glassblog

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

From the fabricator: Knowledge is Power

I hope everyone had a good holiday. Though having the holiday on a Wednesday made for a seriously disjointed work week!

GlassBuild America is about two months away, and judging from the suppliers lining up to attend the show, it’s going to be a terrific event. In this world in which we live, information and knowledge leads to power, and the Vegas display offers a “powerful” opportunity.

As a supporter of the show, obviously I am biased. But take that away and look at some of the people and products that will be on display, and you will see where I am going with this. The technology and innovation being readied are difference-makers, and the people that attend GlassBuild America will benefit. Those who stay home will be steps behind. So, starting with this week’s post, I’ll make one note a week here on the blog about GlassBuild America, just because I believe it’s THAT important. And I’m also sure you’ll be hearing tons more about the show in the next 30-45 days. But, take a few minutes, review the current trade show floor, and go book your flights and hotels, as the prices are pretty economical. It’s worth it folks, plain and simple.

Elsewhere…

  • Quietly, it looks like Kevin Surace is now gone officially from Serious Materials. Surace surely made a heck of an impression in his short time in the industry. He was a memorable keynote speaker at the Glazing Executives Forum last year and was never shy with an opinion or new approach. He was a lightning rod for sure. My favorite was when Surace blogged that the window industry needed to shed 50 percent of its capacity. Pretty bizarre since you know we’d all like half our competitors to just “give up,” and his company actually was adding capacity, including grabbing plants for publicity more than production. All that said, you now have to wonder what happens next there. Especially, will the famous Chicago plant (the sit-in plant, where Surace rode to the rescue) be sold to the employees, as they want? Going to be interesting…
  • Hot enough for everyone? Hopefully, my friends in the DC/Virginia area are starting to get back to normal after the brutal storms. Mother Nature has not been kind.
  • There were some sneaky good tweets by Mark Silverberg of Technoform during the Facades Tectonics Conference last week. He linked to a few good pieces, and he passed on a great line from conference speaker Mic Patterson of Enclos: “We must innovate our way to sustainability in the building sector.” Right on guys! Oh and to clarify, I say “sneaky” because Mark is like the “EF Hutton” of Tweeters… when he tweets, people listen! (At least I do)
  • Speaking of good tweets, Glass Magazine’s Katy Devlin kept everyone up to date on what sounded like a great WDMA meeting in Minnesota. The highlights, once again, were the advanced technology (see that theme again!) that are an absolute must for our industry to thrive.
  • Was introduced to one of the brains behind Swarf Buster this past week. I had heard of them and seen them mentioned on blogs and on LinkedIn, but honestly I never knew what/who they were. So it was pretty cool to actually get some knowledge. Turns out to be a fascinating product too, as I never knew about “swarfs,” and its effect on glass fabrication. (Swarfs are the dust and leftover particles that end up bonding together to gunk up glass fabrication equipment like polishers). You learn something new every day. I hope to see them at the show!
  • Last this week is this comical story from New Jersey about the New York Giants and Jets filing a lawsuit to stand in the way of some redevelopment in the area around their stadium. The teams are worried about the traffic it will cause during their game days. Uh, can we get any more short sighted? Football teams play once per week. So, sure, let’s stand in its way right? Unreal.

Read on for links and video of the week...

The author is founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm for the building products industry that specializes in marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management, as well as website and social media, and codes and specifications. E-mail him at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

10 comments
Monday, June 25, 2012

Bucking the employment trend

Tough times persist for those in the construction industry, with the Associated General Contractors of America reporting 27 states and Washington, D.C., lost construction jobs in May, more than at any point since June 2011.

And while the glass industry continues to experience job losses of its own--within the past two years, at least six contract glaziers have closed their doors--there is some encouraging news on the employment front. 

According to Glass Magazine's Top 50 Glaziers annual survey, glaziers began adding to their workforces in 2011, with 62 percent of respondents reporting an increase in employees from 2010. This is in stark contrast to the previous year, when the majority of respondents reported a decrease in their workforce. 

