Time to Act

As those of you who read me consistently know, I try and keep everyone up to date on the latest in many areas, trends, codes, products etc.  I also always point to the economic forecasts and they have really taken on a larger role since we are now working through a truly unique time.  This past week at GlassBuild Connect, Connor Lokar from ITR Economics delivered an incredible performance- more than 75 minutes of detailed intel and dives in the economic landscape.  There are quite a few takeaways but the one big one for me is that we will have an economic valley to traverse coming soon.  Some of us have hit that valley already (but not many), others mostly have not.   For all of us though I think the thing to focus on is “how are we going to deal with it?”  How are we going to pivot and/or diversify our offering, our staffing, our approaches etc.  The key now is we have visibility and that being “reactive” makes no sense- time be proactive and prepare fully.  So are you doing that?  If not, you should be.  One piece of good news?  11 of 12 leading indicators are rising and rising nicely.  So there is some light coming…  If you missed this presentation, set your calendar for Sept 22^nd at 4PM and see the encore presentation and hear/see it all for yourself.  It is a must If you are in any leadership position.

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  Another incredible week at GlassBuild Connect.  Again thanks to all who are supporting the industry and event.  Still two more weeks and hundreds of products & exhibitors to see along with excellent educational sessions.

--  The daily Scavenger Hunt is a hoot.  Great prizes this past week from Soft Tech, Standard Bent, PRPRD (cool new company- check them out!) and Walker Glass.  Thank you all for stepping up!

--  A favorite for me during the week was a part of John Wheaton’s podcast that was also utilized during GlassBuild.  His guest Michael Kohler delivered this awesome line when asked on what we do and how it is special:

 

“We leave a defining face on the landscape of America.”

 

Yes we sure do Michael.  Glass and glazing IS that key more so than any other product.  That is just an awesome quote.

 

--  This week the session to catch is Tuesday at 1PM the Veka Plant Tour and Town Hall.  I love seeing new plants and learning about how companies do things.  I may not be heavily on the side of the business Veka is in, but it’s worth the time to get a flavor for the way they do things.

 

--  Last week I had an amazing picture from Eric Fortin of buildings in the sky.  Well it so happens that Dan Plotnick of Vitro happened to actually see those buildings in person and he shared these two shots with me including one from INSIDE one of the towers looking down from the 88^th floor.  Incredible stuff.  And I still wouldn’t want to glaze them!  Thank you Dan!

 

--  Kudos again to the Daubmann family with their continued run of good news, this time being named for the fifth time in six years on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing and most successful independent businesses in the United States. My Shower Door keeps growing, hopefully Bill, Keith and the team remember us little people when they are on the Fortune 500 list!

--  This home.  My gosh.  Ok I gotta think someone reading this e-mail did the glass here… congrats to you… What a beautiful project!

--  Last this week… with the 9/11 anniversary passing it reminded me of the book “The Only Plane in the Sky” I had mentioned here a while back.  This book was an incredible piece of reading. (or listening as my friend Jeremy Hoy of Virginia Glass Products told me- he got it as an audiobook) Seriously if you want to read a story about that day from so many different angles there’s no better read out there.

 

LINKS of the WEEK

 

Interesting way to game a system, but now it can’t work with publicity on it.

 

How much do you think an unpaid water bill for 27 years would be?

 

I don’t think “hind leg impact” protective glass is out yet… may be after this!

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

 

You know me, I am very high on the bird friendly scene and approach and really like what GlasPro has going on… so when I saw this project on LinkedIn I knew I had to put it as my project of the week!  This is the Richmond Ferry Terminal for the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) and obviously the bird friendly glass is playing very crucial role.  Great design from Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects and once again it is glass that shines.  Nice work GlasPro team!