GANA and NGA!

The big news this week was the announcement that the GANA-NGA merge has become final.  I am very pleased and as someone who has worked for both organizations and knows the strengths and weaknesses on both sides, this really is excellent union.  Congrats to all that made this possible on both sides, folks like Stanley Yee and Doug Schilling among the many at GANA who spent tons of time working through the details and Nicole Harris and the board at NGA who did the same.  This is a great move for our world… I know much more is still to come out on this but days of a unified voice have now begun.  In the meantime, an updated FAQ is now out post deal- it is HERE if you want to check it out.

Elsewhere…

--  So last week I hit on an article that I did not like… this week I am linking to one I did… this piece on the world of solar windows and glass was really well done.  There’s a long way still to go in that space, and this piece did a nice job of laying it all out.

--  The latest Glass Magazine is out… it is the annual “Outlook” issue and features a strong piece on what may be coming our way in 2018 financially and updates on the code arena too.  In addition it was great to see an article in there from Madeleine MacRae on the world of sales.  I was lucky enough to catch one of her presentations at GlassBuild last year and it was fantastic.  Great to see her now in the magazines! 

--  Ad of the month is always a challenge… this issue was loaded and featured so many good pieces.  The winner though is an odd one for me… I usually don’t care for this style but this time it worked.  The ad for Fold N Slide systems- which was half upside down featuring a Sherlock Holmes character is this months winner.  I normally don’t like the “upside down” gimmick but this look worked- maybe the interesting shot of Sherlock did it for me… in any case congrats to the team at Fold N Slide on a great ad approach!

--  New fun industry follow on Instagram… check out Paragon Architectural’s feed at paragon_architectural.  They have done some fabulous work and those pictures really are perfect for the Instagram format and audience.

--  Congrats to the folks at Innovative Glass and Sage Glass on their arrangement to have Innovative rep the Sage line in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  Two good companies working together with cutting edge products- I like the potential this has.  Will be a good combo!

--  Saw this wild stat this week… what the Vegas casinos won in 2017 by game…

Blackjack $1.2 billion

Craps $393.5 million

Roulette $367.3 million

Baccarat $1.1 billion

Sports $248.7 million

Penny slots $3.1 billion

Think about that penny slot number.  3.1 billion.  Absolutely unreal… that is a ton of action to get to that number.

--  Last this week- speaking of Vegas… BEC is coming up in a month… attendance is looking solid but obviously plenty of room to keep adding.  If you have never attended this is a great mix of networking and education over a very quick and efficient time period.  To be able to learn about so many items in a 1-1/2 to 2 day period also while having he ability to pretty much talk with tons of great contacts, I can’t see a better deal right now.   And if you haven’t attended in a while, its time to come back…. You know how good it is.

In any case like I have said before- there’s two events that you need to attend to keep your business up and personal stock trending in the right direction… BEC and GlassBuild America.  So check out the agenda and register today!

LINKS of the WEEK

Tough, sad, bizarre story about a woman, drugs, and her “trophy” husband.

Love it… dog gets approved for unemployment! I have 4 of them, time to get them to apply!

I guess this proves everyone has a family… even Charles Manson.

VIDEO of the WEEK

I don’t have HBO but may have to get it for this documentary.  The Life and Times of Andre the Giant.  The preview looks amazing!