GlassBuild Pod Preview and More

New Podcast episode for your GlassBuild preview and/or trip in. Because it’s a special occasion, it’s also a massive podcast with four segments. Most people watch and listen in chunks anyway, so I figured for this one, why not go big heading into the biggest show of the year?

Kicking it off this time out is the always-brilliant Katy Devlin of NGA. Catching up on the content and education at the show and what the hot topics Katy and the team are covering. Next, Alan Kinder of Guardian Glass joins me to run the range of products, codes, specs, and more. Truly a great mind and person in our space. After that we go to dynamic sales duo of Art Huard and Shawn McHale of NVOY. They’re coming on strong in the fire-rated universe, so we hit that and a few other big glass topics. And ending with my pal Kyle Lindersmith of Burkle. His laminated approach is really making waves and we get caught up on that technology and more. So check ‘em all out please and thank you for doing so!

Watch on YouTube, or listen here, as well as by searching “From the Fabricator” on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Elsewhere…

Bird-friendly glass on CBS

Great catch by NGA’s awesome Sara Neiswanger, who I was first to see on LinkedIn with an in-depth post about it, and then several others on CBS This Morning doing a piece on Bird Strikes and including Bird Friendly glass. If you have not seen it – check it out.

Personnel news

Some good news for a couple of great folks in our space. Regina Munson of Anchor Ventana was named Vice President there. Very cool. Regina is extremely sharp and has always impressed me with her approach, so I love the new title for her. Also picking up a new title and responsibilities is my buddy Dan Plotnick of Vitro. Dan now adds additional International duties and with his past in being the global force, this fits nicely. Dan always has been brilliant and thrilled for him. So congrats to both Regina and Dan- two people that stand out and make our industry better!

Forecast news

Mixed forecast news and it seems to be the norm now. For every piece of bad news, there’s always something giving you hope. But for those people in the slow pockets, the good stuff can’t get here soon enough. So, on the downside was the report from the ABC that Construction backlogs have slipped. Basically, we’ve lost a month of backlog work as things have slowed up in some regions. The report did note contractors are anticipating expanding sales in the future (aren’t we all) for now it’s murky. Then on the flip side, Dodge popped in with its Dodge Momentum Index up a couple of points.  So current work, at least in the indexes telling of it, is hanging in there. Now lots of waiting… the Fed cutting a half point is a start and the election in the US is the next thing down the road, with another Fed meeting 2 days later (and another cut expected) so we have that ahead. Hopefully as all this comes together the positive runs will kick in for all…

Travel woes

From the super PR player Jen Marsik Friess, here's a link for all of you road warriors out there. Can you imagine being in Business Class from Miami to Doha and having screaming birds going for 14 hours solid? Well, it happened. Wow.

In memoriam

Last, unfortunately, there was some bad people news this week. The untimely passing of Kevin Hale, best known from his days at S&K Glass. Kevin was a classic. He was a fun, loving, intense, cool character who never let me or my brother (who he was much closer with) down. I will always have a ton of memories of my trips to Vegas to visit with Kevin and the jobs we did with him, some crazier and more stressful than others. (Jersey Boys Theater affected many of us- what an adventure that was!) I am gutted that he is gone way too soon. My sincerest condolences to Kevin’s family and friends. It was a huge loss of a great deal of energy and personality. He will be missed by all he came in contact with.