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Thursday, September 27, 2007
8:30 a.m. - Refreshments
9-10:30 a.m. - GemFest
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
Room 601
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Quick Start Kit:
Want to Connect with Alums Near You?
Why not start a new Alumni Chapter? Some of the best business connections you can
make are through fellow alumni who are often eager to share expertise, suggestions or yet another connection. And chapter meetings are the perfect
place to make that happen. GIA has made it easier than ever before - for a large or small group - to get started. The "Quick Start Guide: Creating a
GIA Alumni Association Chapter" makes it as simple as 1-2-3.
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| The Caribbean Island's Alumni Association chapter was officially recognized in August 2004.
It emphasizes bringing GIA education to the
Virgin Islands' gem and jewelry industry. |
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New Awards Program:
Criteria for International Alumni
Awards Announced
GIA is reaching out around the world to all of its constituents, but most
especially to you, whom President Donna Baker
calls the "heart of GIA." That includes recognizing your professionalism, ethics, commitment and participation in alumni meetings and events through
a new International Alumni Award program.
One Alumni Achievement Award and one Alumni Leadership Award will be presented
during the 2008 Tucson Auction and Dinner Dance. All
chapters are invited to participate in this exciting new program. Go to International Alumni Awards
Program to find out
how.
Online Directory:
A Fresh Look for Your
Professional Information
When you register for the Alumni Association you can be listed in the Online
Directory, which has recently been given a clean, easy-to-navigate, professional and technological makeover. Check it out and make sure all of
your
qualifications are represented for colleagues and prospective customers to access.
If you haven't registered - or would like to update your information - fill out and submit the registration form.
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| Assignment 4 for the Continuing Education Recognition Program, "Diamond Laser
Characteristics: Laser Drill Holes," explains the process of laser drilling to reach dark inclusions to bleach or etch them
away. |
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Close to 400
G.G.s Sign Up
for Continuing Education Recognition
GIA's Continuing Education Program is off to a great start since it
launched in April. Close to 500 alumni, students and staff have requested user IDs and passwords for GIA on iTunes U and close to 400 G.G.s have
enrolled in the Continuing Education
Recognition Program.
Be sure to check out Inside GIA Education, the audio podcasts for the program. Seven new segments have been created since April,
including "Treatments Affecting the Thai Market," "Dubai Produces Cultured Pearls" and "Are Colored Gemstones Getting Too Rare?" Find these and
others at GIA on iTunes U.
Subscribe to GIA on iTunes U Feed
Save time and make it easy on yourself to keep up with the Institute's Education
podcasts on GIA on iTunes U - all you need to do is subscribe to the feed. New podcasts are sent to your computer when you launch iTunes.
Just turn on your computer, connect to the Internet and open iTunes. Your subscription will automatically update. If you have an
iPod, plug it into the computer and new podcasts will upload and be flagged with a blue dot. The audio podcasts are updated twice a month to help you
keep up on jewelry industry trends.
To subscribe, log on to GIA on iTunes U, select Continuing Education, then Inside GIA Education and click the Subscribe button.
It's as easy as that.
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Find Your Next Employee on
Our Free, Online Job Site
Looking for a top-rate employee? Whether you need an entry-level or seasoned
professional, we can help you find them when you post your job opening on GIA's job search engine. The free, online resource was recently updated and
is the gem and jewelry industry's largest online employment database. Improvements include an easier to navigate, international job database and more
detailed filters that can locate the right position from among the several hundred available every day.
"Employers have different job titles for similar positions," says Dani Oliver, G.G., manager of GIA Career Services. "We want them
to use a title they like, but also want to ensure job seekers get the right information, so we created a separate section to search by job category.
If you're looking for a bench jeweler position, for example, the search engine can bring up all the appropriate fits - regardless of the title."
Oliver says the job listings are updated daily by Career Services staff and that, on average, there are more than 400 jobs in the
database. Listings include permanent, temporary, full-time and part-time positions, and range from sales and wholesale representatives to bench
jewelers, marketers and upper-level management. And your posting can stay up for three months.
To find out more, go to Career
Service for
Employers.
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Recruit New Employees at Career Fair
GIA's semiannual Career Fair is the largest job fair in the gem and jewelry
industry. Last year's events drew more than 2,000 job seekers and representatives from more than 44 companies.
Employers can take advantage of recruiting opportunities at Career Fair, held in New York and Carlsbad each year. The New York
Career Fair will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 27 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Recruiters can still sign up for the Oct. 19
event in Carlsbad; the deadline to register is Oct. 5. Go to Career
Fair to find out more.
To learn more about Career Fair opportunities, contact Dani Oliver at dani.oliver@gia.edu or (800) 421-7250, ext. 4195.
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"The truth is, I sometimes find it difficult to articulate the tremendous joy and
exhilaration I feel for this opportunity. I now wake up every morning excited about the future and the possibility it holds."
- Cynthia Santiago
Michael Beaudry Scholarship recipient
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Need Some Help with
Your GIA Education?
GIA's Board of Governors released a record amount of funding for scholarships from the Institute's Endowment Fund recently, which
means more of you
will be able to make your dreams come true. It also makes international scholarships available for the first time ever.
The $297,000 disbursement will fund 91 scholarships, including approximately 49
new scholarships in GIA's School of Business,
Gemology and Jewelry
Manufacturing Arts programs (both On Campus and Distance Education). A portion will be set aside for international Distance Education gemology
students and those who would like to enroll on campus at GIA London and GIA India. The Institute will also grow its scholarship program in the United
States.
"I was extremely pleased to have unanimous support from our board in expanding
our scholarship program to a record level," says
Matt Stuller, chair of the Board of Governors' Endowment Committee. "Globalization, the complexity of our industry and an educated public make it
imperative that we have skilled professionals in our industry. These scholarships will help many students, who otherwise may not have had the chance,
to make jewelry their profession."
Many types of financial aid -
including
scholarships are available. Applications for
2008
scholarships can be submitted until Oct.
15. To find out more, call (760) 603-4175 or e-mail financialaid@gia.edu.
To learn about contributing to the GIA Endowment Fund or a GIA scholarship, contact Institute
Relations Manager Bev Berthoty at bberthoty@gia.edu or
at (760) 603-4120.
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Mark Your Calendar!
Alumni networking opportunities:
Meet GIA President Donna Baker this Fall
(get
info)
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| Alumni from across the world attended a reception hosted by the GIA Alumni Association at JCK
Las Vegas. See more
photos. |
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