The 2016 MVP is....

Last week I announced the group of candidates that came close but ultimately did not win the 2016 Industry MVP.  As I noted then, so many great people and companies are worthy and picking one is truly a challenge.  For this year I went with a person that I have seen first hand making a difference in our world.  This person is active at the trade group level- taking a leadership role and bringing a passionate approach to it.  This person also uses his voice online to educate the industry on issues and situations that we all really need to pay attention to.  In fact he took one of my pet causes and has brought tons of attention to the holes there and did it in classy but forceful way.  Plus our winner is just flat out a good person and I have been a fan of his for years.  So without any further build up, the winner of the 2016 Industry MVP is Chuck Knickerbocker of TGP.  Chuck will probably want to kill me for heaping all this praise, but it is deserved!  Also props must go to Chuck’s employer- TGP.  They obviously see the great value in having Chuck out and active in the industry- so a thank you and a nod to the management and team there.  Congratulations Chuck- keep up the good work at GANA, your blog, and hammering on NFRC and the other issues that concern our world daily.

Elsewhere…

--  While I am in the handing out good news mode… major kudos to Bendheim on the release of their updated website.  The new site is fantastic.  Loaded with info and details.  Building websites are not easy.  Populating them with great resources is a massive challenge.  Congrats to the folks at Bendheim for the excellent work!

--  Following up on the AIA story and their membership “uprising” over the post presidential press release.  The Media Relations Director of AIA resigned last week and according to sources in published reports it was because the AIA ignored his direction in the whole process.  Like I noted when this happened- this was a massive PR failure on many levels and continues to be one as negative press is still active.  As one commenter online noted- “Sometimes its worthwhile to listen to your PR expert.”

--  I recently saw the new movie “Dr. Strange” and one glass related item stood out for me.  In many of the stunts, it looked to me like it was good old annealed glass being broken out instead of the usual tempered.  This movie had a ton of computer-generated graphics so maybe that was it, but it was jarring to see large annealed shards breaking in scenes with human interaction.

--  In my first posts of 2017 I will review what we experienced in 2016 and hit on the trends expected in the New Year. One trend will be advanced social media- like Periscope.  The great John Wheaton is making a major effort with that platform and the episodes I have been lucky enough to catch have been interesting and thought provoking.   More on this and others on that post- but follow John at @johnlwheaton1 on twitter and you’ll get the notifications of his next Periscope.

--  So this will be the last scheduled post for 2016.  Obviously that may change, as there are at least 2 major industry transactions that may take place before year end, so if and when they do break, I’ll make some comments on twitter and here.  I truly enjoy the communication with all of you and I thank you for your support.  I believe 2017 will be an excellent year and I am excited to experience it.  (Well all but the part of my daughter going to college in 2017.  I am NOT excited about that…)  In any case I would like to take this time to wish all of my readers a HAPPY and HEALTHY holiday season and year ahead.   Take care and enjoy!

LINKS of the WEEK

Not sure this got enough press thanks to everyone wanting to cover “fake news” and all.  An American Hero passes away.  I was lucky enough to see his last launch in person and it was very cool.  RIP John Glenn.

The icey pile up in Montreal made the social media spin last week.  This is wild to watch… hopefully none of my good friends from that area got caught up in this wow.

The hot holiday gift and a person trying to corner the market- good story on karma striking back.

VIDEO of the WEEK

Short stupid video with golf on ice… I assume this is a course in North Dakota in September….

2016 MVP Runners Up

OK, so it’s time to talk Industry MVP.  A few items before I start with the 2016 process.  In my last post on this I screwed up.  I forgot a past winner-which was CR Laurence in 2014.  I’m getting old and after 11 years of weekly posts, I’m not as sharp as I used to be! 

So before I unveil the runners up for this year, I want to recall all of the previous winners and runners up.  The reason being is pretty much all of these people and companies are still very active and important in our world.  And I am also trying not to repeat anyone- though it’s getting tough as some of the past runners up, could be MVP most years, so for the future I may have to rethink.  Anyway let’s look back before we go forward.

