GlassBuild America Day 2

Day 2 at the show was very strong. Very heavy traffic and it seemed like old times for a moment there. Really a fun day all around…. Now to the floor…

I witnessed my first ever impact demo at a show- video of it will be up on GlassBuildAmerica.com by Wednesday morning. Very cool stuff…. Yesterday when I stopped at PPG I did not see Jan Rogan, and I thought she skipped on this one, so I was thrilled when I saw her smiling face this AM. Also nice to see Mark Kearns from Dlubak- the guy is always working it.

The BIG STORY at the show and I’ll mention this in next weeks post as well was Greg Carney… and more specifically, Greg Carney’s hair. Greg now has flowing locks like Fabio. Seriously. For a guy like me that can’t grow hair on my head- seeing Greg sporting just a huge headful… it was stunning.

Elsewhere… the machinery booths were all packed today- surely seemed like interest was at an all time high. The gang from Glassopolis were extremely busy, but they promised SWAG yet all I have seen is cookies… c’mon Rob, gotta step it up. There was a Scott Surma sighting on the floor. So great to see Scott, as I consider him one of the most talented people around. Also the Glass Pundit herself, Kris Vockler was out in about, Wednesday she’ll be leading a very cool seminar on decorative glass but today she was working the floor along side good friend of the blog Steve O’Halloren. I got to walk to the show with Dr. Helen Sanders of Sage, which as always is a complete honor and got to meet Sage’s new VP of Marketing Derek Malmquist, who was an extremely impressive individual.

Missing from the floor…. No Julie Schimmelpenningh as I hear she is down under. (I did see the awesome Aimee Davis of Solutia though) also no Garret Henson from Viracon but there are rumors he may appear on Wednesday. I don’t think I have ever done a GBA without a Viracon sighting. Bobby Hartong of WA Wilson was a no show- we got his Dad and his business partner, but I guess the lack of DQ’s in Atlanta kept him away.

All in all good day at the show- one to go….

GBA 2011 Day 1

So day 1 of GlassBuild America is in the books and after a slow start the afternoon saw some brisk movement throughout the hall. My first thought is this year the show floor looks the best it has ever looked. The exhibiting companies really brought their “A” games. I am blown away by the style and class so many of the booths are showing. Really top notch!

As for seen on the floor… and the way I do this is in a rapid-fire style… so hang on, here it comes….
The first guy through the gates this AM was Dan Pompeo, the headlining manufacturers rep- one of the best around no doubt… As always the gang from Walker Textures dazzled not only with their impeccable clothing choices (as always) but the continuation of the Saturday Night Fever style dance floor. I’ve noted in the past that PPG sets the fashion tone for traditional booth-wear and Rob Struble did not disappoint with lightweight vests that had pockets. Nice stuff, Glenn Miner and Joanne Funyak were styling as always.

Great looking booths… Cristacurva left you speechless. Just strong. My friends from General Glass (GGI) had amazing examples of what they do in full size surrounding the space and they are serving Ice Cream in their booth- so you get great looking stuff and one of the greatest foods around! Loved the Lauren International booth… as they told me it’s hard to make rubber products look exciting- well they did, and they did it with style! Guardian’s booth was huge and very impressive- no doubt Earnest Thompson, Chris Dolan and company are bringing the best every time out now. They raise the bar with each show.

I met one of my blogging heroes, Bill Evans on the floor. The guy is awesome in print- inspirational as heck and just a thrill to meet him in person.

The Glazing Executive Forum was a veritable “who’s who” of the best glaziers in our world- along with some seriously good suppliers. It looked like things went very well though I’ll be curious on what everyone thought of the keynote speech and I’ll have to bring that up in a future post.

The highlight of my time though was the whole Quanex experience. Quanex is without question the dominating presence at the show… bigger than life. This year though I had an amazing opportunity to get inside the booth and have time with the Chairman, President, & CEO of Quanex David Petratis. I did an interview with him that will be up on GlassBuild.com soon and quite frankly I found him to be engaging, genuine and motivating. The guy is a gem. Then later I got to meet Mike Hovan in person for the first time after following him for years and catching up with great old favorites like Erin and Larry Johnson, Joe Erb and new friends Brian & Kim Kress. Just a thrill for me for sure. Ironically they all like the older version of my blog when I was a little “harder” with my edge… I’m a kindler, gentler blogger now… but you never know maybe my teeth with show again…

All in all Day 1 was a crazy whirlwind of a show… people are busy right now for sure, but I believe everyone is very worried about the coming months. No one can really accurately predict what next year will bring and I think that just scares people to the core.
Day 2 and 3 I’ll be all over the floor- I look forward to catching up with more people and seeing things that are “new” for me. So that’s the goal. To me the show is strong because as noted above, the exhibitors really came out strong- people that are attending are enjoying the benefits of that for sure.

More to follow in the coming days- then next Sunday a wrap up….

The Pre Show

Different posting schedule this week with the onset of GlassBuild 2011.... This post will be very shot then I'll have posts here all three nights of the show with recaps and sightings.

I was on the floor yesterday and the exhibits looked spectacular, people really upped their game this year with some great booths. I am excited to see how this all turns out and also as always gauge the attitude and mood of the crowd. Been an odd year for sure- most people are very busy, but I believe everyone is casting a very wary eye towards winter and the the early parts of 2012. So we will see.

And yes it is 9/11 and the 10th anniversary of the horrific event that continues to touch all of us. I am not going to delve deep into it, there's so many tributes and insights out there already- some more amazing than others, that I wouldn't and couldn't do it justice. Needless to say my thoughts are there.

We'll do the LINKS of the WEEK here though because we have some good ones... and on that note, it's always tough to find the good ones, no one does it as good as my old conspirator now across the street. So if you have any good links you want to share, please do not hesitate to send them to me.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- We need more judges like this... he took some attorney's to task in a very creative, and successful way!

-- To me this is just a blatant publicity stunt.... but I am curious what the idea is behind a guy biking 1600 miles to try and meet with Warren Buffett. Biking... sounds uncomfortable.

-- GREAT Story on when bloggers feel swindled. You know you should NEVER get on the bad side of a blogger! LOL. Seriously though these guys portrayed in this story were way over the top and too dramatic. Sorry guys, you are not better than the rest of the world... unless you blog about glass....

A warning realized...

Lost in the excitement and action of Hurricane Irene was the Earthquake that struck earlier that week. Thankfully there were no reported deaths or major injuries and for the most part everything and everyone survived. However one thing that came out of it was said perfectly by Arlene Stewart, the legendary energy consultant in a tweet. Here goes:

ArleneOnEnergy Arlene Z. Stewart 10 yrs ago, I watched SE codes bodies look at Nanette Lockwood like she was nuts for advocating for seismic provisions. Vindicated much?

And there ya go. For years people have been warning of issues to come and even though we skated on this one, the seismic provisions still should be something to be addressed and put into play. And as for Nanette Lockwood of Solutia, it’s been many years since I had the honor of working with her, but she happens to be an absolute authority on so many of these issues, if she told me to prepare for another quake tomorrow, I’d drop everything and go. So this whole scenario bears watching and we’ll also have to see how it affects us in the glazing world- because it will. And oh if you are not following Arlene on Twitter, you need to.

Elsewhere…

-- One tough image and result from the hurricane was the damage in Vermont. The iconic covered bridges that stood for so long- completely wiped out. Towns flooded. Just awful…

-- The Steve Jobs resignation was also a tough one to take. While many expected this day to eventually come given his health battles, the finality of it all is still stunning. Apple is more than Steve Jobs and I am sure their products (and love of everything glass) will continue on, but it won’t be the same. By the way, here is a quick and simple article on the three main takeaways from the way that Steve Jobs did his business.

-- We are coming up on another anniversary for this blog. I started in October of 2005 and almost 400 postings later I am still here, still plugging along. I thank everyone who reads this and supports it. And just a note, I do actually post this on Sundays at my original site. Ironically it gets tons of hits from the state of Virginia that day, guess I am popular there! Anyway it continues to be a thrill that many of my stories/opinions/comments get picked up by competitors to run on the day before my posts appear Tuesday’s in the always-excellent e Weekly. In any case, for what started as therapy continues and I appreciate everyone for following along!

