Exciting Stretch Ahead

We are about to enter a cool little stretch of industry events and I am excited because this may be the first real “normal” stretch we’ve had in 2 years.  Next week the movers and shakers of the glazing and fabrication world will descend on Nashville, Tennessee for the BEC and GPAD events.  The back-to-back sessions are slated to draw some incredible crowds and the networking and education will be at its absolute best.  Can’t wait!  I’ll have more about both of these from the scene next week and then of course the week after, my rundown of who’s who at the event.  Then in early April, Glass Expo Northeast takes place and the great Andrew Haring will be holding court there bringing the gospel of the glass world’s leading education process- MyGlassClass to the region.  Later in the month, I am absolutely blown away to be speaking at Top Glass in suburban Toronto.  I have been a fan of this event for years (Glass Canada Magazine does a tremendous job), and to be able to attend AND speak is just awesome.  I love the glass community throughout Canada, and to be at a big-time event like that will memorable.  And last but not least, early May has me back in my favorite state… the great state of Texas, at their bi-annual Texas Glass Conference.  This event put on by the incredible people of the Texas Glass Association never fails. I love being a part of it, and this year aside from the education and networking, they’re having a special guest speaker in Kris Paronto.  Kris is known for his amazing heroism in the siege of the US Embassy in Libya in 2012.  If you’ve seen the movie “13 Hours” that it.  So get ready for some quality “normal” along with learning and networking as we push ahead!  And if you are in any of these regions, get to these events- they’ll be worth your time!

Elsewhere…

 

--  Next Architectural Billings Index drops this week.  I keep predicting it to be negative (and obviously hoping it’s not) but I do think this one will be below the magic number of 50.  Too many trends working in the wrong direction have caught up- but that metric has been pretty resilient, so we will see and I’ll have it for you here next week. 

 

--  A few weeks ago, I wrote here about the inflation aspect of things and how packaging was off for me, that I could tell less was in some of the products I commonly buy.  Well, I wasn’t crazy, Quartz magazine dug into and had some interesting takeaways… check it out… “Shrinkflation” is the term I guess. 

 

--  I love Orlando, and I am in and out of there quite a bit.  They have a new terminal being built and it will be completed soon (glass and metal on it?  No idea- speak up folks) Anyway I ran into this article on the new tech aspects of the terminal.  It looks intense BUT could there be a WORSE place to try super high-tech things on travelers than Orlando?  90% of the travelers there are families who are already stressed and not travel savvy.  Something tells me that this terminal for all of its bells and whistles is going to have some serious growing pains.

 

--  Jim Evans of BidClips won the internet last week with this absolutely hilarious bit on calling on customers in our current age.  I am an unabashed fan of Jim and his company and this messaging really was super.  

 

--  Just a random question- is there any product segment hotter right now than Bird Friendly?  I know laminated glass overall is hit, but to me it feels like Bird Friendly is just on a rocket ship right now.  Really amazing growth there and good on our industry to be really open and positive about it all. 

 

--  Last this week… A few new TV choices for you… 2 documentaries and one cheesy series.  First the Docs… Dream/Killer was about a young man wrongly jailed and spent 10 years in prison while his Dad and others fought to get him out.  The guy just appeared on this season of the Amazing Race too.  Was well done.  On Netflix.  Also on Netflix, “Downfall” which is the backstory on Boeing and the 737 Max tragedies.  This one will get your fired up and shows where cutting corners can have serious consequences.  The series is “Winning Time” on HBO and it’s about the 80’s LA Lakers.  It’s very cheesy but well done and if you are at all a sports fan, you should like it.  The only thing missing so far is super Laker fan Joe Carlos making a cameo.  I expect that soon!  

 

LINKS of the WEEK

Fascinating story on a Chick-fil-A that is too busy.  I mean I have experienced it but they’re the most efficient operators around and if anyone will figure it out- its them

 

Stealing Gas. Just a matter of time before this started to happen.  And will get worse!

 

I’ve gotten into the wrong Uber twice.  Including one that WASN’T an Uber (ouch- in the early days of Uber) but this was the AirBNB version of that….

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

To California, and Architectural Glass & Aluminum (AGA) and this project at UC San Diego.  This is Franklin Antonio Hall and its almost complete and its pretty awesome to look at.  Great work by AGA and all of their partners (no glass or metal folks were listed- come on, gotta give those guys the love!)  including the design team of Perkins & Will.  Congrats to AGA on this project and way to make our world look great to students at UCSD!