. It's actually her very last letter as President. At the end of the conference, Renee Zettle-Sterling becomes the new SNAG President, with Sue serving one more year on the board as Past-President.
Today's Riveting News is different than in previous weeks. As part of my position, I am responsible for maintaining the Strategic Plan and reporting on our progress periodically.
As you may recall, the board of directors met in Minneapolis in September 2011 for the strategic planning retreat that gave birth to the
2012-2016 SNAG strategic plan. So we are roughly 18 months down the road of a five-year plan. We're already seeing great results from implementing the first strategies that advance two of our goals.
I'd like to share a sampling with you today.Goal #1 SNAG leads the field as the preeminent organization advancing metalsmithing and metal design globally
Hundreds of members now have Maker Profile Pages which are attracting new business and interest in their work. Our beautiful virtual exhibition site opened with an exhibition juried by Gail M. Brown, and our 2013 exhibition, "Contemporary Goldsmithing: Tradition & Excellence," juried by George Sawyer, Judith Kinghorn, and Tom Herman, will open the first weekend in October, with an accompanying catalog. Goal #2 SNAG nourishes a strong, loyal and committed membership that embodies our mission
Interest in each week's Riveting News has increased by nearly 20%. We're watching traffic on our new website increase by 300%, with visitors engaged and spending significantly more time on each page visited.
Our new online hub for finding and posting opportunities, Springboard, is gaining its own following less than three months after its launch. Close to 100 jewelers and metalsmiths attended our inaugural business symposium, "Forging Entrepreneurs: Tools and Skills for Business Success" last year in Pittsburgh, in partnership with the Society for Contemporary Craft. Here's just one of many responses we received afterwards:
"Awesome presenters!!! The talks were well rounded and they were all able to thoroughly discuss their themes in such a short time. They all encouraged me to take the action steps necessary to succeed in my craft."
I strongly recommend you mark your calendars for this year's symposium, subtitled "Putting Your Best Foot Forward," coordinated by Christine Dhein, Kelly Nedderman, and emiko oye. It's set for all day Saturday October 19 in San Francisco, in partnership with the Academy of Art University and the Metal Arts Guild. More information will roll out the next few months.
You can read our
strategic plan on our website. It's both ambitious and do-able. Our vision is to be the organization in our field that best fulfills the needs of artists, designers, jewelers and metalsmiths. In these first eighteen months, we've taken giant steps towards success. And of course there's more to come.
