our spectacular day.  Wish you could have joined us!

Meeting Cancelled

Due to the forecast of Hurricane Irene, the guild meeting for this Sunday, August 28th has been cancelled.  The kumihimo demo has been postponed until the September 25th meeting.

Meeting on August 28, 2011

There has been a schedule change for this meeting.  Monte Nikkel will be giving a hands on demo on Kumihimo braiding.  If you're interested in getting information on supplies needed, please leave a comment below.  Meeting will be held from 1:00 - 5:00.