-- Missed noting my brothers birthday last week… and for his big day the best gift he got was a years membership in the Dairy Queen Blizzard Club. Who woulda thunk that the first Perilstein to have a membership in such an epic club would be the skinny one… Happy Birthday bro…

-- Football predictions… as many may know I have not been into Football this year, but I still have to make my traditional (and usually wrong) call on who wins it all… So fans of 30 teams will be happy and fans of the 2 I pick… not so much… so here goes… your Super Bowl will be the New England Patriots vs. the Chicago Bears… for some reason I think Jay Cutler has a huge year this year, and Brady and the Pats look unstoppable. Of course, and as always, I hope I am wrong.

-- Last this week… here we are on the cusp of the show of the year… GlassBuild America kicks off Monday the 12th. The show floor is sold out and there’s some nice momentum out there on people attending the show. I am really looking forward to seeing so many of the folks that I can only usually hook up with at GBA. I will also, as tradition, something I started way back in the early days of this blog, be posting nightly with all of the flavor, pomp, and color of the show. If you are coming to the event, look for me running around or at my booth #1104. See you there!

LINKS of the WEEK

-- Another industry that is working to develop new products… the paperclip industry… yes seriously… and a very interesting read about a needed work material we use and abuse.

-- Simply the best “out of office” e mail ever written! Wow.

-- Excellent story on the recent Kardashian wedding and how it should actually be considered.

VIDEO of the WEEK

For those of you Jersey Shore fans out there… the fight between Ronnie and “The Situation” was hyped a ton but really did not turn out as much… yet. In case you missed it, here was the “fight” in its glory. By the way, as a parent, if my daughter showed up as a booty call on Jersey Shore, I’d probably lose my mind. Brutal.

The Eye of the Storm

I had a great blog already written but because of Hurricane Irene I decided to change it up. Because I post this blog on Sunday’s, the full force of the hurricane and its aftermath has not played out completely. Obviously my thoughts are with everyone in the path and hopefully everyone is staying safe.

So given the circumstances my normal batch of commentary, snark, and kudos is just not appropriate. All I can say is that a hurricane and what happens during it is bad wherever and whenever it hits, but the fact Irene is hitting places that normally just don’t get hurricanes makes this even worse. Add in that so much in our world depends on and runs on what happens in cities like New York. Basically if New York sneezes, the rest of the country can catch a cold. So it does beg the question of how much of an economic affect will this disaster have and how far will it reach?

It has been a very good summer for the glass and construction industry (especially compared to the Winter and Spring) so will this derail it or will lengthen it? No matter what the result there, hopefully everyone there hangs in with as little issue as possible. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

I will though close with some levity. This story on what the folks are hoarding in Brooklyn… and its not water. I guess we all deal with things in different ways!

We’ll be back next week with our regular post.

LINKS of the WEEK:

-- Most un-moderated message boards are worthless (like at least one for our industry), but some like Trip Advisor help people decide on hotels etc. Unless of course those reviews are fake… Nice piece on how to spot a bogus one.

-- Serious article. Scientists are warning that Aliens are coming for us. And to think there’s people who rip on me for what I say and do! Yeesh.

-- This wins the award for the worst written story featuring the dumbest choices in on-flight entertainment. The whole thing is wreck, so of course you have to read it…

VIDEO of the WEEK:

Video of Memphis cops in street fighting training…. One rule I learned from my past, don’t mess with Memphis…. Good place by the way.

News of all makes and models....

An absolute rollercoaster of a week news-wise… We had good news, sad news, surprising news, and what could possibly be considered depressing news. And we had glass still falling from the sky as well…. Really it was all over the map, so let’s take a look at what happened…

-- We’ll start off with the sad news in the passing of John Neunlist, President of Admiral Glass in Houston. John was one of those consistent, classy industry guys. He always supported our industry, was a fixture at BEC, and simply a force in his world. Our industry lost a very good man last week and thoughts and prayers go out to John’s family.

-- The week also saw more rough numbers out of the Architectural Billings Index. For the 5th straight month the numbers were down. So it is surely now an official “trend.” However I am starting to question he whole methodology involved based on last year to this year. Our industry is currently a ton busier right now than what the ABI predicted 9-12 months ago. And while I think this burst of business was sorely overdue, I am still taking ABI’s latest downward trends with a grain of salt. If our world is dog slow in August of 2012, then we’ll know right?

-- Good news is that remodeling numbers are nowhere close to being down or depressed. That segment has been going hog wild for a while and will continue to do so. The era of “spec” buildings is absolutely toast, and with years of inventory on the markets right now, the remodel, retrofit segment looks very promising.

-- Surprising news on the decision in US Court dismissing the lawsuit against the United States Green Building Council. I really thought the suit would have more legs, but in the end, the judge attacked the logic behind the suit and sided firmly with the USGBC. The fine folks at BuildingGreen.com have a great recap with insights HERE. I don’t think this is the end of attacks on USGBC. There’s still a lot of people have issues with their programs and the overall value to true sustainability in our world. Will be an interesting one to continue to monitor.

-- Glass keeps falling off of buildings, the newest round is in Toronto and that news has been bouncing around the Internet like wildfire. The bad thing in that once again this can be used as a negative mark against glass as a building product. As an industry it surely would be nice to have at least a little run without someone beating on us.

Elsewhere in the very busy week that passed…

-- A hearty congrats to my pal Rich Porayko and his wife Tricia on the birth of their son Levi. The kid I am sure is already taking after his Dad and hustling like crazy. Levi is their first child… Congrats!

-- A wish of good luck to Joe Krusienski as he heads off into new pastures, whatever they may be. I had the absolute honor of working with Joe for several years and there are not many who are better. They just don’t make guys like Joe anymore that is for sure. Hopefully we’ll have a Joe K sighting at GlassBuild in a few weeks.

-- Many thanks to Ted Knopp of McKenzie Glass in Oregon and James M. who noted on last weeks blog I mis-heard the wording on the video that I posted. I appreciate the catch and now know exactly what I did- I heard what I wanted to hear- what I assumed was said and just mixed it up. In any case, thank you guys for reading and for taking the time to post it. Much appreciated!

-- And also thanks to Tish Oye of Glassworks in Seattle, WA for an awesome link about Architects love of glass. You can read the piece HERE, and to get you going this was the first line:
Architects like to build with wood, masonry, concrete and steel, but most really love glass.
Oh my is that not cool or what!

LINKS of the WEEK

-- Awesome read inside the mind of one of the world’s best hackers. Scary.

What happens when your finely tuned marketing campaign gets thrown by a real life issue? In time this story will give us those answers…

On of my past co-workers is a HUGE Jersey Shore guy. I wonder if this story will make him shop elsewhere for his clothes.

VIDEO of the WEEK

Ok I am still not into football yet but getting closer… this clip from the Canadian Football League made me chuckle… what a wild celebration after the touchdown…

Glass IS Awesome

Last week Glass Magazine linked to an amazing video story on Glass that somehow I missed. After running across it today in working on this post, I had to make it my top story. The link was to a story done on MSNBC about Glass and it was fantastic. Granted the majority of the piece was not about architectural or commercial glass, but there was enough in there that really put our industry into a positive light. At the end the piece legendary architect James Carpenter makes a great statement: “Glass will become more and more persuasive in our lives…” We need to keep promoting and pushing that sentiment exactly. Glass has been taking bad raps for years and much of it unfair. Hopefully with pieces like this, along with the continued amazing advances on the dynamic, energy, safety and decorative side and with hungry people out pushing, we’ll keep turning the tide and changing any negative perceptions that remain. In the meantime, click here to the Glass Magazine story and check out the video.

Elsewhere…

-- This past week I was lucky enough to find myself available to join in on an on line “GlassChat” Created by Social Media Consultant Patricia Linthicum (who runs the excellent “Looking at Glass” blog), the weekly on line Twitter chat is getting more and more popular and becoming a great resource to learn and build from. I got a kick out of seeing great insights flowing from tremendous people representing companies like Glasswerks, ICD, Glasslam, Gardner, Coral, Connors Sales and more. And don’t worry there was not even a sniff of anti trust activities; it’s basically a great interactive version of something you would follow here or in e Weekly. If you want to get in the conversation, there’s a group on LinkedIn or if you follow any of the above companies on Twitter they can lead you there. Or drop me a line at the address below.

