Sunday, May 05, 2019

Opportunity is Ours

Last week I briefly touched on the story from New York City and the Mayor there commenting on glass and glazing.  Since then it’s been a very interesting ride to follow the various stories and reaction to it.  First as the news got some legs folks from the Mayor’s office tried to soften it some with some much needed clarifications on what he meant.  Then we got some excellent takes on the issue from Glass Magazine editor Katy Devlin, View’s Rao Mulpuri, and my old pal Dr. Helen Sanders of Technoform.  But even with the smart comments coming in, the initial damage was done.  The narrative that stuck was: a “ban” on glass was needed because glass is bad.  So here we go again.  I even chuckled when I looked at these two e-mails back to back in my inbox


So it is now back to us to be better at how we communicate our products and how our industry represents ourselves.  This is an OPPORTUNITY for us.  We all know that we have GREAT products that can meet and exceed the energy needs and provide benefits that brick and other products do not.  We can rise to the challenge and show we are not the problem here and actually bring positive solutions with us.  Older buildings that desperately need energy upgrades everywhere are where this effort should start.  Glass needs to be the driver and the solution.  Let’s go get it.

Elsewhere…

--  I missed noting the annual “Take Your Child to Work” day on last weeks post.  It was really cool to see so many companies in our industry showing off what they did on social media.  When you think about the whole “ban” issue and also the fact we need youth in this business, it’s really important to get kids interested in our world sooner than later.  So big props to everyone who brought their kids in and to all the companies who pushed and supported it!

--  So has everyone seen Avengers End Game yet?  Super movie.  Don’t worry I won’t spoil it but I do want to say I loved the glass usage in the movie- and I got a kick out of some of the breakage too- looked like in some scenes the glass broke more like annealed.  So while others will go see that movie again to experience it another time, I’ll go back to study break patterns…

--  Never thought I’d see Wal Mart as the next leader in store innovation but here you are… interesting piece on a test store in NewYork. 

--  Travel nugget… I swear I have a Joe DiMaggio like streak of picking the wrong security line at airports.  I have the awesome TSA pre-check but once you get through that and have to pick a line…. I think I am 0 for my last 30 on choosing the faster one through.   So if you see me at that part of the airport go opposite of my choice!

--  Last this week.. the glass industry someday could be known as the place that spawned the next awesome social media network!  Check out this great article on Jeff Meyer of White Bear Glass as he and his family and partners have launched a new social and file sharing site called “The Horn”  - This thing has incredible potential and the key is privacy.  While Facebook just decided that privacy is important, Jeff’s site is all over it.  Wouldn’t it be awesome that a Minnesota company with a major connection to the glass industry makes inroads in the tech world of Silicon Valley?  So combining with the top story- not only is the glass world great but we also do social media better than anyone else too…. Good luck Jeff!!

LINKS of the WEEK

Very interesting story here on a good thing done but a delay needed in publicly thanking.

I don’t go to doctors to begin with but no way am I going if it’s a screen with an “Artificial Intelligence” doctor.   Look out.

This takes data mining to an incredible level

VIDEO of the WEEK

This video is absolutely fascinating.  It is a mouse who is cleaning up small tools on a workbench.  Yes. Seriously.  And evidently this mouse does it nightly too.  I’m floored here.  (Yes I am easily amused and entertained)


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