It might be too early to label this an "upward trend," and the Top 50 Glazier statistics do not include employment figures for those firms that went out of business. But, it does mark the second year in a row in which employment stats among the Top 50 Glaziers moved in a positive direction, and that's a start.

Chase is editorial director of Glass Magazine, GlassMagazine.com and e-glass weekly. Write her at jchase@glass.org.

25 comments
Monday, June 25, 2012

From the fabricator: What a miserable week

I am starting off with a non-industry topic this week because it really shook me up. It is the insanely depressing video of a 68-year-old bus monitor being verbally abused by the middle school-aged kids on her bus. The whole entire scene was hard to watch and stomach. Quite frankly, it scares me as a father and worries me that my children are headed into a world with these kids as their “peers.” Meanwhile, the video has gone viral, and many people are stepping up to show appreciation for the woman who took this abuse. But it has also brought out even more crazies sending death threats to anyone associated with the school. So this thing continues to mushroom, and I guess we know where these kids get it.

But back to the original sin here: the vulgar treatment of the bus monitor, who by the way has been a picture of class and grace in the days following. Those kids are the future, and at 12+ years old they are way off the right path. This wasn’t some “kids being kids” sort of approach in my mind. This was off the charts. The respect level is non-existent, and that is a core value that is gone. This is lax parenting and too much of the negative ills in our society showing in full bloom. These children are the same age as my kids, and I would be devastated and mortified if my kids would take part in this. I would hope my wife and I have taught and raised them better. We can only hope that with this going on all over the world right now that a lesson can be learned.

Elsewhere…

  • If the above wasn’t depressing enough, last week in the glass and glazing world surely was. The latest Architecture Billings Index came out, and it was horrible. But worse than the numbers was the comment from Kermit Baker, AIA's chief economist: "For the second year in a row, we're seeing declines in springtime design activity after a healthy first quarter," he said. "This should be an alarm bell going off for the design and construction industry. ... The commercial/industrial sector is the only one recording gains in design activity at present. And even this sector has slowed significantly. Construction forecasters will have to reassess what conditions will look like moving forward.” That quote is worrisome, especially the end. I don’t think these construction forecasters have a clue really. Sometimes, I think they create these numbers from thin air to give me something to blog about. Anyway, we’ll see how this progresses. The first milestones to really watch are next spring. That is the stretch where the ABI was connected to when it ran positive for several months.
  • What else was bad this week? The other tracking measurement we use, the new Dodge Momentum Index, came down as well, off 1.2 percent from April. The latest construction material and construction employment reports both went down as well.  Oh, and while we’re lamenting the week, it ends with a report that we are now at the lowest rate of homeownership in 15 years.
  • And while we are at it, China warned that it was running out of its rare earth materials, a scary announcement for our glass and mirror makers, especially since I think that it’s a way for the Chinese government to revitalize its economy by limiting supply and thus raising prices. (Did I just write a sentence that said the Chinese government would promote higher prices? What is happening to me? I have no issue at all with raising prices, I do take issues with artificial shortages.) So while I seriously doubt they are running out, this “news” has the potential to disrupt our world while the posturing goes on.
  • And lets grab some salt for the wounds. We also had another glazier go bankrupt, and it won’t be the last, unfortunately. And speaking of bankruptcy, we just passed the year anniversary of Vitro America’s bankruptcy sale finalization. There’s surely a lot to say on that one, but I’ll refrain other than to say it sure has been an interesting 12 months. Hopefully, next week gets better.
  • Last this week, congrats to my good friend Manny and all of the Miami Heat fans. (And for some who hate LeBron and the Heat this could be considered part of the “bad week” mentioned above!)

Read on for links and video of the week...

The author is founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm for the building products industry that specializes in marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management, as well as website and social media, and codes and specifications. E-mail him at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

9 comments
Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Survey Madness

Very interesting study released by PPG Industries at the end of last week. They commissioned a study of architects, and it covered a wide range of subjects. The headline piece was that the architects surveyed expect building integrated clean energy sources to increase. However, I think that is a folly somewhat. I think most architects want to do the right thing, but in the end simply can’t because of costs, supply, sources, etc. If, however, this can happen, and architects are able to get these net zero style products in the specifications (and through the value engineering built to knock them out), we’ll surely be on a great path. Long way to go, though.

