April Show Time

As we roll into the new month, there are two excellent regional events on the calendar, and I think they are well worth attending.  First, in the great state of Texas, the Texas Glass Conference is on April 23/24. This is the conference that is held in the years between TEXpo, and it keeps growing and growing.  Truly a fabulous event and this year they loaded up on great sessions and speakers including the awesome Urmilla Sowell on Industry Codes, Kyle Jones of PGP leading a panel (where he is fantastic) a Keynote from Russ Bartlett on Leadership and Life Lessons from the Blue Angels, Winning Strategies from Scott Kimpland of FMI and the next evolution of Estimating with Mark Green of Shape Exchange.  Plus, strong networking as always! The TGA and Brian Risinger and company always deliver!

Then, on April 29th, the premier event for the Philly/Jersey area is the Annual Glass Symposium in Atlantic City.  I missed it last year and said no way I'd miss it this time. Pat O’Connor and the crew at the Glass & Metal Alliance really work hard on this one.  This year's event will feature great networking and unique, strong educational presentations. (People who do incredible projects- like my project of the week below- will be there)  Final touches are being put on it- but I can tell you the speakers are bringing subject matter we haven’t covered much of in the past, and there are 31 and counting vendors on the floor, which is super. To learn more about Texas, click HERE, and for the Symposium, click HERE.

I’ll be at both and hope to see you there!

Elsewhere…

-- ICYMI: last week's shower door-focused pod has been burning up the podcast airwaves.  Danny Donahue of FHC was off the charts with so many items, and then Christina Elia (yes, I spelled her name wrong last week- I am mortified there and have apologized to Christina) and Shannon McKinney really delivered, as I’ve gotten so much positive feedback – it really makes me happy.  So please take a look or listen!

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Thank you to FHC-Frameless Hardware Company for the sponsorship of this episode!

-- Time for the monthly Glass Magazine review.  This edition was epic.  Norah Dick set the tone with a tremendous piece on all that glass can do, and it just continued positively from there. The NGA 2025 Annual report was in this issue, and my guy Stanley Yee had an excellent article on recycling.  So much in this one to take in- it was also geared towards educating on protective glazing too- which is a pretty major product line these days.

The ad of the month once again was a challenge for me to choose.  SO MANY great ones in this issue.  But the nod goes to Kuraray for an eye-catching ad on flood-resistance interlayers.  Great use of imaging and design, and it was exactly what you want in an ad- some education and a call to action.  Nice work by the team there- I assume the talented Ron Hull had to have his fingers on this one!

By the way, the Glass Magazine awards deadline is March 31st, so get those nominations in!

-- Congrats to Diamon-Fusion International on their latest hire of Jill Read as Director of Marketing and Sales.  I have known Jill a long time and have always been a massive fan of her vast skill set.  This is a great combo- Adam Zax and company are always on the move, and Jill being a driver- it makes perfect sense.  Kudos to all on this one!

-- Last this week… With the college basketball March Madness here, you get a whole new set of commercials.  There was one that absolutely stuck out and won the day.  MC Hammer is back in the spotlight with a take-off of “U Can’t Touch This” from 1990 (YIKES) and set on a construction site.  It was fantastic.  If you haven’t seen it- check it out HERE.

LINKS of the WEEK

Yikes- Power wires are not for hanging on to https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/us/news/pennsylvania-mother-faces-charges-after-child-tries-to-hang-on-power-lines-from-roof-while-she-was-out-on-a-task-heres-what-happened/articleshow/129715325.cms

Rough and large product recall and glass (as in jars) is involved. https://mynorthwest.com/local/food-recall-glass-trader-joes/4221569

Banging on the wrong hotel door at Disney.  It’s actually a pretty common occurrence- but this one was over the top. https://nypost.com/2026/03/26/lifestyle/drunk-disney-guest-arrested-after-banging-on-wrong-hotel-door-in-wild-viral-meltdown-video/

 PROJECT of the WEEK

As noted above- the project of the week comes from a company that will be proudly represented at the Glass Symposium. And look at the work they do!  This is from Ronald Kudla and the team at Advanced Glass & Metal, LLC.  And instead of me going on about it, this from a LinkedIn post from the Architectural Glass & Metal Association sums it up nicely.

Completed in March 2025, the University of Pennsylvania Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology (VLEST) in Philadelphia is a cutting-edge, 62,000+ sq. ft. research facility designed to support the university’s leading energy scientists. The 7-level building features flexible labs, collaborative spaces, and offices—all brought together with a high-performance facade. Advanced Glass & Metal installed the unitized curtain wall system, along with storefronts and multiple entrances, delivering both precision and performance. 

The facade’s design is driven by solar orientation, incorporating: 

🔵 6’ deep ETFE sunshades on the East/West elevations 

🔵 Increased glazing with vertical fins on the North 

🔵 Horizontal brise-soleils on the South 

The result? A visually striking, energy-conscious structure that earned LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council

Absolutely tremendous work- more pictures of this project can be seen on the post HERE.  Check it out and then get to the Symposium!!

