Dear Fellow Clasp Participant, As a past participant in the CLASP conferences, I wanted you to know, the planned 2009 conference will not be held. While the prior two conferences were great successes in terms of positively touching the lives of jewelers, they were far from being economically viable. Two broad trends led us to discontinue CLASP in its current form: The present economic climate leaves us concerned about realistically growing attendance at CLASP, and electronic communication continues to mature, making it an increasingly attractive venue. Instead of continuing the CLASP Conference, we have decided to take the CLASP concept in a different direction. In our most optimistic estimates, comparatively few within the jewelry community can attend a conference like CLASP. In order to increase the number of people who can benefit from the ideas, information, and sense of community we achieved with CLASP, we are planning to make similar content available to a much larger audience through the web and other electronic media, under the Rio Grande banner. We are looking forward to Rio Grande carrying on the spirit of CLASP as we continue informing and inspiring a much larger circle of jewelry makers with this transition. Thank you for participating with us in a wonderful experiment. We had a lot of fun dreaming up and, with the help of our advisory board – MJSA, SNAG, Bench Media and Ganoksin – creating the singular experience CLASP became. We look forward to keeping the spirit alive with our future endeavors. Warm regards, Alan Bell, managing director |