-- Also saw a very good update on line this week about changes to UFC codes and ASTM F2248. If you or your company is in the blast protective world, it is surely an update to look at and issue to follow. More can be found clicking HERE. (H/T to the excellent JEI folks)

-- Football, in the pro version is now playing pre season and I am STILL not into it. Getting worried that I lost that groove. College ball is getting closer- and I am somewhat excited about that.

-- The term “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” dates back to the 1820’s but continues to be relevant today. Though it can be frustrating it is uplifting when your efforts get copied. Must mean you are doing something right eh? Anyway its been great to be flattered lately.

-- So we are basically a month away now from the show of the year, GlassBuild America. I am excited about it- having the chance to see people again and network is crucial (for me and really for everyone else isn’t it?) and to see the new products and innovation, to help diversify is a must. No doubt there’s some excitement surrounding the event. Also enthusiasm is growing for the Glazing Executives Forum, as the breakout session moderators have been released and it’s a who’s who of intelligent and solid industry folks. Hope to see you there!

LINKS of the WEEK

-- Interesting story on patent trolls…. And I have a feeling you’ll be hearing more about this in the coming months.

-- Did the great Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavs really call the stock market crash?

-- Infuriating read here about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Criminal stuff. Now I know that when you get waaaay behind on the mortgage something has to give, but these guys are in it for the wrong reasons. Another reason to hate on Congress too.


VIDEO of the WEEK

Growing up loving baseball, when my brother wasn’t around to drive ground balls into my chest and face, I had one of those pitch-back screens that you threw the ball into and it would come right back. So you’d be able to play catch etc. Well this video takes it to a whole new level. Simply amazing to watch this guy hit…

((Thanks to my Mom noticing- the video below was yanked rom Youtube. No clue why. Trying to find another version))

A word of caution

Being diverse is a good thing. Adding on new avenues to your business is also good. But taking on business that you know little about and stepping all over your subcontractors, well that is bad. And it has potential to be dangerous too. Recently there’s been a trend in our world where general contractors are deciding that they don’t need professional glaziers; they can just install the glass and framing themselves. This maneuver is becoming more prominent as job bids get tighter and people get more desperate for work. However this does upset not only the proper natural order of things (which surely would be debated by some) but the fact that you are working with products that can be very dangerous to not only the installers but the general public as well. In the last few weeks in the northeast, we had such a situation raise its ugly head. A general contractor was able to buy glass direct from a fabricator and then installed it. Except that it was annealed glass and they went into doors… at a hospital no less. Luckily no one got hurt when the first piece broke in large shards no one got hurt and situation addressed. But at the end of the day, fabricators that sell a GC direct are being complicit with a poor and most likely dangerous business practice, and the GC cutting out the glazier is absolutely shameful. I know “desperate times call for desperate measures” but these sorts of moves are not good for anyone and it actually stains us all as an industry. So go ahead and be diverse, but think twice before you step into a scenario that could have serious long lasting and devastating effects.

Elsewhere…

-- Can we backcharge Standard & Poors because of their calculation mistake? What a miserable week on Wall Street.

-- Props to Jenni Chase and the gang at Glass Magazine. Last week in e-Weekly yet another tremendous interview, adding to a really stellar list of people being profiled here. (And more to come!) Glass Magazine and e Weekly has become the place people come to be heard and is the home for in-depth insights of every big story in our world. It is just very exciting to be a part of that.

-- Good news for the “Dynamic” window world with the release mid last week from Lux Research. The world is moving that way and will continue to embrace that technology because it is good… VERY good for our world. Congrats to SAGE and Soladigm for their mentions and don’t sleep on the gang from RavenBrick. They are absolutely in the discussion too. No matter how you slice it, good things are coming and it’s great for our industry.

-- My alma mater, Ohio University, finally won something…. The Princeton Review named OU the #1 party school in the country. Amazing. I wonder if they still do quarter beer night like they did when I went there.

-- You know I like lists, and this week a cool one came out with the Top 10 cities that will be THE places to live in 2020. Boomtowns is what they are calling them… so I guess if you own land in these areas, the boom is coming according to Proximity One.
1. Raleigh, NC
2. Richland, WA
3. Austin/Round Rock TX
4. Provo, UT
5. Hinesville, GA
6. Logan, UT
7. Grand Junction, CO
8. McAllen, TX
9. Idaho Falls, ID (Once upon a time ISU hall of famer Dave Michaeli of AGC surely roamed this area!)
10. Charlotte, NC

I have been to most of these places and could see the allure. You wonder though if they grow too much will they still be as nice?

-- Last this week; did you make your plans yet for GlassBuild America? Show is coming up quick and well worth the time and minimal cost to be there so you can network and advance your business.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- Trying to figure out this guys motive… stealing toilet lever handles. How many would you have to take to make cash?

-- Really cool piece on “you are what you eat” a look at random people and what is in their fridge. Site loads kind of slow but very interesting.

-- Las Vegas is talking about cracking down on street performers and panhandlers… I guess we’ll see if that actually happens. In the meantime, don’t buy the “bottled” water from anyone on the street…

VIDEO of the WEEK


We have lots of dogs at home- but none as cool as this one… great video of it “talking” -- very creative!

Ready to Roll!

Well I have been teasing this for a few weeks and the time has come to finally introduce everyone to my new venture. Or actually more apt, my new AD-venture! I have founded a new consulting firm for the building products industry called Sole Source Consultants. The mission of this new organization is to be a source to help businesses prosper by offering expertise in virtually every aspect of their operation. My portion of this undertaking is the marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management side, as well as website and social media and of course code and specification assistance. But to do it right I have been working with some of the best independent consultants our industry has to offer so that any need that is out there will be handled by the best available. And it doesn’t matter your size, scope, or budget, we’re there with a plan for you.

For companies in our industry, I believe now is the time to attack business wise. Step up and get ahead of the trends, get ahead of the pack and be in the lead as the economy continues to evolve. And I wholeheartedly believe Sole Source has the ability to assist and influence that charge.

So that’s the basic pitch, for more information, e-mail me at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.com and I’ll gladly provide the specific details you desire. And also I will note, that after this post, you will not see me promoting my business in this space. This blog will continue, and it will remain as an industry observation point and the place that so many have flocked to since 2005 and made it the most popular industry blog around. I am humbled by that and thank you for reading. I will have a specific blog for the new company on the Sole Source site that will cover issues pertaining to that business but I have no desire to ever intersect the two.

Finally, as I have worked to put this together, I have been asked again and again, why I am going in this direction. What was my thought process and so on? Like I noted above, I think business wise it’s a slam-dunk. Smart companies are making the moves to be at the front of the bus, and they’ll be in the market for the services that a group like mine can provide. But this is also about my family. From my great grandfather, grandfather, Dad, and brother Steve- they all started businesses and did extremely well. I want to see if I can measure up to their awesome legacy. And further more I wanted to create a vehicle that my kids (along with my wife, brother, sister, and Mom) can look at and be proud of… a venture that sets the tone for the future, provides positive services, and helps people achieve and reach their goals.
Plus rumor has it if I do well I may end up moving up the rankings of the favorite people in my Mom’s life. Right now I am perking around #17… so there’s that.

Anyway thank you for reading and supporting the blog and my career as it’s gone through the years and know I truly appreciate any and all consideration you send my way.

Elsewhere…

Since this post was so long- we’ll save the posts for next week. But I do want to say I will have a piece on a very scary and discouraging item about glaziers getting cut of the food chain by generals. And when that happens the mistakes that come with. So come back for that next week!

LINKS of the WEEK

-- Florida has to be an interesting place to live… and now one town will charge you extra for “Sink Hole” coverage. Amazing what you have to pay for now.

-- This store is actually near where I used to live in suburban Pittsburgh. Comically stupid workers at an adult store stage a robbery. And they get caught of course.

-- Fellow travelers, you could be getting some money back from the airlines. Check out this story to see why. I hope I am…

VIDEO of the WEEK

So yes Pro Football is back… and still not that excited yet, but this video of Indy Colts punter Pat McAfee making a 75 yard Field Goal was pretty dang cool.

Panic or Not?

