Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Talented and The Technical


Last week I spent a few days at the GANA Annual Conference and as always came away impressed by the talent in our industry and the work that gets accomplished during the event.  Basically many of the discussions that went on there were crucial technical pieces that will have an effect on the way business gets done in our world. The big piece for me was the decorative division meetings as that segment and division continue to grow in prominence, thus the need for education, direction, and standards.  The group charged with it, led by their incredibly sharp chair Marc Deschamps of Walker Glass is surely up to the task.  Plain and simple, if you are in the industry and you care about the future, you need to attend events like this, along with shows like GlassBuild America (as well as their educational events) to stay properly informed on what we are up against in a very challenging world.

Elsewhere…

--  Of course I need to point out some of the folks I got to meet and greet… meeting John Rovi of SAPA for the first time was enjoyable.  I had heard a ton about him so it was nice to meet in person.  When I talk about some of the talent this industry possesses, I gotta point to guys like James Wright and Tim McGee of Glass Coatings and Concepts, they bring personality and energy to the game with some serious sales and marketing chops.  Was nice to get to know them.  I dig Nick Bagatelos of BISEM, his passion for the product is really hard to top.  Plus I wish I had his hair and style.  Last, getting to see Stanley Yee and Jon Kimberlain of Dow Corning is always a treat.  Stanley just recently joined Dow Corning, which is an absolute coup for those guys given the knowledge base he possesses. 

--  Lost in the controversy of whether Beyonce lip synched or not (gosh our media is great isn’t it?  Not) was the part of the President’s inaugural speech that covered climate change and building better infrastructure and buildings.  We have heard that before, but maybe the time to get serious- especially on the buildings is here.  I expect to see movement from our industry on this before too long.  Stay tuned.

--  Any guesses on the Top 12 cities leading the way for sustainability?  Some folks on this list will surprise and some will not.  Interesting nonetheless. 

--  Congrats to the gang at General Glass (GGI) on their smooth revamped website.  Really strong piece of work, clean and very smartly laid out.  Well done folks.

--  By the way, at the start of the NFL season I did pick the Ravens to make the Super Bowl… which means somehow one of my picks panned out.  First time for everything!  So I am sticking with the Ravens to win it all next week.  Wonder if CBS will tell us that Ray Lewis is retiring?  (Sarcasm intended!)

--  And last this week; the Super Bowl brings us not only the game but also commercials.  Will be curious to see who brings the best and I also expect this year to have a ton of social media connection too.  On next week’s blog I’ll be listing my favorites….

LINKS of the WEEK

--  Sometimes the blunt approach works to get the internship.  It did here.

--  The “photobombed” picture had a big week, best one was probably President Clinton checking out Kelly Clarkson, but this one wasn’t bad either.

--  Get ready… April of 2029, the next time the world is due to end. 

VIDEO of the WEEK

Another classic set of fails… this time on those Segway things.  I never thought they could be so dangerous… guess they are!


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