The 2019 MVP

We’ve basically reached the end of the year and have finally come to my final scheduled post of 2018 where I award my annual Glass Industry MVP award.  This was a tough one this year- I received more input than ever before.  Tons of excellent candidates, but in the end I think I chose the most deserving.  The criteria I used for this honor was the following:

An overall dedication to the betterment of our industry.  That can be through activity in industry meetings, working on committees, creation of technology, advancing education etc.    Plus my opinion of them and knowledge of their background helps too.  This one is all on me, I ask for input on nominees but I don’t discuss anything further. 

So below I will list the group of runners up and then the MVP.  And I’m not playing favorites to people who read this blog; as to the best of my knowledge none of the people listed below read this, even if I have mentioned them in the past.  So without further delay… let’s go…

Runners Up

Felix Munson- Anchor Ventana Glass.  Felix is very active in the industry- his dedication to the great Texas Glass Association is huge and his desire to bring more education and knowledge to all is impressive.  He also is very in tune with the growing glazier certification process and has always pushed his company support for industry as a whole.  In addition he runs a very good organization with a great reputation.

Jeff Haber- W&W Glass.  Jeff may be the single most respected member in our industry.  When he speaks, everyone listens.  W&W is an incredible company and Jeff and his family could take a different path and not be involved in the day to day happened of the glass world, but he chooses to volunteer quite a bit.  His impact with conferences like BEC and FTI are important for educating the masses and he brings a vision and strategy to everything he does. 

Glenn Miner/Rob Struble Vitro Architectural Glass.  I paired these two together because on many items I end up seeing them as a combo deal.  The key here is education and the desire to bring more of it to the industry.  Glenn and Rob are constantly looking at ways to grow the communication of glass and its greatness.  The Vitro Glass Education Center is awesome and the monthly e-mail Vitro sends is helpful and worthy.  In addition Vitro continues to step up and be a partner in many functions throughout the glass and glazing landscape when others in the same place choose not to be involved.

Greg Oehlers- Tristar.  Greg is a freaking Legend.  Period.  I honestly can say I love this man, and admire all he has done in our world.  No matter what is going in Greg’s life his energy and desire to push the good in our world is never diminished.  His presentations are incredible.  (Advice if you have to speak on same agenda as Greg, go before him because if you follow him, it’s simply impossible.) Greg has always been willing to hear out and TRY new products and services, which makes him a great friend to every innovator out there.  And if he likes what you do, it’s an incredible endorsement.

OK... so you have the runners up… all incredible people who do great work and advance and support our world… so who tops them and wins the title this year????

The 2019 Glass Industry MVP is Nathalie Thibault- Prelco

Nathalie is a constant presence at the NGA/GANA level as well as being the current President of IGMA.  To put it simply she is involved consistently at every level.  Nathalie is extremely well respected and she brings significant insights to everything she does, and those approaches usually develop into important guidelines or pieces of education that drive our industry.  She is also very inquisitive in the most positive way. She asks questions of you because she legitimately values your opinion.  With how incredibly busy she is, you would think she’d be less open for deep discussions or more roles, but that has not been the case.  Her company is one that brings an excellent reputation, so they truly practice what Nathalie preaches.  To make things even more amazing is when I found out Nathalie was back in school going after an MBA.  When I asked her about it I was impressed by her answer- she wanted to push her skills a notch further.  That’s incredible given how good she already is…  Bottom line, Nathalie is a great example of someone who gets it and truly deserves the recognition.  Congratulations on being our 2019 Glass Industry MVP!

Elsewhere…

So this is probably the last post of the year unless something crazy happens… I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone who reads this blog and communicates with me about it.  I truly appreciate it!  I believe we have another good year upcoming and I am excited about so much of what is happening in our world.  (Do you think I am excited by Thirsty Thursdays, Annual Conference and BEC?  LOL- I know promote ‘em like crazy…) In any case I hope everyone out there has a fantastic holiday season and your and your families have a happy, healthy, and profitable 2019! 

LINKS of the WEEK

So this story has a bunch of twists- but why not press charges??

Free Cheescake?  Why? (Stores are already always swamped) And how is this a good idea anyway?

I’m sure this will become the plot of a future Hallmark movie…

VIDEO of the WEEK

I am a big fan of the team at Rowe Fenestration… they are sharp and great examples  of strong representatives our industry needs..  so I wanted to share the holiday video they did for their customer base…  quick, simple, and classy.  Nice work!