Last week we saw yet another rough batch of results from the AIA’s Architectural Billings Index featuring the third straight underwhelming month. The fear now is the experts felt that when you start to string 3 months together that can constitute a trend. However, looking at the positive side, at this time last year, the ABI was just as bad, yet current business levels (which would be right in the time frame where the ABI has its effect on our industry) have been solid to very good. A majority of the industry is busy right now, so possibly the attention paid to the ABI is not what it’s cracked up to be and maybe it’s not that accurate of a metric. No matter how you slice it, we all know there’s holes in our economic world right now and that even with increased business levels taking place right now, I don’t think anyone is confident of long term sustainment of such. The fundamentals have to come back and hopefully that happens sooner than later. Until then we’ll track everything and anything we can to get a vision of what is still to come.

Elsewhere…

-- Congrats to my friend Dr. Helen Sanders of Sage. All in one week she appears in front of congress and is featured in a story in the Wall Street Journal. Excellent. Just remember us little people Helen… and remember the sad little blogger that did one of the first Q&A’s with you…. I guess though that is the rightful path… Glass Magazine to Congress to WSJ. I love it!

-- GlassBuild America is coming up and when I went to make my travel arrangements I was VERY pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive the flights to Atlanta are. Trust me I know how tight everyone’s budgets are (mine basically doesn’t exist!) so seeing the deals for Atlanta was pretty awesome. So if you are on the fence, go check the rates and book- for those prices you can’t afford NOT to be there!

-- Speaking of GBA, one of the seminars I am looking forward to is the BIPV one. Solar is something so many people are curious about in our world, and the line up for this piece is very good, moderated by the esteemed Richard Voreis. If you have any curiosity at all about this emerging technology- this seminar will be a huge help.

-- Flying as much as I have in my past I thought I had seen it all, but this week I saw something new… I watched as a flight attendant had a serious verbal altercation with what had be an 80+year old lady. They went at it for at least 10 minutes and the flight attendant almost walked off the plane! The argument was as we were loading and no clue what started it but talk about watching a wreck happen. Luckily cooler heads prevailed. You had to be there…

-- Looks like we’ll have football on time this year… so why am I so unenthusiastic about it?

-- Last this week, how about a hand for all of the folks who are working in the field or in the plants right now during this massive heat wave. Those folks are the real heroes of our business anyway, but especially during conditions like this. Stay cool and safe folks!

LINKS of the WEEK

-- I have gone easy on China recently (heck I go easy on EVERYONE now! LOL) but this story about their athletic set up and the wrath on the folks put away by it is worth reading and sad indeed.


-- I already noted above that football coming back isn’t thrilling me. And neither is this new rule for the NFL adding a possibility of more replay and longer games. Ugh.


-- Uh oh… there’s now an “App” for compressing words for your text messages. As a good friend noted to me on this “it makes my head hurt”- yep it sure does. Are we becoming so much of a rush rush short attention span culture that even the text messages have to be compressed?


VIDEO of the WEEK

We are year away but the trailer for the next in the series of Batman movies is out. “The Dark Knight Rises” is the name and it looks pretty strong…. Here it is…

Green or Not

This past week I found myself in a discussion on the value of the “green” movement. A few years ago, slapping the word “green” into your materials gave off the impression to the then unknowing masses that your company had the golden key to success. But as time progressed and more people became aware, the whole notion of “greenwashing” (yes it has a name) became out of style, distasteful, and those who did it were somewhat ostracized. So now there’s not as much outward pushing of green because people are more aware and intelligent about it, but has the lack of promotion hurt the cause? I say yes and no. Yes from the standpoint that the more light you can shine on a subject the better coverage it can get and more knowledge added to it. No because more and more people are grasping the idea that energy efficiency, truly created by better buildings with better materials, is doing your part… your green duty as it is, and at the end of the day doing the deed is better than just talking about it. Bottom line to this whole discussion is we as an industry still have to keep pushing the pedal to the floor in creating and advancing our technology as it relates to green or energy, or sustainability or any other heading you want to throw it under.

Elsewhere

-- Want to know something that is not probably green these days? The color of the grass in parts of the drought riddled states in the south and southwest. I swear looking at the national map on day last week and it looked like there was a dome covering the state of Texas not allowing a rain system in. Mother Nature continues to be cruel and this historic drought continues.

-- With all of the talk in DC about the debt limits and budgets, how come no one gets upset that the bogus chase and trial of Lance Armstrong, professional bike rider, will cost our government more than 100 million dollars. How is that sane?

-- An interesting top 10 this week from CNBC… The Top 10 Cities LEAST effected by the housing crisis. The survey notes that declining home values has touched every city but these 10 have weathered the storm best. If your city is on here, congratulations as I bet when the list of “most” affected cities comes out mine will be on that list. Here goes:

10. Greenville, SC (Awesome place by the way)
9. Knoxville, TN
8. Durham, NC
7. Rochester, NY (shocking to me actually)
6. Pittsburgh, PA
5. Yakima, WA
4. Little Rock, AR
3. Tulsa, OK
2. Oklahoma City, OK
1. Fayetteville, NC

-- I mentioned books last week while propping Bill Evans wonderful recent post, and here’s one if you are looking for a quick, breezy read on the greatness of a company and marketing plan. First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat Into a Cultural Phenomenon is the story of Gatorade and how it was developed but more interestingly how its marketing evolved. At only 280 pages you can finish it quick, or in Scott Surma time, one treadmill session.

-- Last up this week… a great site to get around the whole automated operator systems that many mega-sized companies have in place. Click HERE and the site will show you the tips to follow to be able to talk to a real live human being! Imagine that. And no worries, I have no plans of adding an automated phone system here at From the Fabricator Blogging Inc. or at my next venture... coming soon....


LINKS of the WEEK

-- Could be some of the dumbest humans ever? Breaking in while leaving the baby in the car. Yeesh.

-- A very interesting read on former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin, his life and his attitude changes. Excellent stuff.


This story is from 2009 but is too amazing to not link here. Burglar breaks in and gets used as a sex slave after his plans go awry. Head scratcher….


VIDEO of the WEEK

Crummy week for video submissions… best of the best… video of an 18 foot, 2,000 pound gigantic crocodile in Australia… what a beast!

CRL brings USAC back...

Well that slow cycle of news in our industry didn’t last very long did it? Last week two big stories hit, with one an obviously much bigger mainstream story than the other. That news was that C.R. Laurence (CRL) acquired U.S. Aluminum. CRL has been a force in the industry for many years and this maneuver continues to solidify that fact. The interesting parts start now for the gang at CRL in rebuilding USAC and putting the pieces back in place. They made a great first move at that with getting Tom Harris back in the fold to run it. Also worth watching is how CRL puts USAC back in the game- will it be nationally or more on a regional basis out of the gate and how will the return of this capacity effect that side of the industry. Seemingly never a dull moment around here. Also to note, a lot of the props in this case will be automatically be directed to Don Friese and family and they deserve them no doubt, but without question CRL doesn’t keep growing without the steady hand and influence of President Lloyd Talbert. That guy is the straw that stirs the drink there and a brilliant businessman.

Elsewhere…

-- The other major deal reported last week was the sale of gigantic glazier Permasteelisa to JS Group out of Japan. While Permasteelisa is a massive player in the world of glazing, this story is nowhere near as big as the one above as I’d say 95% of the North American glass market has either no idea or would have no interaction or effect from anything here. Still fascinating to follow none the less.

-- I really enjoyed Bill Evans blog post from last week. I’m afraid with how crazy last week was with the holiday, people may have missed it. If you missed, you can click HERE to view. Best part was his item at the end with the value of a book vs. lunch. Now that is truly food for thought!

-- The glass industry and specifically Guardian got great coverage over this past weekend with an article in the Indy Star out of Indianapolis, IN. The home décor writer of the paper did up a piece on how glass really is great and gave some serious love to the folks from Guardian and their products. Any time our world can get positive main stream coverage like this, it’s a major victory.

-- Fun one to think about? The start of bread coming in slices hit 83 years ago this week. So that was the beginning of “sliced bread” so that brings the question, what was the greatest thing BEFORE sliced bread? And comically the younger generations are totally lost on the whole concept on things better than sliced bread…

-- Well the big Seattle-Portland MLS game was Sunday afternoon and the atmosphere was really electric, even watching on TV-if you took the graphics down and just listened to the crowd, you woulda thought you were watching a game being played in Europe. Great 2nd half and Seattle came back twice from deficits to win. So for my Seattle friend Chuck Knickerbocker of TGP, a sweet victory for his town and I am sure a “told ya so” e mail is forthcoming to me!

