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.

Glasstec Day Two

Every day at glasstec is really two days--the business sessions from 9 a.m until 6 p.m. and the evening activities which include various receptions, dinners and the obligatory visit to the Altstadt (Old Town) area.

The center of the glasstec universe in the Old Town area is the GPD Pub. Machinery manufacturer Glaston hosts Glass Performance Days (GPD) every other year in Tampere, Finland. It rents out an Altstadt pub for the evenings of glasstec.

Though the Euro may be the currency of Germany, and U.S. Dollars still have some value, the real currency of glasstec are the drink tickets for use in the GPD pub. There is a brisk trade in GPD dollars at the hall worthy of the best black market. And the keeper of those drinks tickets, Glaston's Jorma Vitkala, is a very popular guy around here.

(Now just because I am writing about the pub --shown in photo above by Brian Pitman-, don't think I spent my whole evening there or anything like that. No sir-ee. In fact, I haven't even made it over there yet. From the sounds of it though, every one else has.) A visit to the GPD pub has become a glasstec right of passage.

Day two was filled with visits to many stands and many visitors to our stand. Russ Ebeid of Guardian stopped by and told me he had a hot story, so I plan to try and find him today. If stalk him I must, I will. Larry Johnson of Edgetech explained what it took to get permission to use a replica of a window from an a recently completed job in Abu Dhabi. The exquisite replica, at 70% the original size, sits in their booth.

AGC's stand has been very crowded, the result of their recent new product announcement, as has Glasslam's as well, which features a Rubik's cube about 50 times its original size, though the Porsche standing on glass has garnered much attention, as has glasstec's own version of the bridge to nowhere--the total glass bridge that visitors continue to walk under and over.

With two days in one glasstec leaves little time for sleeping. There will be time enough time for that on the way home.

Deb

P.S.--anyone with extra GPD drink tickets can drop them off in Hall 13, stand C73 which is, coincidentally, the USGlass stand. We will take it upon ourselves to see they get used.

Glasstec Times 20

The only thing that could overcome the intense jetlag that overtakes me on trips to Europe is the intense excitement of glasstec. The world's biggest trade fair for the glass and glazing industry is held every two years in Dusseldorf, Germany and attracts the industry from around the world. It is the show's 20th anniversary.

In addition to final stand set-up, yesterday's events included the opening ceremonies as well a number of press conferences and meetings.

One of the nicest part of glasstec for me is getting to see a number of people with whom I have acquaintance around the world, including members of the world glazing press. It's always great to see colleagues who publish glass-related magazines from other parts of the world.

The number of exhibitors at glasstec is up this year compared to 2006. It seems to me that the number of U.S. visitors, as well as those from Asia, is down. (My colleague Charles Cumpston thinks the U.S. contingent is about the same in size so we will have to wait for the final numbers to see who is right.) While a reduction in U.S. attendance would be understandable, we think the increase in glass shows in Asia might be enabling attendees from that part of the world to stay closer to home.

U.S. visitors walking the massive trade show floors (that's right, plural, think GlassBuild times 5) included Bill O'Keeffe and his group from SAFTI as well as Cliff Monroe and his colleague from Arch who stopped by our booth the first day five minutes after the show opened. Doug Canfied of Casso-Solar is exhibiting in the North American pavillion, and said he had a good day yesterday.

The weather hasn't been too bad. Monday was a beautiful day and for the show's start yesterday it was normal Dusseldorf weather--a bit rainy and overcast. But it doesn't matter much since we are not outside any way.

If you are at glasstec, please stop by our stand in Hall 13 C73. Here's a video review of Day One. More later.

Promising Start

He seemed like a nice, sincere young man, about the age a son of mine would be. So I was trying to be positive. “Surely,” I had opined, “ there must be something good about Vegas. After all there seem to be lots of pretty single girls here…”

“No,” he said sadly. “All the women around here are –look, you seem like a nice lady, so let me say it this way, they are all ambitious. All the women around here are looking for a .. How do I say it? .. a sugar daddy. When you meet them the first thing they ask is ‘what are you going to do for me? Will you buy me a house? Will you get me a ---let me say it this way--will you pay for a medical procedure to enhance my looks? (I told you his English was good.)