2013

Tracy Rogers- Winner

Runners up:

Tom Culp

Mark Silverberg

Ed Zaucha

Mic Patterson

Oliver Stepe

Dr. Helen Sanders

Scott Thomsen

2014

CR Laurence- Winner

Runners up:

John Wheaton

Rick Wright

Tom O’Malley

Bernard Lax

2015

Jon Kimberlain- Winner

Runners up:

Garret Henson

Walker Glass

Dip Tech

Kris Vockler

On to 2016… this group of people and companies stepped up.  Represented their organizations and the industry with class and passion.  My judging parameters as always:

• Overall Influence in 2016 on the industry
• Technology/Innovation
• Industry Support/Education
• My opinion and knowledge of them and what they do. In the end it’s my call and so I own it. 

Mike Albert- S Albert Glass

Not only has Mike’s company been a long time fixture in the glass and glazing world but also he’s been a leading force at the National Glass Association as a board member and most recently Chairman.  The NGA is surging now, and Mike absolutely had a hand in that and his overall care and passion for the industry are always on display.

The team of Thom Zaremba and Urmilla Jokhu-Sowell

I’m going with this duo- though it’s normally a trio with Dr. Tom Culp as the third.  But Tom was a runner up in 2013, so he’s on the list already.  Simply said what Thom and Urmilla do for this industry is so crucial and so important I am not sure I can give it enough emphasis. They represent our industry at code levels all over the world and navigate some choppy waters.  It’s hard to do the “right” thing when their may be competing levels of “right’- yet these two do it and do it well and with respect.   Without question they have helped raise the level of respect our industry gets from other industries thanks to their professional and classy manner.

SAPA

The only company to make the list this year.  I love that they take an aggressive approach to education with their Architectural Profile Academy and Shapes. Al website.  Smart to teach and grow the audience the right way and these things take time and resources so kudos to them for that.  Plus a nod to Mark Spencer of SAPA who is a positive fixture at every event and one that carries the company mission out perfectly.

All listed above are worthy to win this year but there was one person who rose above to win it and next week on my final post of the year- I’ll reveal it.

That’s it for this week- next week, not only will I have the winner but also a look at a great new website from a classic industry company, annealed glass in the movies, more AIA/Trump press release fall out and much more!

LINKS of the WEEK

--  Hawaii.  Snow.  Two words rarely used together in my mind- yet it happened…. Wow.

--  Another reason most of us hate congress.  This was actually an issue.  Ugh

--  Football is such a scary and brutal sport.  Nice of JJ Watt to do this- and I’ll even refrain from doing a “uhhh Hey JJ” comment about it.  (If you are “Pardon My Take” listener- you’ll get it)

VIDEO of the WEEK

I really enjoy the Foot Locker Commercials.  “Week of Greatness”

Here’s the top 10 from 2016. 

Big News From Guardian

Back at it for the final stretch of the year and the hits keeps coming, leading off with a lot coming out of Guardian.  First the main news that hit right before the holiday.  A subsidiary of Koch Industries purchased the remaining 55.5% of the company to now own it in full.  This is a positive piece of news given that Koch stuck their feet in the water a few years ago with the initial purchase and liked it enough to go all in.  This bodes well for how our industry is viewed and the potential going forward.  And speaking of the future, I also got word that Guardian will be announcing very soon the addition of a new jumbo coater.  That also is big news in that the commitment to continue to grow and support our industry is there.  And without a doubt, the trend of jumbo sizes is one that is growing. (I would love to get that stat on average IG size that I mentioned a few weeks ago- has to be growing!)  So congrats to all involved at Guardian- very exciting and positive times there right now for sure.

Elsewhere…

--  And staying on the trail of positivity the latest ABI did bounce back into positive territory.  So the 2-month down trend has been stopped.  The results continue to look like 2017 and into 2018 will be solid but not spectacular.  And as far as I am concerned, solid works. 

--  If you want some additional insight for the US and Canada- check this out from Alex Carrick- Chief Economist of Construct Connection.  Good and interesting stuff as always.

--  This has been out there some but I finally ran into it.  Drones and construction.  I’m blown away that it’s the construction world that is main user of the drone technology.  This article stated that drones would change the way construction is done.  Wow.