There was one other item from the study that truly stunned me too. PPG actually finished 5th in name recognition. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Pittsburgh, or maybe it’s my respect for such wonderful PPG folks like Keith Pettigrew, Jan Rogan, Glenn Miner, and so on that I always thought they would be one or two. But, in this survey they trail USG, Armstrong, Kawneer, and CertainTeed. Kawneer I could see, the others, since they are out my world, were major surprises. Nonetheless, an intriguing read.

Elsewhere....

  • Hope everyone had a great Father’s Day. A favorite part of this industry is how many fathers and sons are in it together, so this holiday really means a ton in our world.
  • Heard through the grapevine that NeoCon, the big decorative show was solid, but not spectacular. Guardian really made a heck of an impression with a big social media push that led to good crowds at their booth. No doubt those guys have really committed to using the online world to help drive business/awareness. Also from the show, I was sent pictures of the GGI booth, and it looked impressive, and otherwise was able to keep up on the rest of the goings on thanks to the excellent twitter feed of ICD Coatings’ Steve O’Hollaren (@SteveO_ICD).
  • Want to know a frustrating scammy sort of deal? I was due an upgrade on my phone, so I went in and got a new one. All was fine. Got the new phone and life was peachy. But then my bill came and I saw this $30 charge for an “upgrade fee,” something no one had told me. Evidently it’s a legit charge in their minds, but pretty dastardly and wrong if you ask me.
  • Looked like some serious work got done, as always, at the recent IGMA meetings. I love the focus on the NREL testing and thermal stress piece. To me all of the technical work done there has some serious importance in our world and everyone who isn’t attending and involved should be happy that those who are there are looking out for our best interests.
  • Last this week, thanks to friend of the blog and very happy Kings fan Joe Carlos of TriView Glass. These are giant portraits printed on grass. Not glass, but GRASS. Crazy..

Read on for links and clip of the week...

The author is founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm for the building products industry that specializes in marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management, as well as website and social media, and codes and specifications. E-mail him at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

5 comments
Monday, June 11, 2012

From the fabricator: A good delay

The news that LEED version 2012 will be delayed for rework did not surprise me in the least. I have been on the side of hammering LEED for a while now, and have not been alone in that opinion, and now it’s obvious that the folks behind this green rating system realized they needed to get some things in order. Hopefully this next generation of LEED, to be named LEED v4, will be a better program for all. From our industry perspective there’s still a ton of confusion about what variation of LEED we are actually on. Every day I see requests come over that range from early versions to things that I don’t know even exist. When that continually happens, you know there’s some serious disconnects. And that does not include the holes in LEED, as it is. Anyway, its good things are being addressed; let’s hope this additional time brings improvements.

By the way, the best chance you have to get into a serious understanding of LEED 2012 (v4) is at the Glazing Executive Forum with the excellent Paul Nutcher presenting. Seriously, a must attend.

Elsewhere…

  • Got my issue of Glass Magazine this week with the iconic Top 50 Glaziers as the feature. Great reading, as always. Also kudos to the designers there too, as the layout was very clean, classy and interesting. Really impressive.
  • Insanely bizarre article about Solar Panels that are being built to work underwater. My first thought was that it sure would be nice to perfect the ones that are for buildings first. My second thought after reading this article was the pure amazement that 2,500 people work at the Naval Research lab. Doesn’t that seem a bit high? 2,500 people?
  • Ever see the commercial where the lady is sitting in a tub watching a movie on her iPad? Am I nuts here but there’s no way I’d take an expensive electronic product anywhere near a tub. Do any of you do that?
  • Very sad that “I’ll Have Another” was scratched from the Belmont Stakes. Really wanted to see him run for the Triple Crown. I am starting to think I may never see another Triple Crown winner in my lifetime.
  • A tremendous honor for three PPG scientists for their developments on glass advancements. People pick on our industry all the time, but the technical developments are happening almost daily, and this recognition proves it.
  • The annual Neocon trade show is this week in Chicago. While I will not be there I will have my contacts in attendance and giving me a flavor. This show has the extreme decorative flavor that has become a growing segment in our world. I’ll give my recap via my contacts next week.
  • Last this week; the “Road to GlassBuild” blog that gets linked to on e-glass weekly is now going to be weekly with more frequent updates. Some great video spotlights, Q&A’s and news about the show. You can bookmark the site by going there now.

