15 Years!

It was in October of 2005 that I started this blog. Never in my wildest dreams did I think 15 years later I’d still be plugging away, week after week posting, but here I am. Fifteen years this month. Allow me to please take a quick look backwards, especially for those of you new folks who found me thanks to GlassBuild.

I come from a family business with roots in this industry dating back to 1898. Despite the family tree, I had no desire whatsoever to be in this business as I was growing up. I was headed into the television sports production area and being in glass was not appealing. However, in 1991, my brother convinced me to give the glass world a shot, offered me a 0.50 cent raise over what I was making at the NBC Affiliate in Pittsburgh (which would make my salary 6.50 per hour!!) and I gave it a try... and have been here ever since.

But the bug of being in the “media” is something that never left. I got the opportunity to write articles in the trade magazines in the late 90’s and then as the internet was growing, I decided to jump in and start the first ever glass industry blog. This would be my way to still have that communication angle and scratch that itch. 817 posts and 15 years later and going strong. It’s been a roller coaster for sure, but the one constant was pretty much every week posting 500-700 words on the industry and all else that came to mind. And through this I was blessed to meet new people and make friends and contacts. That has been the best part and I will always be grateful. So, thank you for putting up with me for 15 years and I hope that you all will have me for years to come!

Elsewhere…

• GlassBuild Connect wrapped up it’s “live” portion last week, but it was awesome to see the NGA announce that the content online will be available until the end of the year. Folks, so much great information came out in those 30 days, it is awesome you have more time to take it in. Great example was the GPAD session. Ron Crowl of Fenetech expertly moderated a huge 8-person panel and the level of insight and detail about glass fabrication trends, worries, approaches, solutions that came out was astounding. Stuff like that is worth checking out and now you have more time to do so. GlassBuild.com is the place.
• Final note, for now, on GlassBuild. This was a massive undertaking. That show is the crown jewel of our industry and taking it online never can replace the normal, but the effort by the team at NGA was off the charts. The amount of hours put in, and care taken was like nothing I have ever seen. I was involved in a tiny part and it was like watching this awesome machine running at full speed for 30 days solid, all parts working in concert, and if a bump came up, adjustments were made. Kudos to the team there for keeping a great industry tradition alive! Now, let’s all throw positive thoughts towards BEC/GPAD in March being held in person― not that I don’t love the online efforts, but we NEED to get back to normal…
• The high point of last week’s Presidential Debate was that the building it was held in was spectacular and it featured a lot of work by some great folks in our industry. (This was another great LinkedIn find for me.) The unitized systems were manufactured by the good folks at United Architectural Metals and glazed by Enclos. Glass came from JE Berkowitz, Interpane, and Pulp Studio with additional interior install by United Glass and Panel. I wish the coverage would’ve shown it; this is a structure our world can be proud of and congrats to everyone who worked on it! And given how crazy in nature that debate was, at least looking at that stunning building would be a calming presence!!
• Congrats to Kyle Lamb of Universal Glass in Texas for his being named president and CEO there. I had the honor of meeting Kyle at one of the wonderful Texas Glass Association events a few years ago, and he is one seriously impressive guy. Glad to see him taking the reins and he’ll do fantastic in that position and still be super for our industry.
• Last this week; since this is my 15th anniversary here, I’m thinking of doing something fun to commemorate this occasion. Maybe Top 15 viewed blogs, or my top 15 favorite subjects? I have no idea, just spitballing here. If you have any ideas please let me know. Note, I will still have my annual Glass Industry MVP this December, so feel free to start thinking of anyone you want nominated there.