Saturday, February 17, 2018

Architects and Glaziers, Licenses and Certification

A big story that has been working its way through our world is the Architectural Glass and Metal Technician Certification Program (AGMT) and I bring this up again because another movement got me thinking…(and I’ll get to that in a second) 
To recap…  the AGMT program is one that is designed to provide an independent assessment (written and practical) of the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the experienced glazing technician.  I am a believer in efforts like this because we need to always be evolving and growing our training and knowledge base and our performance as a whole in the marketplace matters.  The AGMT program continues to be built and hopefully soon will be launched.  Until then we’ll continue to learn more about the way it works and the positive end results that can come from it.  And that brings to me to the action that got me going… many states... at least 25 so far are weakening the licensing requirements for architects.  The AIA is fighting back and obviously and they should.  Believe me I am not one who loves tons of regulations, but the licensing of Architects is one I truly believe is needed- in the same way that advanced training (certification) of glaziers and glazing companies is needed.  I still chuckle that in some states you have to be licensed to cut hair, but not design a massive building or install some of the most important parts?  The end winners of these efforts are the occupants and owners and also the industry as a whole. 

Elsewhere…

--  There was a really good, quick, and easy piece from Window and Door Magazine on the outlook for the housing side of things.  As many of you know, the fate of the residential side usually runs into the forecast on the commercial side.  When residential starts to falter, we get the warning that commercial will soon follow.  According to this article, the foundations are still strong over on the housing side of things, which is positive news for them and for us.

--  We are coming down the stretch in preparation for BEC… more than 430 people have already signed up- have you?  It’s going to be an excellent event…

--  The new Apple headquarters is having an issue with people walking into glass.  I really am stunned as I thought the glass was going to have digitally printed marks on it to offer enough distraction to avoid this.  I know many of you who read this have been in that structure- any insights?

--  Am I the only the one out there who hates doing Gantt charts?  May be because I have no idea on how to do or struggle with understanding the end usage, but just curious…

--  Do you want your e-mail to be advanced?  I am not sure I want to go down this rabbithole.  Basically your e-mail could eventually act as a specific browser.  From a marketing standpoint this is a game changer- send someone info that has them directly on your site.  On the flip side, I see myself falling deep into it and killing my own personal productivity.

Last this week… I started with a word on architects and so I end with one… the architectural profession was a winner, seemingly at this point, in the new US governmental tax plan.  The new plan gives many architectural firms a deduction they did not get before, so maybe the next time all of you suppliers out there do a lunch n learn you should have the firm pay for it with their tax savings!!!…LOL!

LINKS of the WEEK

Disney World in Orlando prices keep going up… will be interesting to see if this has any effect on the crowds…

Whoa!  Speaking of Disney… I had no idea there were “social clubs” involved at Disneyland.

McDonalds changing the happy meal… making it more healthy by removing one single piece of cheese… Seriously. 

VIDEO of the WEEK

With the world a not so happy place- I figured I would do something with laughter for this weeks video… funniest 50 movie out-takes of all time…


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