Read on for links and clip of the week...

The author is founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm for the building products industry that specializes in marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management, as well as website and social media, and codes and specifications. E-mail him at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

6 comments
Monday, June 11, 2012

Obvious, not apparent

Last week I had a shoe situation. After my morning workout at the gym near the office, I reached for my shoe bags and discovered I packed two different shoes.  I was 20 miles and two rush-hours of traffic away from their respective mates. Unmatched, they were still preferable to my sweaty sneakers, so I put them on. 

As I walked out of the locker room, I prepared myself with a few anticipatory quips: “I couldn’t decide this morning; which do you like better?” and, “Yes, I have another pair just like these at home.”

Turns out, not a lot of people noticed. Not in the office elevator, not in my first meeting of the day, not in the kitchen getting coffee, not in the deli buying lunch.  It got me thinking about what seems obvious to some and yet not apparent to others. 

The day before I was at a meeting in Philadelphia (hence the shoe bags) presenting results of a recent Window & Door magazine survey about “new opportunities.”  In my presentation and the one that followed by National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) director of market research, Ed Hudson, there were at least two instances of what I refer to as “obvious, not apparent.”

When asked where they see new business opportunities in the next few years, vinyl window and door manufacturers indicate they are staying focused on the tried and true residential remodeling and replacement market. This is despite indicators that growth is projected in single-and multi-family new construction and even bigger gains for commercial windows, according to the annual market study prepared by Ducker Research for the American Architectural Manufacturers Association and the Window & Door Manufacturers Association. 

Hudson’s excellent presentation cited a recent NAHB study on consumer views on green home buying & renting. When asked, almost half of purchasers and renters responded: “I want an ‘environmentally friendly’ home, but I would not pay more to purchase/rent one.” 

Now, if you’re in the construction—or any—business, you’re probably saying, “this is obvious. Everyone wants more bells and whistles, more value, more whatever without paying extra for it.”

Meanwhile, many suppliers have been selling “green” for many years. Words and phrases such as energy efficiency, durability, low maintenance, comfort and healthy indoor environment are already incorporated into products and how they are marketed, and all of them are strong decision factors among buying and renting consumers. 

And yet, 55 percent of builders surveyed in the same study, who are very likely already building and marketing homes that are energy efficient, durable and low maintenance, responded this way about their intentions to build “green”: “No interest in going green” to “considering going green” and “learning how to build green.”

According to NAHB, the average cost increase of a “green home” over a standard home is 2 percent, which doesn’t seem very high, especially if builders are already incorporating green features.

Is there a disconnect, or are we missing the obvious business and marketing opportunities?

Whatever it is, noticing is a good start.

The author is publisher of Glass Magazine and vice president of publications for the National Glass Association. Write her at nharris@glass.org.

8 comments
Monday, June 4, 2012

Fenestration hallucination: What advertising really works?

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half.”
--John Wanamaker

The earth continues to shift constantly beneath our feet with the force and chaotic motion of a 9.5 earthquake.  In this case, I’m talking about changes occurring in advertising and marketing. 

Only a few years ago, the local glass dealer with the largest yellow page in his market won the marketing battle.  Maybe the building products dealer who had the best advertising mix of newspaper, radio and TV ads won in his geographic market.  These days, it’s hard to determine what media methods help manufacturers appeal to architects or what marketing motivates consumers to buy shower doors and replacement windows.  The question, “What advertising really works for my company?”, is still relevant, but the 60-year-old answers that executives learned in Marketing 101 are constantly, and relentlessly, changing.

