Getting to glasstec and more

So this week I will be in Germany for the bi-annual glasstec show.  This event attracts people from around the world and my true hope is to see some new things- especially on the product side.  On my last trip there the equipment on display was dominant and impressive, but the actual product technology left me a little cold.  We’ll see and I look forward to reporting back here on what I find and what may make an impact on our world going forward.  Also this is a nice chance for me to get familiar with many exhibitors who will also be at GlassBuild America.  I counted around 100 glasstec exhibitors who’ll also be in Las Vegas in October.   So that will be a neat sneak preview for sure. Last I always look forward to and also get a kick out of the fact that I’ll run into people from North America there that I won’t see ever over here.  Depending on wi-fi connections I am going to try and tweet, so feel free to follow along at Twitter.com @maxpsolesource 

Elsewhere….

--  The good news via the monthly forecasts keeps coming.  The latest Dodge Momentum Index was up again for the 5^th straight month.  We’re still far from where we were during the crazy pre-recession times, but we’re also now getting far away from the depths of the recession itself.  Obviously we all look towards November and we’ll see happens then and the effect it may or may not have on the economy.

--  I was very happy to see my friend Scott Hoover and Solaria back in the news again in a collaboration with the NSG Group.  I love innovation and technology and the more steam fresh products can get- the better.

--  Time for the monthly review of Glass Magazine.  And this is an issue that you will want to devour.  A few pieces of note…. Katy Devlin went inside with a piece on the PPG-Vitro deal.  Story was great but I also must say the appearance and layout of it was even better.  Really loved how it looked! Also really liked the piece from Gary McQueen of JE Berkowitz on design assist.  Well done.

--  But the real focus of the issue was GlassBuild America and what to expect and who and what to see.  It was really an excellent primer to get you ready for the show.  So if you are going, you really want to read through this.  And if you are not going, it surely gives you a great taste of what you are missing. 

--  Ad of the month?  Because this issue was gigantic I could not just pick one ad winner.  A lot of companies raised their creative game this month… so I have 3 who get this extremely valuable honor of being named my ad of the month… so here goes…

Guardian is back in the winner circle again- loved their ad featuring a sketch drawing and calling out where the glass goes.  Just caught my eye and was impressive.

Schuco is also a winner this month- they showed an old typewriter and headlined “Don’t become a thing of the past.”  BRILLIANT.  Congrats to them on a great hook.

Lisec takes the last spot with their “Velocity” ad.  They wanted to promote speed and the ad caught my eye and did that.  It was a simple, clean piece that was effective.

All in all though tons of good creative this month… congrats to all out there working that angle!

--  Last this week… US News and World Reports released their top colleges lists this week and it’s always interesting to see what’s considered the best here and there.  But I had to laugh that they listed the top “value” colleges and #1 was Harvard… and the “value” price was just….. 62K per year.  I guess value has a different meaning in the college world. 

LINKS of the WEEK

Tons of news on bathrooms and rules, but  how about this- a youngster doing something positive and helpful with regards to bathroom signage.

The story of an arranged marriage ruined by a dog.  Seriously.  On both accounts.

This one is interesting.  Kid sues parents over Facebook photos.  Personally if my kid hates me that much to want to sue my about this, I’d probably not want the photos up there!!