Shower Special

Back at it with a special new episode of the “From the Fabricator” podcast.  This time out, a focused edition on the shower door side of the business with three of the best around.  Leading off, I visited with one of the best minds on the shower-door side, Danny Donahue of FHC.  Danny delivered a ton of straight-to-the-point insights on installs and solutions, and broke news on a very cool hydraulic hinge now available. (Which maybe I’ll get if my shower is ever done- that story is told too!)  Good guy and an enjoyable talk.  Then I was fortunate to have the dynamic duo from the Shower Door Co-Op (and, of course, their own companies), Christina Elie and Shannon McKinney. If you are in the shower door world and not involved in the co-op, you are missing out on a major opportunity. This is an excellent organization that makes our space better in many ways.  So, take a look/listen, and while you’ll hear it on the pod, you can check the Co Op out HERE.  Also, Shannon and Christina are top-shelf businesspeople who run impressive operations.  Both sets of guests are great for our industry, and if you know me, I love that. 

Thank you for checking it out!

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Thank you to FHC-Frameless Hardware Company for the sponsorship of this episode!

Elsewhere…

-- Congrats to the gang at Walker Glass for their expansion to the great state of Texas with a new plant dedicated to their etched product.  Huge move there.  I’ll have Walker CEO Randy Brooks on the pod soon to talk about that and other great moves happening there.

-- The latest Architectural Billings Index hit this week, and it was actually pretty good.  Just barely underwater, actually. The number was 49.4. Unfortunately, I believe most of this was tabulated before the conflict in Iran began, and oil prices skyrocketed.  On that note, according to Dodge, the oil price shock will affect our space. If the price per barrel remains in the 100 to 125 range, we’re looking at a reduction in starts of 1.5 to 2%.  That slowdown would hit in the 3rd and 4th quarters this year.  So not good, especially when we were planning the upswing to come at that time.  So once again, nothing is coming easy. I am glad I had a nice, relaxing, disconnected vacation… needed that to handle news like this.

-- One of the best guys in our space, James Esver of Golden State Lumber & Showroom, and one of the most creative LinkedIn posters ever, has an extremely cool non-industry family business going.  It is a coffee roastery featuring some amazing coffee options.  Check them out here- My family, who are the true coffee drinkers, give it 5 stars- especially the House Blend, which features a flavor combo of floral, dark chocolate, and caramel.  There are also six other options to try.  So, if you are a coffee drinker and you want to support a guy who loves our space a ton- give it a shot!

-- At the recent BEC show, there was a lot of buzz about the new show in the NGA orbit- The NGA Glass Fabricator Conference- AKA- GFAB. It is coming to Chicago in June.  More info is out about it now- HERE. Registration will open soon.  I am looking forward to a few of the sessions, including Richard Branch of the AIA and Elton Boocock on AI in glass fab.  What’s listed is just the tip of the iceberg, too.  More to come, and a must-attend!

-- Nominations for the most prestigious award program in our industry- The Glass Magazine Awards- are being accepted right now.  Deadline is coming quick-So check out the details HERE and get your stuff in!!  New rules and categories are there, don’t delay, as you want that deserved recognition that winning can bring!

-- Last this week… March Madness is here. Love this time of year as that leads into the start of baseball season, which is always great.  Anyway, glass DID play an interesting role in one of the conference tournaments leading up to the big tournament.  It was the Big 12 Conference tournament, and they made news for using glass as their floor.  This allowed them to have an LED underneath and the ability to project pretty much anything.  It looked very cool.  The powers that be noted that the glass floor had a non-slip coating, and it would be easier on the players' bodies. For me, I was overjoyed thinking this could be another area for us to sell glass.  Unfortunately, after a few days, the Big 12 gave up on the glass and went back to the old-fashioned wood.  Players were slipping a bit and just not comfortable out there.  Here’s why I am maddest, though.  You have this GREAT, truly groundbreaking idea.  How about trying it out during the pre-season or in early games that aren’t as important?  Making a debut during a high-pressure tournament was a recipe for disaster, and that’s indeed what happened. Will they get another bite at this apple?  I hope so, but the first impressions may doom it. 

LINKS of the WEEK

Flying is NOT great right now.  Between the moronic holding of the funding for TSA (everyone not funding this should not be paid as well) and now Southwest pulling out of airports- it’s tough and going to get worse. https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/mass-cancellations-as-southwest-airlines-pulls-out-of-two-of-america-s-biggest-airports/ar-AA1YDkHv

Turning blue from bedsheets?  A lot of blunders here. https://metro.co.uk/2026/03/09/man-took-a-amp-e-turning-blue-found-dye-bedsheets-27321332/

Once again.. Dogs… are the best. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/husky-refuses-leave-front-door-234000675.html

PROJECT of the WEEK

At BEC, Guardian Glass had its annual Commercial Product Awards. This year I was honored to be a judge, and I must tell you, it was incredibly hard to make choices.  So many stunning projects to choose from in each category.  Over the next few months, I am going to sprinkle some of these projects into this space.  Starting off, this is “The Hive” in Vancouver, BC.  Just a stunner- and one of the other judges said it best: 

“Only glass could allow such an enormous project to look both colossal and well-scaled and to be unforgettable and timeless.” 

And given that this job was fabricated by Garibaldi Glass, it is yet another honor for the late great Carey Mobius.  Wonderful work by the team there!  The glass on this was Guardian SunGuard SNX 62/27 and SN 68 on clear glass, and it was expertly glazed by the team at Bothwell-Accurate, with the amazing design by DIALOG.  Props to all!