-- Last this week, how can you not salute the greatness of Derek Jeter? The guy has been a clutch player his entire career, has lived in the most glaring spotlight possible, but yet has never had anything close to a mis-step, and from all accounts is just a solid citizen. And he also knows how to please a crowd, a homer to get to 3000 hits as a part of a 5 for 5 day! I think Jeter right now sits as the next unanimous Baseball Hall of Fame inductee without question.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- This is a great story for those of you who fancy eating out… some of these items I have experienced and some are way beyond me, but it’s the Top 10 worst food trends….

-- In case my fellow travelers missed this story… here it is about the supposed new plot to implant explosive devices into the terrorist bodies to try and beat airport security… yeesh.

-- I’d say get this while you can… story noting no upfront costs in doing solar at your home. Seems too good to be true…

VIDEO of the WEEK

Yes I am a bit Soccer crazed right now. Must be the fact that I think the NFL is never coming back. In any case, amazing goal at the end of the U-17 World Championship Semi Final between Mexico and Germany. Mexico wins it with a Bicycle kick late, with a guy had the whole major head injury look going! Great goal, and great announcers…

Proof in the pudding

Last week I had noted that despite the falling ABI score that optimism was in play and that in my own informal polling, people were reporting that they were busy. Well this week some tangible proof of that came through when the Institute for Supply Management reported that June factory activity rose nicely in June. That good news from the manufacturing sector also helped fuel a great week on Wall Street. No doubt it is nice to see positivity in more of a real format compared to a feeling! The hope now is that this momentum can be sustained. Many of the people I talked to had concerns that come fall we could be back to where we just came from and I believe there will be some softening, because there always is in our cyclical world, but hopefully not dramatic enough to make a major case.

Elsewhere…

-- Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend! Canada Day and the 4th of July all fitting nicely into a weekend. Gotta love the way the calendar fell this year… won’t be as lucky next year sadly.

-- The story surrounding the W Hotel in Austin is becoming more and more fascinating by the day. For an industry guy like me I get a kick out of seeing who is being called on to comment and provide analysis. In the article from Saturday’s edition of the Austin Statesman, you had whole run of guys mentioned, from Chicago legend Mark Meshulam to Paul Beers and Bill Lignell. Plus even a piece written for Glass Magazine by Tony Leto was noted. I have a feeling this story is nowhere near done and should be an interesting watch.

-- Outside of the W story, really was a slow week in the industry, which is probably welcomed since we’ve had more drama in the last 8 weeks+ than I can really remember. I am actually pretty happy that I have little to write about this week!

-- Congrats to Butte College for going off the grid- going all solar. Story is here and shows that there are some people really thinking out there.

-- How about the new twist on an old internet scam…. Remember the whole “I am a Prince and if you send me X dollars to release my fortune, I’ll share with you” angle? Well now the scammers are doing a wild one. They are sending out notes that they are the authorities in these countries and that they have arrested said scammers and there’s money to be paid back to anyone who was approached by the scammers. All you have to do is send them some cash to get your “settlement” released. Absolutely amazing. I swear the people that come up with this stuff, if they used their powers and creativity for good, our world could be so much better.

-- As some of you know I am a soccer guy- usually more national games than league games, but this coming weekend in the MLS is a huge game between Portland and Seattle. An incredibly fierce rivalry and passionate crowds. Will be a must watch. And I believe for a birthday gift for my friend Kris Vockler of ICD, Portland will deliver a win.

-- And speaking of Kris, she is due to facilitate a seminar on trends in the Decorative Glass world at GlassBuild America. Decorative is a prominent and healthy product segment and this seminar will be a must if you have even the slightest interest or dealings in that world. GlassBuild America as a whole is coming along nicely- I am sensing a lot of enthusiasm about it as people are realizing to keep up and to get ahead of the market, this is a show you have to attend.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- Insane story of the week. Two parents actually arrange a fist fight between their kids. Just click the link- talking anymore about it makes me ill.

-- I’m crushed! This story says the fights on Jersey Shore may be staged! No way!

-- Getting a patent for spying technology via Skype. Interesting read.

VIDEO of the WEEK

An absolutely freaking awesome video showing bridges being blown up from various motion pictures. Who needs 4th of July Fireworks? I’ll watch this any day. Just a great watch matched with an epic soundtrack.

Looking at both sides

When it comes to economic conditions, the past week hit both ends of the spectrum. That spectrum instead of being good and bad is more like “hopeful” and “worrisome”. (See I AM turning over a new leaf already!) On the worrisome side was this month’s release of the Architectural Billings Index. The numbers were not pretty and any positive momentum from earlier in the year has dissipated. The most disappointing of the numbers was the new project score coming in with its lowest total in the last 18 months. But at the end of the day the ABI is not the “be all, end all” and its momentum can swing back to the positive quickly. On the hopeful side was the news out of Apogee this week that they have a better backlog and expect positive trends as the year proceeds. That can obviously be a signal for the industry to point to. Bottom line is we knew 2011 wasn’t going to be easy and we all hoped for the 2nd half to be the start of solid rebound and there’s evidence of that possibility.

Elsewhere…

-- And in my own non scientific poll, it sure sounds just from connecting with people this past week that places are busy and seeing some nice forecasts. At the end of the day it’s the actual reality for the businesses that matters and if it’s good, then the reports from the various groups really don’t mean that much.

-- The guys at Glassopolis are known for creating great ads. Well this past week one the main guys at Glassopolis had a part in creating something really great. Rob Botman and his wife welcomed their third child to the fold. Jasper joins the team now (Love the name!) and I am sure is already working Dad over about what next great creative is coming for the company. Congrats to Rob and family!

-- Not sure if anyone on here caught the crazy Gold Cup soccer final between the U.S. and Mexico. That’s the type of game the casual fan could enjoy. Mexico came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the U.S. 4-2. I believe Alejandro Sanchez had a big part in the win for Mexico making it the 2nd time this year that he broke the hearts of many Americans. Great game none the less.

-- Congrats to the gang at Holcam on the launch of their new marketing initiatives. Very well done and smart to get out there and bang the chest a little bit. They also added some very smart pieces to their approach that I believe will make a difference. Well done folks!

-- My Ipod on shuffle continues to be like Tony Robbins. First two songs from my run yesterday were: “Seize the Day” and “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”

-- And last this week…. I was very honored to get the full transcript of the speech Guardian’s Russ Ebeid presented at Glass Processing Days and I must say after reading it, I am blown away. Just a tremendous piece and tons of takeaways… One of the big ones for me personally was this line:

“In challenging times and rapid change, companies must be smart, nimble, and wise focusing on their customer’s needs. It is not the time to be hesitant or timid – it is an opportunity to prune for future growth. It is time to have the best people. It is time to be the best at what you do and make sure your customers know it.”

And with that incredible and very true line, it will serve as inspiration for me in my next steps… coming soon….

LINKS of the WEEK

-- 14 ideas from the 42nd President of the U.S. Bill Clinton to fix the economy. No matter what you think of him or whatever party affiliation, a very interesting read for sure.

-- 51 year old actor marries his 16 year old girlfriend and that brings the same first question from everyone… how? Then the next question is how long will it last? I give it 2 years.

-- An actual store with everything in it made in the United States… Obviously a must stop if you find yourself near its location in Elma, NY. Will be interesting to see what it has and how it all goes…

VIDEO of the WEEK

The official trailer for the upcoming movie Moneyball starring Brad Pitt. It was a very cool book, we’ll see if the movie takes Hollywood license to it or not. Actually we know Hollywood will, but the question should be, how much?

Here, there, and everywhere....

Tying up loose ends and cleaning off the desk once again with short and assorted subjects…

-- Big news to the industry last week when I heard that marketing superstar Christine Shaffer was leaving Viracon to go to Apogee sister company Tru Vue. Very happy for Christine and the folks at Tru Vue pulled a coup (sorry for the cheesy rhyme, too easy) Its tough news for our side of the industry as no doubt Christine was a shining light, but at least she’ll be close by.

