Saturday, March 02, 2019

BEC WEEK- 2019

It’s finally BEC week and 600 others and me will be learning the latest details in the contract glazing world while networking all the way through.  As I always do next week I’ll have a complete recap with everything I learned and those folks I was lucky enough to bump into.  Events like this are so crucial for our industry and our future.  So if you have missed this one, I’ll let it pass (LOL) but we have Fall Conference coming and then the Granddaddy of the them all- GlassBuild America in September. That is one you simply cannot afford to skip- especially this year.  A lot more coming on that and the new exciting events scheduled at North America’s largest glass and glazing event!

Elsewhere…

--  Congrats to my friend, the brilliant Rob Struble and the folks at Vitro on the launch of a new brand identity.  The look is super- love the color and the texture aspect to the logo. The tag line is different and creative.  All in all a great job by everyone involved there.

--  Also kudos to Tara Brummet of Vitrum on her recent promotion to Business Development Manager.  I have known Tara for several years and she’s a tremendous talent and person.  I am very happy that she continues to move up the ladder- a great call by Thomas Martini and the team at Vitrum.

--  Good read from Alex Carrick of ConstructConnect this week on the hottest labor markets.  This list is pretty much what you would expect if you follow the construction world though some in the top 10 surprised me.  Here are a few:
Orlando was #1 and given what I have seen when I have been there recently, makes sense.  I was surprised to see Phoenix at #2, I thought they were lagging- I guess not.  Austin and Houston were tied at #3 and Dallas-Ft Worth at #8 means the great state of Texas is still indeed- great. 
On the ones that were a lot lower than I thought- Nashville & Charlotte tied at 21 and Washington DC at 34 were surprising.  Whole breakdown and explanations are HERE.

--  From all accounts the IBS show in Las Vegas was strong.  Once again the big door systems caught the eyeballs of the crowd.  That has been a trend for a while now and hits on the same theme we have on the commercial side. Large spans that allow natural light are the key.  Attitude on the floor from what I am told was positive about the economy and market as well.  So I’ll take that any day of the week. 

--  I saw an article on the potential upgrades to the PittsburghInternational Airport.  The upgrades look great but my mind raced back to when this new airport opened in the early 90’s.  I was new to the business but our family company fabricated a TON of the glass work there.  (Remember my brother Steve can sell better than anyone- that’s how a fabricator our size did a job like that) Once the job was complete and airport opened my brother and I went out to see it.  This was obviously pre-9/11 and the Pittsburgh Airport was built like a mall- a heavy retail presence unlike any airport before.  You could come and go as you wanted with minimal security.  We walked around the entire terminal bending over and looking at logos and markings on spacers.  Celebrating when we saw “PDC” and getting bummed when we saw others.   Anyway the updated airport renderings made me think back to those truly different times… and my gosh if we did the searching for logos (on our hands and knees, standing on chairs etc.) and markings in todays security climate we’d be sent to jail!!

--  Last this week- not glass related but interesting nonetheless.  A contest to come up with new drinking cups… for me I didn’t realize what the make up of the current “disposable” coffee and soda cups were and what they are potentially doing to the environment.  So this contest seems fascinating.  We’ll see what happens next.

LINKS of the WEEK

Incredible, accidental explosion caught on tape.  Thank goodness no one was around!

Impressive kid- all I know is filling out that many applications and writing that many essays had to be crazy!

Incredible and good to see justice served!

VIDEO of the WEEK

This is not something you see every day….



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