Print media is barely hanging on as the ADHD generation doesn’t know how to hold magazines, books or newspapers in their smart phone-filled hands. The way we sell and communicate with one another has progressed from snail mail and phone to fax, to email, to texting, to social media. Fenestration’s largest manufacturers don’t bother to display and sell to us at our own industry’s trade show anymore … they go straight to the architects since they don’t trust dealers to sell and don’t want to hire architectural reps. Static signage and billboards are being replaced with active LED Blade Runner-like digital billboards to appeal to those of us with shorter and shorter attention spans.  The good old reliable direct mail tactics that replacement window companies have used are still only marginally effective, and phone canvassing is all but gone.  TV ads are less effective with the rise of cable and satellite station proliferation, and radio markets continue to fracture. Online advertising’s effectiveness is questionable, as we tune out banner ads and annoying pop-up ads.  "Going viral" doesn’t mean you’ll sell anything.

Being at the top of a Google search appears to be your ticket to marketing success for now.  Why?

While all advertising methods might continue on, traditional marketing appears to be declining in response to the consumer seeking real information online about products and services they’re considering.  In other words, the smoke and mirrors of advertising targeting an unsuspecting public are being pushed aside.  Now, we’re educated, qualified buyers who just want the facts so we can buy and be done with it.

Why do some linger at the top of Google’s organic search even when other companies invest money in Google Adwords or other tactics designed to push them to the top?  Because the top company’s brand awareness with clients continues on, often because of that company’s diligent customer service.  People receive real value and continue to ‘click through’ to those companies that really deliver.

I would appreciate comments from those of you who are effectively using social media.  Please share how you’re doing it and why you think it’s working for you.  I still can’t get how Facebook and Twitter will help me sell glass and windows.

“If advertisers spent the same amount of money on improving their products as they do on advertising, then they wouldn't have to advertise them.” -Will Rogers

Rod Van Buskirk is the third-generation owner of Bacon & Van Buskirk Glass Co., with locations in Champaign and Springfield, Ill. A past NGA Chairman, Rod looks at the industry from the middle of nowhere, steals ideas from anyone he can and pretends to know what he’s talking about. Rod invites your comments as you are certainly smarter than he is.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

14 comments
Monday, June 4, 2012

From the fabricator: Tough loss

Very sad and frustrating news over the weekend, when it broke that solar player Konarka was filing for Chapter 7. Konarka, as some of you may remember, was poised to become a major player in our industry before the adventurous circumstances of 2009 took place. Yes, I am extremely biased, but I really did see a strong potential for the Konarka product in specific parts of the building envelope. And I still do. They had some of the right pieces but just could not get over the hump. I would bet though, you have not heard the last of them or the product they developed. There is simply too much potential.

As Guardian proved at the AIA show, there’s still an appetite for solar material in our world, and work continues all over the place to get more and more products up to speed. So while this is tough news for the movement, I will stay positive.

By the way, I think it is absolutely laughable that people compare what happened at Konarka to what happened at failed solar manufacturer Solyndra. Not even close folks. But because there are some minor similarities, people will run with it… Sadly, that’s the world we live in these days.

Elsewhere…

  • The start of hurricane season is here, and the predictions are for at least one to three “major storms” to hit. With how insane this year has been weatherwise (no snow, but yet Friday night in Michigan it was 46 degrees at my house), anything is possible. So those of you in hurricane alley, hold on.
  • And this is the year we will look back on the hurricane that changed the glass and glazing industry. Hurricane Andrew hit 20 years ago this August. That incredibly devastating hurricane helped push and legitimatize the major hurricane codes that many follow today. And with those codes came a new product segment, one that still does quite well, though more saturated than ever unfortunately. In any case, let’s hope that we don’t have anything like Andrew in 2012.
  • Very negative moment this week: the depressing jobs report and the entire rancor surrounding it did shake me up. I have been hanging on the optimistic side, but when the construction segment is absolutely miserable in these reports, it can’t be anything but depressing. 28,000 people lost their job in the construction sector last month. Horrible.
  • And while we’re all down, how about the story that came out this week that healthcare costs will probably rise 7.5 percent in 2013. Seriously? Here’s the miserable evidence.
  • Very happy to see the excellent Glass Magazine “Great Glazing” series give some love to the United Hospital in West Virginia. I know a lot of the people who supplied on that project and I’m thrilled they got some pub. Here it is, in case you missed it.
  • Really cool list here: 30 “famous” people with law degrees you may be surprised by. None of them, by the way, are as great as the legendary barrister Mr. Kim Mann or my pal of BEC fame Rick Kalson. Numbers 17-19 were surprises to me for sure.
  • Last this week, a happy birthday to my sister, also known as the Queen of Nordstrom. She’s now been out of the glass industry for a couple of years and is still thriving. I think between her and Scott Surma, they are the only two folks I know of who have escaped this world and stayed away…

