From the fabricator: The passing of an industry icon

Mid-day Sunday, I received word that Eddie Goldberg had passed away. This one has shaken me up some, as Eddie not only was a relative of mine, but an industry icon as an owner and leader at a few different companies, most recently at Utica Glass. He was a serious fixture at industry events and a guy who truly cared a ton for what we all do. Eddie always greeted me (and most others) with a great smile and handshake, and could immediately jump into any of the issues affecting our world with ease. He and I used to go round and round about GlassBuild. He was never a fan of Vegas, feeling it was great for quantity but not for quality. No matter what role Eddie held in the businesses he owned and worked at, he always took the same classy approach: always welcoming, always looking forward. Many in the industry might have never met Eddie or known him, and that's a shame, as he was an excellent man who will be greatly missed.

Elsewhere…

• Since my previous blog, Greenbuild took place, and reaction to the show has been mixed. Some folks felt it was a solid show that met expectations, but others disagreed. From an exhibitor point of view, it has to get concerning when this show keeps ending up in the most expensive venues possible: last year Toronto, this year San Fran, next year Philly. Those are budget-busting cities. And still I’d love to know how rock concerts, swanky parties and tons of worthless swag are good for the health of our planet? To me, it smacks of the “do what we say, not what we do” mentality.
• Also on Greenbuild, there was a decent amount of news generated from the show, and once again a lot of it was from the dynamic glass space. Soladigm rebranded the company as View Inc., and SAGE announced a marketing agreement with Viracon. The dynamic space even got quality mainstream media notice in USA Today. I know there are doubters, but the momentum is really strong when it comes to the technologies that make up this segment.
• Going hand in hand with this was McGraw Hill's very positive outlook for the “green” building market. While I believe certifications like LEED will wane, I do think that solid sustainable building practices, bolstered by codes and code enforcement, will dominate the next several years.
• A hearty congrats to the gang at Metropolitan Glass in Denver for their “Circle of Safety” award. A commitment like that to a safe workplace can never be underestimated.
• This may stun some of my loyal readers, but I have to give major kudos to the folks at Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope for their BIM IQ rollout and website. It is simply amazing. BIM has been this bizarre mystery in our industry as it’s not mainstream and very few folks are embracing it because its usage is inconsistent. Oldcastle’s new setup may change that. Congrats to them for this effort. It looks very promising.
• Hey, the ABI rocked upward again. It is really “put up or shut up” time for this index in my opinion. Starting with next month, we’ll be watching last year’s totals and comparing them to what is happening in real time.
• Congrats to the folks at Guardian subsidiary SRG for setting a Guinness World Record at a recent family day in Spain. They broke they record for… get this… rhythmic snapping! Here’s the evidence.
• Last this week, I was able to see the new movie Lincoln and all I can say is WOW. This was an amazing movie that was made even more so by the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role. The Oscars should not even waste their time nominating anyone else for Best Actor and just give him that statue. He was that good. In addition, I would not be surprised if Sally Field took home Best Actress. You know a movie is good when you come home and dig into the computer looking up as much as you can about the subject.

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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.