Quarter 1 In Review

The 1st quarter of 2007 was pretty uneventful overall, but still some interesting things went down and now’s the time to review. In trying to avoid being like a “Best of” blog entry, I do try and put an updated spin on things.

Industry headlines:
Glassweek in Sarasota was a strong event, though it is the last “Stand Alone” Glassweek since that event and BEC will combine next February in Vegas. How will the new event do? Going to be interesting- Glassweek is the best technical gathering in this industry and BEC is by far the best networking environment- so hopefully the two will mix like Chocolate and Peanut Butter and make a great Peanut Butter Cup of an event.

Chinese Cha Cha’s:
China continues to be an issue- last week’s entry on China got me several e-mails. The reaction was a mix between:
“How could PPG do this?” and “Stop crying, just because the Chinese are eating your lunch doesn’t mean they are wrong…”
All I can say to this is… some people just do not get it. I can’t explain why PPG is doing what they do- in the end it will only hurt them as their technology and training will and is being used against them. And as for the Chinese eating MY lunch… um, they are eating EVERYONE’S lunch and dinner. Go to Chicago and see how many jobs have gone Chinese- go to the Southeast and see how many jobs have been sold direct to General’s and Developers… bottom line, Manufacturer, Glazier, or pithy Fabricator, all are in the cross hairs of the communist Chinese.

A side note, front page of the USA TODAY on Tuesday has more interesting news how our government is relating to the China issue. Click Here to read it.

Side note 2 has the TV show "24" switching gears and now Jack Bauer can go after the Chinese- Go get 'em Jack and get a shot in for our industry will ya?

Green is Gold:
More proof of the “Greening” of America this week as both ABC News and Robert Redford jumped on board to push the process. ABC now runs features during their nightly news and Redford is producing a show on the building of Green properties.

Changes, changes changes:
AFG will be AGC NA soon, ACH will become someone else again soon I am sure, Kawneer turned their back on 100 years of recognizability and made an ad agencies life by changing their logo and taking on the same look as Special K Cereal.
US Aluminum got sold begging the question- “If an aluminum company gets sold and they really don’t participate much in the industry, will anyone really care or notice?”

NFRC:
The complete guide to the NFRC is coming soon- I promise- some long flights next week, so plenty of time to think and write.

Ewww the Economy:
A weak start to 2007, especially on the residential side… not the best of time to be a big time window guy eh? Marvin announced cutbacks on hours, and you can safely assume they are not the only ones. On the commercial side some pockets are pretty weak, but others holding strong. From all indications 07 will still turn out solid but people are hedging their bets for 2008 that is for sure. Right now there have been a few auctions of some residential window manufacturers, if commercial turns as weak, and the Chinese continue their march, the commercial side may experience the same effect.

The Blog Effect:
Traffic here has been mind blowing and in some cases comical. I’ve had visits from Nigeria, France, Brazil, Israel and yes even China. The message boards at USGlass are picking up some speed and for some people has shown to be a very helpful resource.

Video:
Sorry about last week- I did not realize that the wayward first pitch from the Mayor of Cincinnati was removed from You Tube. If you missed, you missed a classic. If you have any favorites you run into feel free to forward it to me. This week in honor of Global Warming… Snowmobile racing on grass… ah what we can expect in the future once all the snow is gone….