On October 25-28, 2007, Golden Globe, the second international exhibition of jewelry and applied decorative art, will open its doors. Arcady Evseyevich Zlotnikov, first deputy director of the International Exhibition Center Crocus Expo, where the event is held, told Diamonds & Gold of Russia about preparations for and prospects of the exhibition.

There has been much debate recently about the usefulness of having jewelry trade exhibitions and whether there are already too many of them to warrant opening new ones. Some also say that the industry has reached a point of “weariness” from participating in them. However, truly high-class and well organized exhibitions can be counted on the fingers of one hand. At the same time, depending on the approach of the participant, any exhibition can become either the most effective component in the sales process, or can be a senseless waste of time and money. Unfortunately, there is no standard formula for success.

Currently, the reputation of the organizer is crucial when trying to initiate an exhibition. Thereafter exhibitors take part more and more frequently, however it also largely depends on how they rate the progress, benefits, creativity, and maximum comfort offered by the event.

Golden Globe 2006, held at the state-of-the-art exhibition center, Russia's leading jewelry companies were represented and for good reason. Crocus Expo is the best platform in Russia. By the autumn of 2007, with some of our new projects already being implemented, the exhibition center will not follow the strategies of Hanover, Geneva or New York, but will feature over 20 themes, three pavilions of over 230,000 square meters in total, a multi-storey parking lot, and ultra-modern conference halls. The most important thing is that we are reaching a specific goal – to place Golden Globe among the country's main exhibitions — the InterAuto and Furniture Club exhibitions.

First of all, we are creating and developing an original and memorable project. This year, Golden Globe will bring together not only famous jewelry and watch companies, but also silversmiths, art designers, and experts in the field of small plastics in order to become an arena for the promotion of Russia's unique applied decorative art.

The organization of the annual Golden Globe competition will also undergo some changes. Within a month, the works of the winners will be exhibited at the All-Russia Museum of Arts and Crafts and Folk Art in Moscow.

We learnt from the last Golden Globe that it is more feasible to organize two professional days. On one of these days, within the exhibition agenda, the National collection center of art products will organize the First All-Russia Forum “Investments to jewelry business and collectables.” The forum aims to promote the development of the jewelry and collectables industry's investment appeal. This idea has already received the support of the RF Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and of the Ministry of Culture. According to the president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Businessmen, Alexander Shokhin, the upcoming Forum is a remarkable event not only in this market segment, but also in the cultural life of the whole country. It should give “a new impulse for growth of investments in profitable business and should help divert connoisseurs' fixation on items offered at specialized auctions and exhibitions in the West, to the Russian arena.”

For wholesalers, a business centre (accessible only with 'visitor' cards) and jewelry cafe will be opened.

Exhibitors who have been with us from day one, will receive additional discounts and the most prestigious places. This considers the fact that billing rates for the area of this exhibition are lower than for other areas. The exhibition will also include the “Street of masters,” where it will be possible not only to repair a small lock on a bracelet, reduce a ring size, or clean a silver or gold item, but to see the process of a piece of jewelry coming to life.

I am often asked whether I am not perturbed that the date of Golden Globe clamps it between two large exhibitions - Jeweller in Sokolniki and Guild of Jewelers in Manege? My answer is "no, I am not."

Firstly, exhibitions are, a place where new product samples are presented and new ideas are born, therefore, it is natural that the majority of exhibitions are in demand. I am sure that in organizing a new jewelry exhibition, we have found our own, individual approach.

In fact, at the request of representatives of many Russian and foreign companies, the center's management has decided to hold a traditional autumn exhibition of jewelry and applied decorative art — Golden Globe in September, 2008. Considering the number of applications already received, in 2008 a third, new, 35,000 square meter pavilion on the coast of the Moscow river, will be allocated to the jewelry exhibition.

We invite respected organizers of other exhibitions to cooperate with us as equal partners. In fact, all problems concerning exhibitions in the jewelry industry can be solved in one very simple way – by creating one grandiose jewelry trade fair. And from this, I think, everybody will benefit — organizers, exhibitors and visitors.

Zlotnikov Arkadiy,

Deputy Director of Krokus Expo International Exhibition Centre