The web-based forum, jewellerscollective.com is being designed to help young jewellers network and gain knowledge from other members of the Australian and New Zealand jewellery industries.
Ewen Ryley, one of the founding members of YJG on Facebook, said the site will be developed in association with the Facebook page, based on the same principles, but in a formally-managed environment.
“Jewellers will be able to gain info about things like handmaking, CAD and even wages for apprentices,” Ryley said. “It will be an easy-to-navigate forum based on the principles of the YJG.”
Unlike the Facebook page, which has a broader appeal across all sectors of the jewellery industry, a formal membership process will be in place for jewellerscollective.com. Members be will categorised based on personal details, allowing Ryley to better manage and segment members into different areas of the jewellery industry.
“When applying to join the website, you’ll enter all of your contact details name, address and so forth, but you will also need to enter your job description from a drop-down list,” Ryley explained. “We believe this will be a great feature and will allow the members to track down the people they want to contact and source information from.”
Ryley told Jeweller that only students and apprentices would be allowed to join jewellerscollective.com which will be administered by a Board of Mentors.
“We have a great bunch of volunteers willing to do this mentoring. This will allow the apprentices and students to have more freedom and feel less pressured about posting some comments,” Ryley added.
The new site is expected to be up and running in approximately three weeks, following a rapid growth in interest in the group over recent months.
Managed entirely by Ryley and other young jewellers, the group has received positive feedback and global exposure.
“A lot of people are using it to network with people not only in Australia and New Zealand, but with people from the UK, USA, Malaysia and Norway,” Ryley said.
Since its inception, the Facebook page has had a wide range of ‘discussions’ including issues such as new manufacturing technologies, low apprenticeship wages, tool allowances for apprentices and low award rates for qualified jewellers.
Ryley said that the YJG has been productive for all involved and it has future plans of being formally administered by a board of mentors.