Finishing Strong
Well here we are, another month down as we steam towards the end (thankfully) of 2020. And, also, with the end of the month comes the end of the awesome GlassBuild Connect event. It has been a heck of a run, and this week it finishes strong with some amazing panels including the following:
“What’s Trending in Manufacturing”
This may be one of the greatest panels of all time with the best of the best from the Glass Fabrication machinery and software world.
“Women in Construction”
Some serious talent on board here talking about where we were with women in our field and where we are going.
“Glass Can’t Do That―Can it?” and “There’s a Glass for That”
You know me, I love glass, so these sessions are my world. Both sessions take deep dives into the next generation of products from differing perspectives.
I know the days are flying by, but these are incredible top level sessions, so go to GlassBuild.com and if you are one of the few in our industry who haven’t registered yet, go ahead and do so, and then join in!
Elsewhere…
- Also on GlassBuild: There are contests going on including an iPad one from Vitro Architectural Glass and an Apple Watch from Amesbury Truth. It’s all out there for you at GlassBuild.com― education, exhibits, information, products and more!
- Last week I made the call here on what I expected on the Architectural Billings Index release. It was a 50/50 result for me: yes, amazingly, I got something right, and I got the “better” news right too. I said last week that I expected the main number to basically stay the same and it did. The score of 40 was exactly the same as last month. Where I was wrong (happily) that I predicted the new contract score would go down and dip into the 30’s. It went up to 46. So that was surely a positive. This was really fascinating to me because this bucked some of the current metrics. No doubt though I’ll take it, but I am expecting this to go down next month. And once again, I’ll be thrilled to be wrong.
- Congrats to the great people at Giroux Glass on their honor of being named ENR’s California Specialty Contractor of the Year. This is a huge deal and great for the Giroux team and our industry. Whenever our trade gets recognized it’s awesome, and in this case it is also well deserved!
- Interesting read here: the “Tiny Home” trend is dying off. I never figured it out in the first place, but there was a call for it and I know a lot of glass folks (especially specialty players) had involvement in it.
- Good news. Gilbane Building Co. monthly sends out a notice of material availability for all building products. The fascinating note this month was the only product that was marked as “Stable” in each of the three categories of price, inventory, and delivery was glass! Every other product had volatility except us… love it.
- I have hit a few times on how important communication is as we work through the various potential economic issues in our world. A big one to keep in mind is your website. Make sure that it is up to speed, updated and fresh. How you communicate online is absolutely crucial during normal times, but even more important now and going forward. Just a friendly nudge that you want to pay attention to this aspect of your business.
- Last this week, sad news from our industry. Dale McAtamney, long-time player in the Southeast Michigan glass and glazing trade passed away. Dale was a fantastic man, classy and smart. I got to know him first when he owned Armor Glass and I was a young guy trying to figure out how work in this glass world. Dale always treated me better than I probably deserved and was a huge help for me as I navigated the world of contract glazing in Detroit. After I moved on into different positions and out of the day to day in Michigan, we still kept in touch, and Dale would on occasion reach out to check in. I always appreciated that and cherished catching up with him. Huge loss for our industry, world and of course his family and friends, all of whom are in my thoughts and prayers.
