This is the most important blog post you will ever read… well at least this week that is. But seriously, it’s a call for action because despite the tough economic conditions out there, business still goes on and more importantly codes still get written and enacted. If you don’t take the time to read the info below and reply, then you are doing your company and your industry a disservice.
Ok here’s the deal. As I have noted here a few times, glass and the use of glass is under attack. Basically there are many people out there who would have no problem with seeing buildings with a lot less glass on them. And some of those people have power when it comes to the codes. As an industry we are at a weakness because unfortunately the Glass Industry Code Committee is dissolving. However the Glass Association of North America (GANA) is willing and able to step into the fray and fight on for us… for the industry. But to do this, they need your support. If you are a GANA member you should’ve gotten a survey on this topic. You need to get that survey filled out and back to GANA. The goal is to see if the support is there within the organization to have GANA adopt the GICC charter and keep up and advance the efforts at the code level.
This one is serious and legit. Glass gets beat on because of its alleged lack of energy properties but you and I both know that’s a crock. If the codes get pushed and glass area gets reduced that will hurt us on every level. Right now the industry has a great consensus going on behalf of this issue, but when it comes to the GANA membership we are still missing a portion of the input that is needed.
I have to note, this plea is from me and not GANA. I am not a board member and I do this as an independent, industry caring person. And also someone who loves to sell glass and would hate to see square footage go away unnecessarily. So step up- get with GANA and protect your future interests today! If you need or want more details on this, feel free to e mail me at maxbcat@aol.com for more info.
Elsewhere…
-- Paul Bieber wrote a great piece in his blog this week about his old plant in CT closing. If you missed it, click HERE. Tough go of it right now folks… and speaking of that… these tough times are claiming some very talented people, one of them being Tim Moore. I have worked with Tim for years and he’s pretty freakin incredible on the tech side. I would hope if you are in the market for one of the greatest technical minds around, you contact Tim. His e-mail is tjbearmoore@aol.com .
-- The New York Times had an article on the solar industry recently and there was a great comparison in there… basically it said this… what’s the difference between getting oil from the middle east and solar panels from China…. Fantastic comment… we want energy independence but we’re not headed that way with some of the maneuvers going on in the solar world… and yes I did catch the tariff on Chinese tires that hit last week… now waiting for that protection to come to the glass/solar side. (Yep I know starting a trade war is bad…. But still….)
-- The Twitter Top 10… last blog I listed a national list… well its time for the top 10 that I think are interesting- both from an industry and interest standpoint. If you don’t twitter than you can skip, but if you do, I’d go find these guys and follow them….Here they are:
10. /Solarfeeds- You want to follow the solar world, its here… they update it like 1000 times a day.
9. /greenbizdaily- Great green news and info
8. /NatGlassAssoc- Very good effort in keeping it updated, and uses twitter well to prop the upcoming show as well.
7. /aluminumnews- links on the other side of our business
6. /darrenrovell1- He is CNBC’s sports marketing reporter (gosh that’s a dream job!!) and he always has pretty cool tweets.
5. /jaketapper – He is ABC’s chief White House reporter… it is worth the read to see people on the right accuse him of being a liberal and people on the left accuse him of being a neo-con. And best is he replies to these folks.
4. /glassnation- this is GANA’s contribution and great stuff.
3. /usglass- Yep I am suck up, but seriously like what they do and a great way to get the news quick.
2. /sportsguy33 – this is the page of Bill Simmons who is ESPN’s sports guy. Simply the top sports writer in the US today- bar none. No one mixes pop culture and great sports insight like he does. (well I do, but I am in the glass industry)
And #1 on my unofficial list…
/PPGIndustries- Many reasons… they were the first of our industry out… they update it a ton (which is a brutal task) and the stuff they update it with has been pretty cool. Our industry gets picked on for being slow and behind the times, but at least in this case PPG was right on it.
Off to the links…
The “link chick” did not take the week off like I did so I have like 3000 stories from her… I may actually do a post over the weekend with the overflow… especially since I know many of you only read this blog for this section!!
-- Classic… the top most bizarre playgrounds in the world…. Yeah not sure I’d let my kids near any of em.
-- A story that makes you wonder how they figure this stuff out… ready…. Give a cow a better mattress and they produce more milk…. It’s true!
-- And the best of the week… as someone who has placed his share of bizarre ads, here’s a look at ad’s that had some really bad placements… great stuff…
Video of the Week:
This is fantastic video of two Clemson football fans just completely devastated after they lost to Georgia Tech… the best part is the announcers just having a field day with these guys… I am guessing this guy had a ton of money on the game…
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