Glasstec Leaves Questions

Though glasstec—the ginormous* bienniel glass show in Düsseldorf, Germany is now history, it left behind two questions just begging for answers. The first (and most important from a business perspective) is that of a central theme emerging from the halls, the show floor and within the industry. Next month, USGlass will provide extensive coverage that explains exactly what those themes were and why they are important. In the meantime, you can check out our coverage of the event, including extensive video, at our daily news site, www.usgnn.com.
The second question (and the one that I find more interesting from a sociological point of view) is: “What does the rest of the world think of the United States?” Well, this year, the answer to that question is in the questions that the Europeans were asking of us. glasstec 2008 proved quite an eye-opener in that respect. Just about everyone I met, from every walk of life, asked a variation of the following questions:
• Who is going to win the U.S. presidential race?
• What the heck happened to your (country’s) economy?
• You know all the world’s economic problems are your fault, don’t you?
• How are you going to fix it?
So a few thoughts on all these questions. Assuming we don’t have a 2000 election redux by the time you read this, we will have a new president. I hope we make the right decision because it is very evident to me that the whole world is not only watching, they are involved. The importance of this election to the entire world is obvious by the comments I received. And while it gives me some pride to think the U.S. is such a powerful world leader, it makes me hope we chose the right guy.
Second, the blame for the current worldwide economic situation has been placed squarely at the doorstep of the United States. We are seen as creating the problems around the globe and we are expected to fix it.
The world is interconnected as it never has been before. And every day it gets more so. Let’s hope our leaders, who ever they are, can inspire, solve problems and move us forward—for the good of the entire world.

Regards,
Deb
*For those you purists who scoff, ginormous is now a legitimate word; along with “smack down,” “crunk” and “DVR”, it entered Webster’s Dictionary last year.  But, as a Webster’s editor points out, you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.