Hear the Trends and then More
Gearing up for a GlassBuild panel
I get asked a ton on “trends” and what I see coming down the path, so I am pretty stoked that I’ll soon have the ability to moderate a panel all about trends and what is next! At GlassBuild on day one; the very first session on the Main Stage at 10:30 a.m., the panel will be focused on trends and happenings to watch in our space. The panel is absolutely rock solid awesome.
It consists of Alan Kinder of Guardian Glass, who if you’ve never heard or met is brilliant and in-depth. I always learn from him. Shelly Farmer of Sightline Commercial Solutions is the best sales/biz dev person I have ever worked with and always has a laser focus on the market. Ron Crowl of Cyncly, is the godfather of the entire software space and knows seemingly every movement happening in every nook and cranny of our world, and someone new for me that I have heard a ton of positive things about in Bruce Wesner of PGT. PGT is one of the best around, so I am confident Bruce will be delivering the goods.
So please add this to your schedule for GlassBuild. Get in the doors, say hi, then work your way to the Main Stage for this session. I am so looking forward to sharing the stage with this awesome crew!
If you haven’t checked the schedule yet of sessions, do so here. There's a strong mix of business and personal level insight and info available over the three days of the show.
Elsewhere…
Latest pod
In case you missed it, the latest From the Fabricator podcast is out and people are talking about it! Thank you! The main themes have been the advancements that Chris Hanstad, Barry Sutherland and the entire FHC crew have made in a short time and the excitement of more expansion. And pretty much everything Amber Deimler from MyGlassTruck talked about, but led by the appreciation how the team there goes to work and communicates with their customers. That was a theme overall in most of my feedback, people really like working with these companies because they communicate with their base effectively. Love it. This was just a small part of the talks. Check it all out. Thank you!
Watch on YouTube, or listen here, as well as on Apple, Spotify, Google and more.
Loss in the industry
Sad news from our world this past week with the passing of Frank Iaquinto. Frank was a major player at AFG for many years and has had a lasting effect on our industry. To me, Frank was a classic character, told it to me like it was, but always had our best interests in mind and took care of our needs. We were a customer of his early in my career.
Frank’s impact is still felt clearly today with quite a few of his proteges are out there making serious waves, like the great Gus Trupiano among them, and with the company his sons own in Michigan, Midwest Glass Fab. My sincerest condolences to Frank’s family and friends. A very good man that truly will be missed.
Solar panels
It's a common wonder out there, especially in the traditional glass industry on where all the solar panels are going. Thanks to a few of you for thinking of me and sending me items that show solar panels in various uses. This one linked here is a pretty interesting use, but not sure it’s the healthiest around.
The more popular use of panels and the one that will affect our space capacity wise are the massive solar fields that are being built to replace energy sources that are transitioning out. These are happening at a rapid pace all over and will need a lot of glass, and that glass comes from the same supply that we work from. So just to keep an eye out on it. Things aren’t tight now, but forecasts focused on solar growth mean that it will be down the line for us.
Pop culture news
Last this week… saw the movie “Dumb Money” and it was really well done and entertaining. Also a bit infuriating/frustrating too. The movie is about the run on the stock “Game Stop” that happened a couple of years ago and took a dead in the water stock to insane heights… and all done by the regular buyer, the retail buyer, also known as the “dumb money” buyer.
Obviously it got the Hollywood treatment, but the moral of the story was there. For those that play or follow the stock market, it adds to the mystifying nature of how it all works there. Check it out though, as it was a well-done flick/story telling.
