The annual AIA show is next week and it should be interesting on several levels. The first angle is… Will anyone show up? Basically I am hearing that people are not going and with travel being cut all over, I can see that being the case. It’s not just the architects who are staying home but many industry folks who would walk the show are staying back and booth staffing has been cut as well. Also interesting will be the attitude of the folks who DO attend. When do they see the malaise ending? Will it be 2010 like some think or will it be 2011 like many others are predicting? Last the other interesting angle will be what new products and wrinkles will be out. Healthy companies still do R&D during bad times, and so this should be interesting to see who is working for the future and who is just hanging on.
Elsewhere…
-- Last week’s post had a great comment attached- to save you from scrolling down here it is:
John Lewis was laid off from AAMA. The majority of AAMA's income comes from residential label sales, and we all know how that market is right now. Membership dues are also way down- people are choosing to forgo the meeting expenses and dues in order to keep people employed in their departments. All this translates into reduced income, and like any company they have to balance their books, so layoffs happen.
John is a good guy, but it really burns me up that his title is "New Business Development". NFRC is not in business, it is a pseudo-government agency. It shouldn't be looking for new areas to extract money out of. I swear, it seems just like an extortion racket ran by the mob. Unless you pay the NFRC their "protection" money, they break your legs and prevent you from doing business.
Great comment and thank you to the Anon who left it… his last paragraph was classic and again the whole “Restraint of Trade” angle comes up again. Obviously NFRC is all lawyered up so they have that angle covered, but it sure seems shaky. And its funny about the title, I wonder if the IRS has a “New Business” person.
-- Amazing how Earth Day and Green keep getting bigger and bigger… but don’t you get the feeling its going to backfire? In fact true energy and green people- folks that really live it- have told me of their disdain and dislike for the USGBC. In fact one guy told me I should stop wasting my life on NFRC and go after USGBC. I worry that angle will grow and the good of doing the right things will get lost in the BS and bureaucracy of our universe.
-- If you are not watching 24… shame… and if you are… can you believe the whole Tony Almeida storline? Holy heck….
-- By the way, everyone on the commercial side knows the blogs to visit- but Tara Taffera of sister publication DWM Magazine has a pretty cool blog focused more residentially and its worth a visit. It’s here. One thing she wrote on was the folks from the Iowa window plant that got screwed in the whole “Republic” disaster. Those folks in Iowa got hung out terribly and its tragic. My heart goes out to all of them… and while the BS that happened originally to the folks in Chicago was terrible… to me what happened in Red Oak was a lot worse.
-- Congrats to my friend E on her UNC Tarheels winning it all… great hoops tourney by the way…
Off to the links!
Link chick has gone underground… too busy working on high end cover stories for the magazine world… so these are from me…
-- An awesome article on 12 major brands that could go “bye bye” in the recession… some shockers here folks- worth the read.
-- Want to see where the job losses are in your area… this article lets you do it interactively! Wow, depression, internet style.
-- And this one was actually from the Link Chick but I thought of Arlene Stewart when I read it… it’s the “top 10 Greenwashers” out there right now… Arlene does an awesome presentation on “greenwashing” so somehow either her stuff will make it in there or their stuff will make it in her next piece…
VIDEO of the WEEK
This was a few weeks ago… a dunk that went upside down and to the floor… wow.
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