2008 Sharpener's Jam Report

This has been the greatest Sharpener's Jam yet.
This year's top winners are as follows pictured left to right: Fred Mueller - 2nd Place, Ron Ellis - 3rd Place, Ed Woznik - 1st Place and Honorable Mention to James and Melanie McCaughan. I will be adding several blogs to cover the events. Take a look at the slide show on this site. Click through on the photos to visit the album at Picassa to make any reprints. DVD's are coming out soon as soon as I have time to edit them. The events of the week were the classes on Saturday, Jam sharing on Sunday and presentations on Monday.

• Ed Wozniak's winning idea was Tilt the blade in the clamp down about 15 degrees to get a better edge on the tip
• Fred Mueller A. Molding the Bumper. Heat the bumper with a match. Hold close for 5 – 10 seconds with the scissor closed to where it should be and the bumper sets to the correct size.
• Ron Ellis had high votes on all his ideas which included:

A. Do not consider yourself a sharpener. Go in to sell. Show your merchandise. Bring in lots of shears and product. This sets you apart and helps you to compete with sharpeners.
A. Give out Band-Aid containers imprinted with your name and number. Stylists keep this more than a business card. Costs about $1.00 each if bought in bulk.
B. Give $25.00 gift certificates to students when they graduate. They always buy something else. The schools give it to them and the school likes it because they are presenting this to the graduate.
C. Find one or two people who you relate to in the business. Find a buddy you can talk to each other each day to pick each other up.
D. Add to your business more than just sharpening in order to keep your business going. Don’t spend too much time trying to fix something when they rather really buy something new. This sets you apart from the other sharpener and caters to what the stylist really wants. Anticipate their real desires and needs then supply them.

• James and Melanie McCaughan also had a variety of ideas that garnered votes: A. Use your spouse to help you.
  B. Sharpen a shear everyday so you keep your skill level up.
  C. Buy chamois and cut squares with pinking shears and hand out to stylists to clean their shears. Stamp name and phone number on back.

More than 50 ideas were presented at the Jam not including he vast information during the presentations and classes. The best dissemination of business knowledge was dispensed in one and one discussions between sharpeners in the hall way, in the restaurants and in the vendor room.