--  Zero Net Energy consumption or the Net Zero Building continues to gain steam.  This past week Santa Monica, Californian adopted an ordinance pushing it.  The glass and glazing industry does have wonderful and effective products to support these efforts so this is something I hope we see growing more and more.  Not to mention it is good for the world in the long run too!

--  Last this week… a Japanese scientist has carried out clinical trials that show if you eat ice cream for breakfast you are smarter and more effective with your day and work.  He had subjects eat ice cream right after they woke up and then tested from there.  Sadly I had to give up ice cream a few years ago so I can’t try this… but really amazing to think that this could work.  Could it be mix of cold and sugar snapping the brain to action? 

LINKS of the WEEK

I am not a fan of Daylight Savings Time- and I’m sure thesetwins born smack dab in the middle of it aren’t either!

Really nice story for the holidays!

Facebook usage taking a beating post election.  I see it for sure…

VIDEO of the WEEK

It’s the holiday season and it’s also yet again another release of Star Wars season with the latest “Rouge One” coming in a few weeks.  Here’s the trailer….

AIA Controversy

The interesting news this week comes from the AIA and their membership.  The AIA put out a formal statement commenting on the recent US election and there’s been some backlash online from it.  With the intensity of both sides of the election is still holding true, I have a feeling we’re only at the start of this specific adventure.   There’s tons of politics here I can get into, but I’m not doing that.   I’ll only weigh in from a PR standpoint and my take there is I have no idea why the AIA would make a statement WHEN they did.  The timing absolutely made no sense, there was no urgency or call for their opinion at that time, and they were obviously not prepared for their statement to go viral within their community like it has.  So lessons here are- you gotta know your customer base or your membership- and you have to have a sense of timing-- and it’s surely looking like in this case the AIA did not on either case.  What happens next in the AIA world will bear some watching....

Elsewhere… and moving quickly to something else!

--  After GlassBuild America I got a call with a great question I could not answer…. It is do we as an industry know what our average opening size is?  And has that opening size changed at all in the last few years or is it expected to change going forward.  The angle here is there’s this major push for oversize.  Every one seemingly is addressing it one way or another, so the trend is there.  But I can’t find or figure out what averages are?  So if you have some insight on yesterday, today and tomorrow with regards to the average opening- please drop me a line….

--  The November issue of Glass Magazine is out and once again quite a bit of excellent content to take in.  The issue is dedicated to the “Top Metal Companies” so some interesting profiles both on companies and projects.  Also I liked the quick pieces from industry heavyweights Joe Erb of Quanex and Chris Giovannielli of Kawneer.  Plus the Q&A with Michael Spellman from IGE is a must read.

--  The ad of the month award was a tough one with many strong candidates.  People ask me how I choose this.  First thing I do is flip through the magazine without stopping to read.  I see if any ad jumps at me to make me stop.  I then note the ads that do and then review and decide.  And I do try to share the honors as some companies could win every month.  So this time around the nod goes to Dormakaba.  I liked the ad- caught my eye with a simple title.  And I will admit I had no idea this was an actual company of DORMA and Kaba, so I learned something too!

--  Great resource that I was reminded about via email blast (and on those e mails- if done right, very effective) from Vitro. (PPG)  The “Search Products” tool that breaks down products, performance, and aesthetics.  Very helpful!

--  The new Apple headquarter campus is coming along.  This week new drone footage was released and it’s worth the watch.  Right now the site is ugly with dirt everywhere- once they fill that in with the proposed green spaces- the building and environment should be absolutely awesome.

--  Last this week- just a programming note.  No blog next week, though if news breaks I will post something and also have comments on twitter.  Otherwise I’ll be back in this space for the last week of November.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING to my friends in the US!

LINKS of the WEEK

Well something I never thought would be outsourced is going that way…. The casket.

The Cubs won.  This guy called it.  In 1993.

Kudos to Kit Kat for using the viral parts of social media the right way.  But I gotta say that is waaaay too much chocolate.  And I love chocolate!

VIDEO of the WEEK

This is 45 seconds worth of fun video action between a little guy and a garbage can.  Classic stuff here.