Hoping for the speedy recovery

Well without question the week was dominated by the destruction from the massive storm that hit New York, New Jersey, Virginia and other spots along the east coast.  I like so many others hoped this storm would not be as bad as expected but unfortunately in many cases it was WORSE.  My heart breaks thinking about the loss of life and looking at the damage.  There's no question that it will take a very long time to recover from.  No doubt we are a resilient nation and I know tragedies like this usually bring out the best in people and I expect that to happen here.  To all effected by the storm, here’s hoping and wishing you a speedy return to normalcy.

Elsewhere…

--  By the way you may note I did not call the storm, “Super Storm Sandy” as that name just is so annoying to me.  This was a massive storm of destruction and the media’s name for it sounds like a character on a children’s TV show.

--  Whether you read this on Sunday when I post or on Tuesday within the consistently enjoyable e glass weekly, there’s no doubt this week is a huge one as the election is finally here!  I am thinking we’ll either have a blowout and by 11PM election night and it will be settled or we’ll have a battle that won’t be decided for a very long time with the lawyers and courts involved.  No middle ground.  No matter what at least the commercials will finally come to an end!

--  In the last several weeks I have talked about trade shows and their success this year.  Some folks have disagreed with me; one in particular felt that the AIA show was not as good as I noted.  With that it got me thinking about what goes into making the show successful and it is more than just a great booth.  It’s the pre show promotion, using social media, communicating with customers/attendees, having something will draw people to the booth and so on.  Some of the groups that do that extremely well are preparing for Greenbuild with strong pre show efforts.  Examples like producing great videos the way Guardian is, foreshadowing a new product launch like Viracon is, or creating a contest like Duo Gard is.  I am pretty confident that pre-show efforts like this will amount in a good show performance.  If you're doing something to push pre show, I’d love to hear about it and also I’ll be curious on how it turned out.

--  And last note on the shows, a wise man recently told me that anyone who thinks the show can be replaced by online or electronic means is crazy.  There is no replacement for the personal effect and the ability to see, touch and feel on a show floor.

--  Been a while since I was able to finish a book, but just did this weekend and it’s a good one.  “The Last Headbangers- NFL Football in the Rowdy 1970’s” by Kevin Cook is a really strong read.  Especially if you are or were a fan of the 70’s Raiders, Steelers, Dolphins or Cowboys- I think you would enjoy this look back at football before it went off the charts in popularity.

--  Last this week… more pressure on my pals over at the Department of Energy with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce now asking questions about a 400 million dollar loan to failed solar company Abound.  According to the story an independent consultant helped push the DOE to approve the loan.  Knowing how some consultants are so very loved at the DOE and the folks there would jump into a lake if said consultants would ask, I could easily see this happening.  Something tells me this is not the last we’ll see about issues like this.

LINKS of the WEEK

--  I’m not a coffee or Starbucks guy but I am guessing many of you are and you’ll find this link pretty comical…

--  Social media, especially Twitter is filled with people who just don’t get it. Like this guy here.  (A side note, the vulgarity on Twitter is simply mind blowing- some folks have no filter at all)

--  There’s surely days that I feel like this little gal.

VIDEO of the WEEK

As many of you know I do follow the world of Wrestling, plus my son loves it a ton.  But this video from a lower level event is downright scary- a move gone wrong that is for sure.  Luckily the wrestler just has a fractured skull and evidently will be fine.  Wow.. so much for being a fake sport.