-- Christine was listed on this blog back in 2007 as one of the superstars of the industry and it was fun to go back and re-read that. The others in that inaugural class are all still plugging along at high levels. Greg Carney now on his own as a world class consultant, Brian Craft still not reading my blog, but doing great for Guardian, Mike Gainey, still a force at Azon, and Julie Schimmelpenningh at Solutia and always on the top of everyone’s list. Only Scott Surma is missing from our industry now but he still kicking tail and taking names and I believe he still follows the drama here when he has time.

-- Hated missing Neocon yet again last week, but heard tons of buzz from my architectural friends about it. Congrats to the fine folks at General Glass, evidently they made a tremendous impression on the show goers because I heard about them specifically from one of the premier interior Architects in the U.S. Also heard positives on the gang from Walker (and their “Dance Fever” floor) and Guardian’s big splash, but judging from the action GGI took the cake I guess. And to think my brother wasn’t even there either to take it all in!

-- Went out for a run on Saturday and the first song shuffled to my Ipod was “Eye of the Tiger” followed by “The Good Life” … wondering if that can be some sort of omen… the run ended with the classic Aerosmith tune “Dream On” hmmmm….

-- Congrats to the Bruin fans out there and my condolences to the fine Canuck fans (the non rioting ones) on their loss. The Bruins were so good they were able to get past my prediction skills.

-- Speaking of the riots, did you see that the shops damaged by the riots can’t put the losses to their property insurance? Evidently this would fall under something else and they would need actual “riot” insurance. It’s amazing; do insurance people ever pay anything out?

-- Getting excited for GlassBuild America and I am not alone. More than 40 first time exhibitors have joined in so far… with I know for a fact a few more still to come. The timing is right for show this year, and the people that want to get ahead of their competition will be there. I plan on having much more coverage on this as it creeps closer because it will be the place to be.

-- And finally this week, as most people who followed the situation expected I am no longer employed. It is what it is. At the end of the day it was a pleasure and honor to work with some unbelievable people over the last 10 months and I am sorry we didn’t get to finish what we started. I am thinking and praying for all of them. As for me going forward, we’ll see, I am getting excited over some possibilities and as soon as there’s something to report, I’ll bring it. Until then I’ll be plugging along working on the manuscript for Groundhog Day 2.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- Interesting piece on the inner workings of AOL from a former writer there.

-- Have you played the game Angry Birds yet? I do and so do a ton of others, a million more every day!

-- A very cool piece on the origin of the Nike logo also known as “the swoosh”

VIDEO of the WEEK

Older video but really wild to watch, toddler at zoo, with Lions and the Lion wants to eat it! Thank goodness for the glass! It is really wild to watch…

A mellow reaction

Usually when a price increase letter hits the street in our industry it elicits a ton of action. No maybe I am distracted (probably) but this latest round of letters seemingly didn’t bring the angst that normally shows up. Now I don't believe this is a clue on the acceptance or success of the letter but it is interesting to me that it doesn’t or at least in my opinion, hasn’t been the be all, end all that it used to be. As for the increases, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise at all, especially given everything that has been happening both in our little world and also everywhere else.

Elsewhere…

-- And if anyone was brave enough to read the national news this week I guess you could see why this increase letter pales. The Dow had another horrid week, now dropping below 12,000. Home equity is now near a record low and the whole employment outlook continues to look ugly. Not a pretty week and that didn’t even include the Twittering congressman…

-- The good news of the week actually happened last Saturday and I should’ve posted it then but blew it… and of course the subject of the good news thought I would and was bummed when he read my blog and it wasn’t mentioned. My son Zach played the game of his life (scored an awesome goal) and his team won a local 10 & Under Hockey title. Very happy for him and his team, and just a thrill to watch your kid achieve and succeed!

-- Ok back to reality… ha ha…. A great post this week on LinkedIn about the fact that LinkedIn’s growth in popularity is because of the tough economy and the fact people are losing their jobs and need to network for that more than anything. It was a case made even more dramatic when a headhunter posted a group of openings on LinkedIn and by nightfall his e mail box was full and website crashed.

-- PPG announced that they have surpassed the 94 million square foot mark in shipments of Solarban 70XL. Congrats to Glenn Miner and the team on the accomplishment, and looking back I know there were a lot of naysayers about the about the potential of that product when it was launched, but there’s no doubt that it’s been a hit.

-- And while we’re propping the primaries, a big group of kudos to Guardian on the launch of their new InGlass program. With a very cool new website and some very interesting products and plans, this should be a very exciting program to watch.


-- Am I the only one who gets mad when the newscaster gleefully announces gas prices have dropped a whole penny? I know everyone wants good news, but a penny?

-- If you haven’t checked out the latest issue of Glass Magazine, you need to. The annual look at the top 50 Glaziers is the cover story and of course it is something everyone looks forward to and once again the gang delivered the goods. And yes I am biased but the magazine has been absolutely on a roll in the last several months.

-- Last this week, normally this would be in the links, but it is too pertinent to what we do in our world. It’s the whole “glass steps” debate and the fact that it brings a lot more issues to mind then people may realize. Personally I have never been a fan of glass steps, to me it was never worth the safety for some sort of chic style. Check out the coverage HERE.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- Funny piece on how a law in France makes it illegal for the media to mention Facebook and Twitter.

-- Great story that I know my brother Steve will love… what it truly costs to chase your dreams on American Idol.

-- I got this one from a few people and it’s pretty simple… if you have to constantly be on your phone or texting, then going to the movies is the wrong choice. And this theater in Austin (where they like it weird anyway) has a blast with it.

VIDEO of the WEEK

This video is only 5 seconds long but you will click it a few times… it’s Shania Twain falling as she walks to the stage at last week’s CMT awards. No doubt she may be embarrassed but she’ll just look in the mirror and realize she’s Shania Twain, so what does it matter…

Mind Numbing

What a slow and boring week… can’t believe the lack of news in our world....

If only that was true.

For those of you who follow along in the news of the industry, this past week the auction for the company I currently am employed at (Vitro America) happened and it continued to the be the most surreal story that even Hollywood would write off as “too unbelievable.” After an amazingly competitive auction which featured more back and forth’s than a grand slam tennis final, Sun Capital outlasted the fine folks from Grey Mountain to win. This result now once again starts the process of industry change and probable consolidation as there’s not a lot of geographic differences between the companies. Now I can go on and on with this, I think anyone who knows me, knows I am bitterly disappointed (actually mortally depressed is a better term) over the result because of several reasons. The biggest is I really believe what Grey Mountain would’ve brought to the industry would’ve been spectacular. Breathtaking and groundbreaking plans to operate and innovate, and to be a part of that would have been epic. And quite frankly the momentum that was bubbling up at Vitro before all of this unintended collateral damage junk was thrown at us was significant and I really wanted to see where it could go. So that’s a big reason for my sadness, never knowing what “could’ve been” if we got to continue like planned.

Hey that’s life right? David threw one heck of a rock but Goliath has a harder head than anyone can imagine. So for now we’ll see how this will progress. Consolidation in our world has been a fact of life for many years and things like this are not a surprise. The industry has evolved and will continue to do so until it finds calmer skies. And as for going forward, we’ll see how this all hashes out. There’s a lot of people that will be affected by this, and we’ll join a crowded field of folks from US Aluminum, Zeledyne etc that are already out there. As I have railed on here many, many times before, there’s a ton of talent out there that can help upgrade and advance revenue generation and that will surely be the case when all of this comes clear in the coming weeks. I’m sure they’ll be much more to say about this in the coming weeks, as for now, for me and many others it continues to be just mind numbing.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- This guy was bragging on a plane that he had poisonous gas with him. Yep what a brain surgeon.

-- Kind of wild story on finding a credit card lost in the ocean 25 years later.

-- As a good friend of mine said after reading this article about the dangers of energy drinks- “isn’t that a no brainer” Yep, I’d think so.

VIDEO of the WEEK

A great video of the week from my friend Steve O… A Dad drops his daughter while trying to catch a foul ball… simply comical. The girl is OK by the way… the Dad I am sure is getting abused…daily.

Bits and Pieces...and a big rock

This week, a quick hitter version of the blog, lots of quick short takes about the industry and beyond…

-- It seems like every few weeks I am writing about a weather related event. This week the attention is on the fine folks of Joplin after a tornado ripped through the town and basically destroyed 75% of it. Our thoughts to everyone affected yet again by the wrath of Mother Nature.

