New York: The American Gem Society (AGS) has launched a virtual guild, which is open to all members of the trade. The first GoTo Guilds meeting will be a presentation by Peter Yantzer, executive director of AGS Laboratories, on “Light Performance 101,” an in-depth primer on the American Gem Society’s Light Performance Cut Grade on July 8.

“Originally, the intention of the Guilds was a way for our members in remote areas to have a meeting, albeit virtually,” said Laura Stanley, chair of the International Guilds. “We quickly realized that with the breadth of educational topics we can offer, though, members of our traditional guilds might also want to attend these virtual meetings.”

She added that GoTo Guilds will not replace AGS’ traditional guild meetings. AGS currently has 32 Guilds –including an international Commonwealth Guild, which also meets virtually.

The organization said its Guilds bring the spirit of the annual Conclave to their local jewelry communities with quarterly meetings, featuring networking and educational speakers covering a range of topic such as gemology store security and digital marketing.