Read on for links and clip of the week...

The author is founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm for the building products industry that specializes in marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management, as well as website and social media, and codes and specifications. E-mail him at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

4 comments
Tuesday, May 29, 2012

From the fabricator: New report, good news

Lost in the shuffle and recap of AIA was the announcement of a new construction economic report for us to follow and see if it provides any more insight into our future. The Dodge Momentum Index is a 12-month leading indicator of construction spending for non-residential buildings. In its first ever release the news was positive, with a rating of 94.7. That evidently is a good score. The problem with reports like this and the Architectural Billings Index is, who really knows what's good, bad, ugly, helpful, positive, legitimate, fairy tale etc.? I am hopeful that since this is an indicator based on spending at the building level it's more accurate than a pre-bank loan report via the ABI. At the end of the day, all I can do is grab on to the positivity and hold it tight so if the new report is showing that we are moving in the right direction, count me in. No matter what the key here is if these pieces keep showing positive but the industry lags, they lose all legitimacy. We're already expecting good things late in 2012 and early 2013 based on the ABI, so eventually, the proof is going to be in the pudding.

Elsewhere...

  • Leftover items missed from my AIA recap last week. It was very nice to see the gang from Walker. Still dressing better than most of mankind. Always nice to see the classy Tom Herron of NFRC. And yes, it is comical for me to write nice things about NFRC, but Tom deserves them. And quite frankly, my battles there have been done for a very long time.
  • I know other bloggers have hit this, and I often do too, but when someone can explain to me how the gas and oil companies get away with the shenanigans they do, that would be great. I watched gas go up 14 cents a gallon ahead of the Memorial Day holiday despite falling oil prices. Simply amazing.
  • The initial line-up for the Glazing Executive Forum (GEF) was just announced and looks absolutely fantastic. Great speakers and subjects, this will be one not to be missed. What a few days in September that will be between GlassBuild America and GEF. Really excited for it. More obviously on both as we get closer.
  • GlassMagazine.com had two reports this week that were positive and interesting with one calling for a big jump for "Smart Glass" and one for Security Glass. On the "Smart Glass" one I was confused on which glass styles are considered for it- that surely didn't seem clear to me. (I guess I am too dumb to figure out Smart Glass)
  • Also seen on the GlassMagazine.com site was the news of a tariff on Chinese Solar Panels. While this will be helpful to the cause of the domestic providers, it's pretty late in coming.
  • By the way, please keep in mind to visit GlassMagazine.com during the week for the latest info and breaking events. A copy of my blog is there along with other blogs, articles and more. Good stuff.
  • Last this week, I hope everyone is having or had a good Memorial Day. Hopefully you are taking or took time to remember and honor those who fought for our freedoms. And while doing so, send positive thoughts to the brave men and women protecting us today and beyond. 

Read on for links and clip of the week...

The author is founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm for the building products industry that specializes in marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management, as well as website and social media, and codes and specifications. E-mail him at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

9 comments
Monday, May 21, 2012

From the fabricator: The gigantic AIA recap

The 2012 American Institute of Architects show is in the books, and there's no doubt that the vibe was positive on the show floor. This is the first show in a long time where I heard a true sense of enthusiasm from people towards the economy and our markets ... at least related to sales/growth. I think for many companies, the past few years were so rough that seeing some light these days is reason to celebrate. No doubt, we are not out of the woods--and still, so much can change--but the attitude of the majority of the folks I talked to was on the extremely positive side. In fact, morale was so good, the typical trade show talk about competition destroying markets, cash flow issues, rumors and such were not prominent like in years' past. Oh, it was still there, because that's a staple of our world, like it or not. But in the end, it was pretty minimal compared to the commiseration of the past.

