Monday, October 13, 2014

#GEMSHOWS - PUBLISHER BRAD HICKS ON HIS "ROCKY" ROAD TO THE EZ-GUIDES

MEET BRAD HICKS, PUBLISHER & OWNER OF XPO PRESS


specializes in publishing Show Guides, not Jewelry, Bead, Mineral, or Fossil Guides. Our goal is to publish the best Show Guide (complemented by the best Show Website) that will most efficiently assist all of the show cultures participating in the event — the buyer, the seller, the show, and the new-to-the show neophyte. This is the reason we've succeeded in major gem show towns that already had guides before Xpo Press arrived — because we passionately care about the quality of the book (and our website) and their helpfulness to the show cultures, we visit (in person) with our largest as well as our smallest advertisers, and we strive to remain relevant as well as cutting-edge progressive. Although we have few competitors, we pursue excellence, accuracy, and advertisers like we have twenty!"

Brad Hicks, Xpo Press, in an e-conversation with Lowell Carhart, Eons Expos, August 25, 2014

Publishers and Owners - Brad and Nancy Hicks, Xpo Press, Inc.
OUR ROCKY ROAD TO GEM SHOW EZ-GUIDES

 Marty Zinn and Regina Aumente should share much of the credit for our company's weird foray into gem show publishing. After a lunch we shared at El Rancho in Evergreen, Colo., I agreed to produce full-color guides for all of their gem, mineral and fossil shows. Looking back, as a result of that fateful meeting, a very ROCK-y direction was forged for our young company.

In February 2002, Xpo Press was incorporated in Colorado, and we were soon on our way to helping gem, mineral and jewelry shows and dealers everywhere advertise and sell their sparkly wares. Currently, Xpo Press publishes 14 Gem Show Guides — including the popular "EZ-Guides" — with a combined annual circulation of over 276,000 and distributed at the top Gem and Mineral Shows in the U.S.A., Asia and Europe.  AND our website is the most visited in the world by viewers searching for updated and accurate information about these kinds of shows — particularly the Grandaddy of them all, the Tucson Gem and Mineral Showcase in February.

Since that fateful meeting with Marty and Regina in 2002, we have been immeasurably fortunate that God has brought to the Xpo Press Team an unusually dedicated "staff of freelancers." We all work from our own home-offices — in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, and even England and Chile! Most of us own and operate our own businesses, we are a group of friends that supports one another, and each of us is gifted with a special skill set in our area of expertise. Most importantly, this team truly strives to live out a concept that we firmly believe in — Treating People Well. The success we've experienced at Xpo Press is a direct reflection of working diligently to fulfill that ideal every day. 

Our Team hopes that what our company publishes — both online and in print — is helpful to you and genuinely makes your gem show experience just a little "EZ-er."

FROM THE XPO PRESS WEBSITE:  http://xpopress.com/

Sunday, October 12, 2014

#GEMSHOWS - Denver Gem & Mineral Show 2014 Winners!



Denver Gem & Mineral Show 2014 



Winners in the Special Competitions


Winners of Competitive Exhibits: 
     

     Donna Chirnside Museum Trophy: 
               Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals 
               2nd Place: California Academy 
               3rd Place: National Museums of Scotland 



Individual Competitive Case Trophies: 


Minerals, Unlimited Size:
Lou and Diana Conti 
(Master - Worldwide Minerals)

Educational, General Audience Concept - Denver Gem & Mineral Society (Guild):
"Nada Diamonds" (Beta Quartz)

Educational, Other:  
Craig Hazelton 
(Advanced - Shadow Effects in Agates)

Self-collected, Unlimited Size Minerals from One State
Scott Luers (Novice - Wyoming)
Thumbnail Minerals, Any Type
Kent Havens (Novice - Worldwide Thumbnails)
 

Micromount Minerals from One State
Ron Knoshaug (Novice - Colorado)

Self-collected, Thumbnails from One State:
Ernie and Marilynn Hanlon (Master - Colorado)

Thumbnail Minerals, Any Type
Nick North (Master - Worldwide Thumbnails) 

Educational, General Audience Concept, Skill 
Keith Sheel (Master - Faceting)

Club Prospector Trophy: 



               1st – Colorado Mineral Society
               2nd – Littleton Gem and Mineral Club



Winners in the Special Competitions:
Best of Lapidary/Jewelry 
     Jody Sawdo (Agate Necklace)
Richard M. Pearl Trophy 

     Nick North (Azurite, Mapillas Mine, Mexico)
Best Fossil 
     Fred Olsen (Devonian, Kainops Trilobite, Oklahoma)

Prospector’s Trophy: 
               Steve Knox (Chalcedony Stalactites, New Mexico)
               2nd Place: Steve Knox (Chalcedony Rose, New Mexico)
               3rd Place: Bill and Mary Davis (Quartz Scepter, Crystal Park, Montana)




Junior Prospector’s Trophy: 
Shaeleene Kent 
(Aquamarine, Mt. White, Colorado)
2nd Place: Shaeleene Kent 

(Phenakite, Mt. White, Colorado)
3rd Place: Shaeleene Kent 

(Phenakite & Smoky Quartz, Mt. White, Colorado)





C. E. "Shorty" Withers Trophy:



              Joe Dorris and Family (Showcase of Amazonite & Smoky Quartz)
             WINNER: Brooks Britt  (following an appeal to the show committee, the decision was 
                                                     changed and Brooks Britt WON the 2014 C.E. Withers Trophy)
              3rd Place: Dale Gann
              4th Place: Keith Sheel and Sandy Walden
              5th Place: Tom Wodden





Brooks Brit - Montana Moss Agate
INFORMATION: http://www.denvermineralshow.com

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS...
CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU HAVE IN STORE FOR US IN 2015!


Photo Credits: Robyn Hawk and Gail Spann (via the Fabre Mineral Forum)