Not quite expecting that answer and not sure what to say, I said nothing. It was my fault, I’d asked the question.

“They are all show and promise,” he said shaking his head “They are all show and promise but they leave you with nothing,” he repeated as I paid him and sprinted it out of the cab.

Show and promise. Got me thinking.

People go to shows for the promise of what that show may offer: the new customer to sell; the new product see; the new technique to bring back home; the newest information to learn. Shows bring promise and day one of GlassBuild America was no exception.

There were notable changes from the 2007 event in Atlanta and 2006 when it was last in Vegas. The number of exhibitors is down significantly, and many exhibitors had rented smaller amounts of space than in previous years. Companies involved primarily in residential fenestration are scarce, and the machinery displays are much smaller than in previous year. The presence of actual glass manufacturers and major fabricators is also light, but that was not unique to this year’s event.

Yet there was promise. The number of attendees on Day One exceeded the dire predictions of most. The floor was very busy for the main hours in the middle of the day and some exhibitors, such as Contact Industries and Erdmann, had neat new products and heavy traffic all day. Major sponsor Edgetech did a great job marketing its “Edgetech University” in a stand complete with grammar school writing tablets and employees dressed in shirts that said “Edgetech University.” They always do a great job getting their message out.

So on a day when the Dow plunged in a downward spiral and cable TV networks screamed gloom and doom, there was at least in Las Vegas for a few hours, show and promise.

Strip of Nervousness

“I hate it here,” the taxi driver tells me on the way from the airport to the Hilton yesterday afternoon. Okay,.I think, it’s a short ride, I’ll bite. “If you hate it so much, and don’t mind me asking,” I say, “then why are you here?”

My question elicits a long response. He tells me he moved here from Turkey three years ago and I congratulate him on his English, which is excellent. He came here because he heard Vegas was always busy, and there was always work. He bought a house right away with “one of those mortgages on the news now”. But, just yesterday, he says, they announced the tourism dollars are down 50 percent from the same month last year. There is no work. He is making half what he made last year at this time. “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t gamble and I now I have a house I can’t sell,” he says “ I hate it. I am very worried. I don’t sleep so good at night.”

Welcome to the club. There’s an aspect of nervousness and unease among those attending the GlassBuild America Show in Vegas this week. The effects of the economy can be seen everywhere—even in the cab you take from the airport.

It will be an interesting show, I think, so check back for more reports this week. I don’t know whether to feel really good or really bad about the following fact, but I am going to share it with you anyway: this is actually my 27th consecutive year of attending this show. Sometimes I was working at it, sometimes exhibiting, one or two years just attending but I haven’t missed a one since the first I attended in 1981 when I was barely out of college.. (Besides my esteemed colleague, Charles Cumpston, who has the exact same record, I’d be curious to know if there’s anyone else out there who has a longer consecutive attendance.).

I remember when the show was in March (much better I think for the industry), when it went to family-friendly cities like San Antonio and all the stories I have from things that have happened during it. (I’ll put them in that hypothetical book I write some day.).

So what, besides a nervous industry on a nervous strip, will we find this year?

I lean back in the cab. We are stuck in traffic due to an accident and my short trip has gotten longer. I look at the cabby and around the cab. He has no wedding ring, no pictures of a wife or kids around. “Okay,” I say, “you don’t gamble, you don’t drink and you don’t smoke, but what about girls? Surely Las Vegas is good place to meet women, no?”

Oh he gave me an answer all right, but I’ll save it for next time….

Fixing the NFRC

Our report on the most recent meeting of the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) is included in the September issue of USGlass magazine. The decision-making process continues to be the source of major frustration for most in the know in the glass industry. In fact, some leading members of the glass industry are considering boycotting the next meeting. And Greg Carney of the Glass Association of North America (GANA) and Marg Webb of the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance (IGMA) have already withheld their votes in protest at a previous meeting.