DC did not disappoint; the show had a steady flow. It did have some dead pockets, but not like the past two years. I will say that I wouldn't want to live in DC; the traffic and layout of the city and streets were mind numbing.

Just a note ... this blog is dedicated to the AIA show. We'll be back next week with other industry stuff like the ABI, McGraw Hill's new report and the start of hurricane season.

Other show musings...

  • As always, getting to see some of the great people of our industry is the best for me, and this year was no different. Among those I was lucky enough to run into was the amazingly talented Wendy Zhou of Guardian. She's an all-time favorite of mine, and now probably an all-time favorite of every architect that met her on the floor. Brian Leizerowicz of EFCO also was welcoming, though I am sure he'd prefer to run the other way when he sees me approaching! It was great to catch up with Glenn Miner at PPG looking dapper in the latest greatest Rob Struble trade show clothing collection: a lightweight, stylish windjacket. Plus, it was nice to see Mike Rupert of PPG for the first time in a while. And, I did get a picture with the legendary P. BEAR of PPG Starphire fame. (Great interest generator, by the way; kudos Mr. Struble)
  • Some great new booths making debuts included a sharp setup from Viracon. It was really eye-catching. GGI also had a show-stopping debut with an area laid out with a ton of great looking glass that you could flip on through. Pilkington looked to be in a new structure (at least to me) with the rest of the NSG Group, and it was fantastic. Fun for me too because they had several pictures of jobs I once had a part in, good memory lane stuff. AGNORA from Canada showed off a massive lite of glass, along with some excellent looking deco pieces for their maiden voyage in the show.
  • Their booth wasn't new as it debuted in the fall at Greenbuild, but SAGE had a lot of buzz around their snazzy setup. Their new parent Saint-Gobain had a massive "scoreboard" that stood above their booth; it was pretty mesmerizing. Guardian was busy the entire show with all of its new product launches. Earnest Thompson designed a pretty awesome booth space; you saw a lot of stuff in a very clean and sharp way. I also liked the sample setup for their new InGlass program. Lots of buzz too around the Panda Windows exhibit, as their door systems left architects in awe. Because of the steady traffic, I never could get into Berkowitz, Cristacurva, Pulp Studio or Dlubak's exhibits. They were all small but very effective.
  • The biggest buzz pre-show and during the show surrounded YKK. As I mentioned last week, they promoted an announcement promised to be unlike anything the industry had ever seen before. They did a great job of building the suspense, then put on a great show to launch their new high performance unitized curtain wall. I can say the presentation surely was like nothing I had ever seen before! Kudos to Oliver Stepe, Mike Turner and company.
  • Random and wrap up....
    -- Interesting that at the 7/11 next to my hotel they charged me $0.05 for a bag. Unless I have been missing something, that had to be the first time I was hit with a bag surcharge.
    --At the same convention center as AIA was the US Counter Terrorism Show. Architects and spies in the same place; could you get more different?
    --Also, it was the first major trade show I have seen go with a badge that was without a plastic sleeve. It was just a slick, thicker piece of material that seemed durable enough. I assume this could be a trend, though I wonder how much more expensive it is compared to what shows normally use.
    -- In the end, DC proved to be a solid venue, as expected. Next year, AIA is in Denver, and even though I like that area, there's no way the show will be as good from a traffic standpoint. 

So, now we move on to GlassBuild America in the fall. The floor is filling up and nice buzz is building. You'll be hearing a ton more from me on this as it gets closer, but needless to say, it's a must-attend event, especially if you want to stay on top of the trends and industry. 

Read on for links and clip of the week...

The author is founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm for the building products industry that specializes in marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management, as well as website and social media, and codes and specifications. E-mail him at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

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