Sad to hear that the Muranese bead industry is suffering. The Societa Veneziana Conterie – the principal producer of seed beads on Murano for ca. 90 years – was put out of business by foreign competitors in Japan and other countries in the early 1990s. A few years earlier, Dr. Chiappetta, the director of the Societa, told me that Japan was selling its beads for what it cost the Societa to produce them. To expand its market, the company began to make small glass pellets that were used in atomic reactors. That didn’t help. What can save the remaining Muranese bead industries? Even if they come up with new ideas and styles, those can immediately be copied by China and India who will sell them for far less money. I hope the people attending the meeting can come up with viable solutions. Otherwise, we may well see the end of a truly great beadmaking tradition.