-- PPG’s new print ad campaign is absolutely spectacular. Very creative and smart and quite frankly I am jealous I didn’t think of it first. Kudos to Mr. Struble and company for a top notch job.

-- Does anyone else have an issue with the fact our government is wasting millions of dollars trying to prosecute athletic steroid cheats? Will it really make our lives better if they prove Lance Armstrong did performance enhancing drugs in his Tour de France wins? Or if Barry Bonds was on steroids while hitting 73 homers? Let the sports handle it.

-- Lots of comments last week in many venues on the whole bank financing issue. Good friend Joe Carlos of Triview Glass left a very smart comment on the home site of this blog that some of the Glass Magazine readers may have missed which was:

Max, Thanks for bringing this up. Liquidity is THE issue. Besides the lack of funding for private projects, many, dare I say most, of my customers have lost their credit lines. Most have a sterling credit history and long-term relationships with their bank

Well said Joe and thanks for the comment.

-- Also last week I was off when I prematurely congratulated Deron Patterson as President of the TGA. He is the President –Elect of that fine group and Jerry Wright of AAA Glass is still in charge and according to Deron doing a tremendous job.

-- Big day later this week… the queen of all retail, also known as my sister Marcie celebrates a birthday. And since I’ll probably forget to call, at least I am covering my bases here on the blog. Happy Birthday Marcie!

-- Gas prices went up 11 cents last week in the Midwest because of “undisclosed refinery issues”… I swear we are all in the wrong business. What a freaking scam.

-- Beautiful and classy piece sent out by the organizers of GlassBuild America last week recognizing Memorial Day. I think we as a society do not appreciate the meaning of Memorial Day enough, and its was heartening to see some folks still do. And for my two cents, thank you to all of the brave men and women who have served and to those family who have lost loved ones while they fought for our freedoms. Without these amazingly courageous people, we wouldn’t have the ability to live even close to the way we do.

-- Want to read a story about lawyers that will make your skin crawl? Click here. When lawyers have to meet a quota that is simply not good.

-- Finals picks… NBA… the Heat will romp in 5 games over the Mavs. No one can stop LeBron and Wade in crunch time. NHL… I have many more friends that are big Canuck fans that would flog me if I picked them… so to protect myself, I’m going with the Bruins in 6.

-- Last this week, this quote was sent to me by a good friend and its pretty dang appropriate for some movements that will be taking place this week… the quote was from the awesome movie “Hoosiers” (a take from David vs Goliath) and here’s hoping for the underdog to prevail…

“And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen”

Amen indeed… brother… Amen.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- Greenwashing continues to be an issue… and more and more people becoming aware of it.

-- Story here on the National Pinball Museum is closing… and which begs to ask, there’s actually a National Pinball Museum?

Great advice if you are on LinkedIn… three things you should be doing…

VIDEO of the WEEK

Very funny piece from Tosh.0 on the “Boom goes the Dynamite” sportscaster. Once upon a time I was there… this is really well done and some funny parts to the redemption.

Tosh.0
Tags: Tosh.0 Videos,Daniel Tosh,Web Redemption

It's all about the financing

The latest report on from the AIA Architectural Billings Index was certainly depressing, however just like not getting too high after one good month, we shouldn’t get too low after one bad one. However the truly worrisome angle of this entire process is it looks to be the same fundamental reason for the news- the availability of money. Here’s this month’s commentary from AIA:

"The majority of firms are reporting at least one stalled project in-house because of the continued difficulty in obtaining financing," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker. "That issue continues to be the main roadblock to recovery, and is unlikely to be resolved in the immediate future."

Now here’s from April 2011, November 2010 and June 2010 and see if you can sense a trend…

"The catalyst for a more robust recovery is likely financing, with stronger growth occurring only when lending institutions begin approving credit for construction projects with much greater regularity.” (April 2011)

“Right now, reluctance from lending institutions to provide credit for construction projects…” (November 2010)

“The overriding issue affecting the entire real estate sector is unusual caution on the part of lending institutions to provide credit for construction projects that apparently would be successful in this economic environment.” (June 2010)

So it really simplifies it, when the banks loosen the grip on the lending things will improve, but until then I think you will see the scores continuing to be relatively the same as they’ve been.

Elsewhere

-- And not helping in the current time frame is once again, the weather. The unusually wet spring has absolutely wreaked havoc on the construction world. What makes it all the crazier is while we have massive issues with rain and flooding, we still have droughts in some places as well. It really does boggle the mind.

-- A few months ago I ran a story via the New York Times on a guy that made his living off of negative selling. It was almost to the point of where he would bully his customers and harass them to no end. Well he finally got what was coming to him… here’s the follow up from the NYT.

-- Major congratulations to Deron Patterson of PPG on his new post as President of the Texas Glass Association. Deron is a great guy and will do fantastic work for that quality organization. And speaking of guys like Deron, it is nice to see that there’s some serious talent at the float level that doesn’t get a lot of notice. Guys like Dan Plotnick of Pilkington, Brian Best of Guardian, and Jon Hughes of AGC are top notch folks that the industry can point to and be proud of.

-- It’s been a week since US Aluminum closed and my only comments are I am saddened at how some class people publicly decided to dance on their grave and how amazingly EVERYONE picked up so much business from this closing. If you didn’t know any better you’d think US was the leader in market share based on some of the hyperbole out there.

-- The world of Twitter in our industry continues to evolve and I’ve noted some of the better industry Twitter sites here in the past. Well now you can add Twitter.com/GuardianGlass to the list. The folks there have joined the revolution and done a nice job of keeping the conversation going. Kudos to Earnest Thompson and his team.

-- And last I must give compliments to the folks at e-glass weekly for the new format and layout. Very smooth and easy to read and the best part is when you get it on your phone there’s an option for mobile formatting, which is excellent. Between this and the recent incredible journalistic scoops, it is surely heady times for those folks as they continue to be the industry leader.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- This special company rewarded its best employees with prostitutes… Crazy.

-- A major league baseball player uses Twitter and for good… making a little leaguer’s night!

Thrill seeking photography. Scary as all get out but great pictures!!

VIDEO of the WEEK

This week submitted by an old friend in Michigan and it’s a must watch to get a flavor and feel for how incredible our debt issue is here in the U.S. It is some mind numbing stuff. Warning, don’t watch on a full stomach because the info in here will make you want to toss.

Preakness

To be official... the pick for the Preakness by my daughter is Dance City....

So we'll see if she can get back on the winning side again!

A very newsworthy week

It surely hasn’t been very slow news wise in our world lately and last week was more of the same. We had an update on the World Trade Center issue, a major closure, a departure, an addition, and a rumor-fest amongst the everyday goings on. So let’s go ahead and take a look…

-- The World Trade Center issue that I covered last week took another spin when the New York Times advanced the wonderful work done by the folks at Glass Magazine (they’ll have to share the Pulitzer) and revealed that the original plans for the base of the building (where all of the controversy is) was scrapped. 10 Million dollars in glass and who knows how much other capital and resources squandered. I find it funny/sad that the North American supply base all exclaimed worry on the design early in the process (at least that’s what I was told) and that’s one of the reasons the playing field was so limited. Still the shenanigans are continuing there and I’d love to know when or if someone’s head would roll after blowing this one. I guess the Chinese can’t do everything and there are actually some limits.

-- The saddening news of US Aluminum closing was another big story. The depressing part is about the people working there, as this industry continues to head down perilous paths. My heart goes out to the folks caught in the crossfire.

-- A wish of best of luck to Gary Danowski of PPG as he has taken on a new assignment within PPG in Switzerland. Losing Gary on our side of the world is a major blow in my opinion. He was a calm and steady presence in the very bumpy seas. Just a flat out good man. The folks in Europe are lucky to get him. So now in the last 2 years the turnover at the top of the major players in our industry has been very dramatic, and we continue to look for the continuity going forward.

-- And speaking of moving and good guys and good luck… my brother Steve has taken a new step in his life. After being able to work for some of the classiest people out there at a great company with the Balik’s at General Glass, Steven has taken an equity position at W.A. Wilson in West Virginia and is their new Executive VP. This is an awesome move for him, he returns to the region he knows so well and ends up working with yet another tremendous group of people. (Bob and Bobby Hartong are first rate, as are many others there) WA Wilson has always been a respected player in the region and now the sky is the limit.

