From the Fabricator: Big Conference This Week
This week, kicking off on Tuesday, is the NGA Glass Conference. If you have not looked into it yet, well it is now time you do. And of course, I’ll help you out here with some highlights. First and foremost, I have to say I was so blown away looking at the list of sponsors. The industry really stepped up here and is again with GlassBuild Connect, and that truly makes me proud.
OK, so now into the details; All the sessions are great but I’m going to give my “picks”:
The Powerhouse Session
“The New Normal – Design & Construction,” features a leading architect, general contractor, fabricator, component supplier and developer/owner. This is huge to get that insight from each area and how it can be jammed into an hour will be interesting too. A lot to cover!
The Hall of Fame Session
“Troubleshooting for Glass Fabricators,” The panel here is seriously legendary. I’m just going to just take it all in because the brainpower and experience here is like nothing else I have seen on this subject.
Our Heroes Sessions
Two sessions with same panel of heroes: “The All About Glass - Architects Questions Answered,” and “Technical and Codes Update” have the same incredible group of the best advocacy minds in our world. These are the people who look out for us daily, so hearing them in a couple of excellent forums is exciting.
I’m Swamped, Just Give it to Me Quick Sessions
Four nano-sessions on huge issues from bird friendly glass to security and protective glass. Fifteen minutes on each.
There is a lot more―so just click this link and review it and then register and join in!
Elsewhere…
- Last week I predicted an uptick in the Architectural Billings Index and I was right (I know, shocking since my sports predictions are laughably bad). The index is following some positive trending out there and delivered a score of 40 which was a nice bump from last months 33. Fifty is the break-even so we are still a while away from that. On the new design inquiries that too took a nice jump to 44. Positive happenings are nice to see, but I fear with the lagging approach here and some extra caution that has come into play in the last 30 days that next month we may be back down some. All bears watching for sure, and I’ll keep you posted!
- Cool post from the fine folks at Tom Brown Inc. where they talked about a program they started with local high school students and despite the pandemic things were actually completed and the outcomes were pretty awesome. Love when companies work with their local communities and in this case where these high school students were not forgotten about and they got to see something interesting get completed!
- Seeing a lot of these articles, the “what will the office of the future now look like” and I click every time. This one was not bad but did not talk glass.
- Help me out fellow glass folks… this video impressed Wall Street quite a bit, but for me it was odd. It surely didn’t seem like it had even close to enough details and there’s a section there that does not feel real at all to me. Maybe I am just a harsh critic? Check it out and share your thoughts if you like. By the way I love the possible innovation and outcome.
- FYI here, from the most recent NGA Advocacy newsletter. The Glazing Industry Code Committee met virtually on July 10 to discuss the latest updates on the International Building Code code development process. GICC promotes the reasonable use of glass and fenestration within the model building codes, with members representing the full spectrum of architectural glass and glazing interests throughout North America. GICC offers a practical, affordable opportunity to participate in updating the model building codes. For more information on GICC membership, contact Sara Neiswanger at the NGA! Join and make a difference!
- Last this week: a baseball season like no other (isn’t that the line for everything in 2020) has started a … 60 game season ... so a sprint to the playoffs … so I may as well make a prediction … I am going with the Yankees to win it all beating the surprise Cincy Reds in the World Series.
