BEC has come and gone and it was an interesting few days that’s for sure. Overall I think all of the attendees want/need more work and for the most part the attitudes were leaning towards a “can do” positivity. Still the major scary item that came out of this meeting is not one expert speaker had the recovery coming to our world before 2012. A few months back I ran a piece that said the industry would not bounce back until 2013… hopefully all of those pundits will be wrong. In the meantime there’s no doubt that people will be hunkering down to ride this storm out.
Other BEC observations…
-- Tremendous to see everyone I did… it was my first meeting in a while after missing Fall Conference and GlassBuild America…. Several solid speakers led by Russ Huffer… his speech was on Net Zero Buildings but he comes with so much passion and prose that he could probably read the instructions from a piece of IKEA furniture and it would sound interesting and engaging.
-- I enjoyed the keynote from Vitro’s Hugo Lara, he shared a ton of interesting info and made you think…
-- The code pieces done by Bill Yanek and Thom Zaremba surely hit many nerves and hopefully alerted the masses to the issues that are facing us now…
-- I am a big fan of Technoform’s Mark Silverberg and he and Al Stankus put on a very in depth piece on the future of high thermal performance fenestration… I actually learned a ton from that piece.
-- In addition I enjoyed learning about exciting future products from Dr. Helen Sanders of SAGE and Fred Millet of Pleotint… it’s products like those that will help this industry move forward.
-- Echoing Chuck Knickerbocker from his blog, the curtainwall piece done by Chris Fenwick of Kawneer was strong.
-- Also I loved by legal pieces but it was shame that attendance was low then…
-- The Mayor of Las Vegas was super… great story teller for sure.
-- As for the scene… the Viracon party was awesome as usual… I was thrilled to be invited… (then I was told EVERYONE gets invited… dang and I thought I was special…)
-- Saw the new trend in long sideburns from both Tony Mazza and Ken Werbowy. Not like 90210 original sideburns, but not Elvis mutton chops either… must be a new trend.
-- There were several 5 minute ads, but my props for best one goes to Tubelite… they stuffed War and Peace into 5 minutes and it was solid.
-- Enjoyed catching up with folks like George Petzen of LinEl, Julie and Claude from Solutia and the aforementioned Mr. Knickerbocker from TGP. Also someone was there from AGC! Yes for years I picked on AGC for not coming and the year I don’t host, Jon Hughes shows up… and it was good to meet him and tell him what he missed the last 4 years…
-- Of course I was very proud of Henry Taylor on his first time as host- he did a great job under tough circumstances… and it was great to see Greg Carney, looking trim and in charge.
-- Finally congrats to the folks at GANA.. Ashley, Brian, Sara, and Bill Yanek- a great job done by all… and all of them probably thrilled that they didn’t have to deal with me this year!
-- All in all it was a good weekend and good crowd under the circumstances. I know many people stayed away for many reasons but this event still has the chops and hopefully those who missed it this year will start thinking about coming next year. There’s no doubt times are tough but the information and networking done paid for itself and then some.
Non BEC thoughts of the week…
-- I picked Duke to win the NCAA because I am always wrong…. OK… they made the final four… I hope this isn’t the time I decide to be right… ugh
-- The story that USGNN ran on the City Center vs. its builder is a freakin great read. And that article only hit the high points of what should someday be an awesome tell all book. In any case I did venture over there to see the place and it is beautiful… the buildings with glass made and fabricated in the USA were nicer than the others… (as it should be).
-- At the airport coming home, heard the craziest announcement… they said that the plane had “limited water” so if you need to use the bathroom, do it in the airport and don’t wait. Evidently once the plane went through its water, the bathrooms would shut down… the flight was to Atlanta… I hope all those folks heeded that warning… that’s a long flight…
Off to the links…
More great stuff from the all knowing legend that is the “Link Chick”
-- A 13 year old COLLEGE student is claiming age discrimination… seriously… it’s a great read about a kid that is way too young (and waaaaay too smart) and parents who have no clue.
-- Your skin as an electronic touch pad… as Link Chick wrote to me on this was simply “creepy”
-- A guy gives mouth to mouth and CPR to a possum… wow, the effect of tons of alcohol at work!
VIDEO of the week
The video this week also courtesy of the Link Chick… and it’s of an amazing goal scored by a goalkeeper from miles away.. seemingly… check it out… awesome.
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