-- And last from the week that was… the rumors that started mid week that something major and dramatic was going to happen at Trainor Glass on Friday turned out to be a lot less salacious than the masses spreading expected it to be. Trainor tabbed Brian Clark as their new President on starting on June 1. So all of the wild stories didn’t materialize and the interesting thing is it has been so crazy in our world here that even the craziest of rumors are given credence because really anything could happen. Best of luck to Brian and the Trainor family going forward as well.

And that’s it… what a week it was and my guess is we have the potential to have some very fascinating weeks ahead that is for sure.

LINKS of the WEEK

Wow. Being threatened at school over your chicken nuggets. At knifepoint no less. Over school chicken nuggets…. Yeesh.

The coolest dog escape from a Vet ever! It’s like something you would see in a movie.

A tremendous story on the Mayor in a town in Japan that was scoffed at for building a huge sea wall in the 60’s, gets major credit as that wall saved his town from the Tsunami. They should name the town after him.


VIDEO of the WEEK

One of the wildest and craziest baseball brawls you can see. Minor league affiliates of the Red Sox and Yanks go after it.

Not a Shocker

It really did not come as gigantic surprise when I read Glass Magazine’s coverage on the problems at the Freedom Tower podium. This situation was a major flashpoint in our industry back in early 2009 (or as I like to say “the good ole days”) and mostly surrounded the frustration of a major American landmark having material from China on a significant portion of the structure. Especially given what the building stood for and so on. But the design was so intense that it did limit the playing field from a cost standpoint, so at the end of the day getting it sourced from China outweighed patriotic duty. Plus it was during this time that I was told a classic line about the process. Barber Glass of Canada was going to be the fabricator and because of that, there was school of thought in the process that there was no difference between Canada and China because they were both “foreign” entities. That thought still galls me as while it may be factually correct, you just can’t lop those two together. Anyway Glass Magazine has some great coverage out of the gate on this and we will see how it progresses, just a shame so much had to suffer in the meantime for something that had the potential to be so good.

Elsewhere

-- I just don’t think there’s been enough “soap opera” style storylines in our industry lately… yeesh. As I have been joking all we really need is a love triangle and we could have an Oscar contender on our hands.

-- Gas prices supposedly now will drop. And I was right about the $6 per gallon, that mark was eclipsed in Hawaii already. The frustrating thing here is gas prices can go up .10 to .20+ per week but going down takes a lot longer. Also with the unrest continuing in the Middle East and in Libya, I still think it’s going to be very ugly.

-- Speaking of ugly… the Kentucky Derby results… my daughters Triple Crown streak comes to an end… oh well, I guess I didn’t really want to live in Vegas anyway.

-- Last this week… as you have seen me note a few times, in our midst is a fantastically talented artist. Glass Magazine’s own Katy Devlin is on the path to stardom and she now has a pretty awesome music video out. It’s my video of the week but you can also access it by clicking HERE. The mirror she used in the video by the way I am sure was made domestically…. Check it out and keep in mind when she wins her first Grammy she will thank all of the fine people in the glass industry for supporting her!

LINKS of the WEEK

-- Shocking (Sarcastic) news.. frequent travel is tough on your heart! No Way!

-- I agree with on of the commenters on this… if it’s a battle between cities, I’d choose the fine folks of Houston any day.

-- This is a good twist on the old “Runaway” bride story. This time the jilted groom is suing!

Video of the WEEK

As I noted above, it’s the fantastically talented Kat Devlin in Ocean Song.

Derby Pick!

Ok... my daughter has weighed in on her pick for the Derby this weekend...

Her choice to win is "Pants on Fire"... we will see if Natalie's amazing run from 2010 will continue!

Pay attention to what matters

This past week really showed the mix up of our priorities as violent weather racked the south while a majority of the country was either paying attention to the bogus birth certificate issue or a royal wedding. The tornadoes that hit the south were nothing short of catastrophic for so many. So really it should be time to properly pay attention and send our thoughts and prayers to the people that need them. Our industry was touched by these storms with one of the production buildings of Coral Industries being flattened. Thankfully and amazingly no one was hurt as the folks at Coral heeded the warnings and were cleared out of the structure before the storm rolled through. I have exchanged a few e mails with Coral’s Lewis McCallister and he, his family, and the folks at Coral are back at work and throwing themselves into the needs of their customers and community. Their undamaged building is up and running and the diversion of work is probably a good thing to keep their minds off of what just happened. The ownership at Coral is amongst the “good people” in our industry, so there’s no doubt that they will emerge from this better than ever. All positive wishes and support towards those guys and the entire affected region (which spreads over several states) is really necessary and appreciated.

Coral has started a Twitter feed with updates and items that you can provide to help and that can be accessed HERE.

Also for the entire effort to help the folks in Tuscaloosa, the website is able to be found by clicking this link.

Elsewhere…

-- Wild timing as last week AAMA released a voluntary Tornado specification. I think after seeing the video and destruction, there really isn’t anything we can put in to stop that fury. It’s like an old co worker used to tell me about hurricane material- the system may be tested to deal with a category 5, but the rest of the building won’t be.

-- Funny that I have been blogging since 2005 and with her effort last week, Jenni Chase may have stirred up more of a tempest than I ever have. The interesting part of Jenni’s blog were the comments, both public and privately to me. (both on e mail and to my blog ironically)They ran all across the board, including some nasty ones (sent anonymously, of course) that really curdled and boggled the brain. But there is no doubt that this is a very volatile issue and time in our world and the next few months will undoubtedly be very interesting. Especially as truth is separated from rumor and fact from innuendo.

-- The Kentucky Derby is this coming Saturday and as some of you may remember my daughter actually picked the Triple Crown correctly last year. So we will see if she can do it again. The post positions and odds come out mid week, and after she picks I’ll post it at my blog’s home site- which can be found HERE. If she does it again, we will move to Vegas this time.

-- The excellent Glazing Executive Forum announced its keynote speaker this year is the CEO of Serious Materials Kevin Surace. Just hearing his version of the work at the Empire State Building will be worth attending. Seriously the entire event is a tremendous deal and if you are coming to GlassBuild America (which I am sure all intelligent people are) then doing this event is a no brainer. Mark the calendar for September 12th and I am sure you will be seeing a ton more on this and the show in the coming months.

-- Last this week… I have run stories in the past on passwords and how some people just use things like “123456” and “QWERTY” but I had to share in the main part of the blog this amazing story. Do you realize that a hacker can figure out a 6 character, no number/letter mix, no uppercase password in 10 minutes? That is just wild. The quick blurb, which blew my feeble mind is HERE.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- I have told my kids over and over that if you want to be great at something you have to practice. Even the book Outliers explains it. Now one man is putting the theory to test. Should be wild to see if it works!

-- Really interesting story here on the man who volunteered as Lt Governor of New York, passed up pay but really struggled in the goofy world of government and as a parting gift still go hit with a tax bill! Man we are a mess.

-- And yet another great story for the travelers out there. The pet peeves etc. I see so many of these in my travels- at least I am not alone in utter frustration.

VIDEO of the WEEK

Well my pick of the Nuggets failed, but they did win one thing… a spot on the VIDEO of the WEEK with this awesome throw for a hoop by JR Smith. This is just epic.

Coral is Open

My normal weekly post will be here on Sunday- but ahead of that the following quick note on the folks from Coral Industries. As you may or may not know, the massive outbreak of tornado's that hit the south did touch our industry. One of the buildings that Coral works out of was destroyed in the storm.

Thankfully, everyone at Coral heeded the warnings and their were no injuries and everyone is safe.

I got an e mail this morning from Lewis McCallister of Coral and he let me know that Coral is open for business- they have power and to their customers to please get with your salespeople on your deliveries etc. I have no doubts that the McCallister family and the management and employees at Coral will be doing all they can to get back to "normal" and quite frankly throwing themselves into their work will help keep the mind off of all the news surrounding them.

Again I will talk about this in more detail in my normally scheduled post, but for the time being, that is the update and as an industry, all thoughts and prayers should go to all of the folks in Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas affected by these incredibly vicious storms.