October, 2005

So for this weeks post, a different approach…

In October of 2005 I decided to get into the world of blogging.  My first main post started with:

What I think is the first ever BLOG related to the glass and aluminum industry is now alive! If someone else has one, then by all means I apologize.

We have a good industry but we face huge hurdles.

I started this as a way to get information out to the masses in a non-traditional way. I hope that I can spark debate and eventually help the industry win the battles it faces.

Now if you would’ve told me 14 years ago that I would still be blogging and how different my professional career turned out- well I would’ve told you that you’re crazy.  But yet here we are blogging away and so thank you to all of you who have followed me through the years.  I truly appreciate it.

Back in 2005 our industry was quite different- a lot of major brands that were powerhouses then don’t exist now.  Technology was getting better and better but nowhere like today and we surely weren’t much of a global industry then with regards to source and supply.  Standing here in 2019 we are in a much better place in so many ways and that is something that I am personally and professionally grateful for.

As I think everyone who knows me knows- I do love the glass industry and I love what we do and how we do it.  It wasn’t always like that- I had zero desire to be in the business growing up or all the way through college and early into my professional life. (My family has been in the glass business since 1898)  But my brother once told me that glass is in my blood (so blame goes to him that I am here) and he was right. 

So my mission for this blog hasn’t changed much since 2005.  I still want to get info out and get people fired up and I still believe this is therapeutic for me in that I can get things off my chest.   Obviously I am not as rough and militant as I was years ago but I think mellowing was the right call for many reasons.  Though I know there are old school readers of this that would love for me to revert back… sorry can’t do that!

So where I am going with all of this… well it’s a look back but this is also a plea to all who read this to continue to push for the betterment of the industry.  Get involved and stay involved.  Get to the shows and conferences.  Educate and communicate.  And push our products to the forefront of the building product world.  Many of you already do this (and do it extremely well) but if not I’m asking you look at 2020 as the chance to really make that difference.

So I have 14 years of this in the books, this is post #770, and I’m going to keep pushing until I hopefully hit 1000 at least.  Thank you again for joining me on this ride.  Next week we’ll get back to the traditional industry scuttlebutt and we’ll finish 2019 strong!

LINKS of the WEEK

I am not sure this will have the effect they want it to- but it’s a fascinating argument- will getting rid of drive through lanes at Fast Food restaurants make us healthier?

This story is missing a big piece… no way this happened overnight…. And I wonder if its even true.

Which one of my travel warriors can relate to this one?

VIDEO of the WEEK

So since this is a “look back” piece I wanted to use an oldie but goodie video.  Funny as I dug back into my archives, a bunch of my videos that I featured here no longer exist online…  Anyway this is a fun one and here is what I wrote leading into it… from 2006 and I would love to see this still today… post job or end of year press conferences?  YES!!

“It’s getting down the stretch of 2006 and I think everyone is at wits end. Yes the holidays are coming but most people are so busy right now, they are in a real scramble mode. Now only that everyone wants their project done before the holidays so the pressure is intense.

So with that in mind, take 2 minutes and watch how these various NFL coaches react... can you imagine if the glass industry had press conferences? Man that would be hilarious.”