Those in the contract glazing industry who got involved early have long since seen their input ignored. Contract glaziers are among our industry’s busiest segment and most are happy to provide their input when they feel it will be considered as part of the democratic process. But they will not be part of a charade that does not have an open and fair process. And anyone who thinks that there is democracy going on in the NFRC’s process has either drunk the kool-aid or been fed a great line—or maybe dinner—by NFRC officials.

Yet, there is a way to fix this. There is a way to make sure the process is open and democratic and that all parties involved from every industry segment or any “stakeholder group” (as NFRC calls them) feels the same way. There is a way to ensure that participants have no quarrel with the process and no market segment feels cheated. Here’s how: NFRC should develop its programs in accordance with the ASTM or ANSI methods for consensus standards development.

These methods provide a sound, proven method for developing documents. The procedures have been properly vetted for fairness and balance. Since NFRC professes a commitment to openness, the adoption of such procedures should only be welcome by the group’s board of directors. And the development of all procedures, policies, approaches, certifications or other items would no longer be suspect.

If an effort such as this is not made, the commercial glass industry’s buy-in will never occur. At a recent GANA meeting one participant was so upset by the NFRC’s antics that he said he plans to add a separate line on all his estimates and invoices called “NFRC compliance fees.” “I want the architects—and everyone else who sees this estimates—to know right away how much this is costing them,” he said. NFRC’s use a proven consensus-building process might also help advance the acceptance of its work without such measures.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Sailing Away for a Day

Our office always tries to take a day or two each summer to do something a little different. We get just a few days a year without a magazine in production and used to hold the stereotypical “office picnic” on one of those days.

A few years ago, we tried something a little different and went to a local amusement park—King’s Dominion for those of you who know Virginia—and it was a great hit. Last year, we spent the day at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. We got to see the new baby panda, the refurbished reptile house, one very tired looking sloth bear and a great variety of unique mammals. The best part of that trip for me was watching the looks on the faces of the kids of our employees as they got to see the animals. I have some great pictures of the Taffera girls (daughters of DWM publisher Tara Taffera) at the petting zoo that I treasure.

Our venues are always chosen by majority vote and this year, a trip to Tangier Island (http://www.tangierisland-va.com/island) won.

If you’ve never heard of Tangier Island, you are not alone. It is a 1 ½ mile wide and three-mile long island at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. It was one he first places settled by the British in the 1600s and was relatively isolated until the 1960s. Some of it older residents still speak the King’s English with a decidedly English accent that is neat to hear. The only businesses are crabbing, fishing and a little tourism. Tangier Island has just over 600 residents, 20 cars, a ton of golf carts. It has no post office, no bank and ferry service twice a day to both Virginia and Maryland.

Everything used for the construction of buildings there comes by boat. Glass is brought in via boats from three glass companies that work on the island and is rolled in carts from ship to site. “Most of the glass that comes in is already in windows,” explained Captain Billy, captain of our vessel, Liquid Assets http://www.captbillyscharters.com/charters.asp), and our tour guide. “None of the pieces that come over are too big because of the transportation. You just don’t see large expanses of glass.”
Pity, because the views are beautiful.

After a day of visiting the island (and, boy, did we pick a hot day) we all gathered at Hilda Crockett’s Chesapeake House (http://tangierisland-va.com/cheshouse/) for an indescribably delicious meal of Tangier fare, including crab cakes made with crab so fresh I was expecting it to crawl away.

The islanders were so hospitable that they opened the new Tangier History Museum (http://tangierisland-va.com/water_trail_brochure/) especially for us in the early evening. We saw a very moving film about the history of the island and how the Chesapeake, their way of life and their livelihood is being destroyed by environmental irresponsibility. It gave life and new cause to everything we are trying to do in the office to be green. We then boarded Liquid Assets and enjoyed a peaceful trip—and beautiful sunset—on our way home.

Photo Captions (from top to bottom)

• Views of Tangier Island
• The Key Communications team enjoys a visit to the Tangier History Museum
• Art director Dawn Campbell, chair of Key's activities committee with Captain Billy (right) and first mate Tony (left) on Tangier Island.