Sunday, May 25, 2014

Groundbreaking Educational Opportunities

Huge news with the announcement of a new program and how it relates to you and your educational “must haves” broke last week.  The program is Express Learning and it will be held on the floor at GlassBuild America.  In the past there were education sessions but they were usually in a conference room a few floors about the exhibit hall.  These sessions will be on the actual trade show floor and be set in the perfect length for learning- 20 minutes. And did I mention it’s FREE.  So if you are an attendee or exhibitor at the show, you can come to as many as you want- free of charge.   Some awesome subjects are on the docket as well.  Subjects that can make a significant different in your business and approach like “Solving our Workers Shortage” and “Help Architects Help You” have me pretty pumped.  The info is here- so check it out- I’ll be talking more about this as it gets closer, but needless to say this is groundbreaking and it will be the best and most comprehensive opportunity you can have to learn while attending the one event you HAVE to attend in GlassBuild America.  I’ve always said those who don’t come to the show get left behind by their competitors… now with this Express Learning program, its even more crucial you attend and be involved.

Elsewhere…

--  By the way the one subject- “Solving our Workers Shortage” should be front and center one everyone’s mind.  This is basically a crisis right now, so any insight and education is must.

--  An industry classic announced his retirement this past week… Jim Roesing, President of Super Sky stepped down after leading that company since 1987 and 47 years total in the business.  I had the honor of working for a short time with Jim and it was a tremendous experience.  This is a guy that changed the way the modern commercial Skylight was developed and installed and a true pioneer.  Plus he looks just like the most interesting man in the world (from the Dos Equus commercials) and easily can tell stories that would make him eligible for that title if it were real.  Our industry will miss him for sure… enjoy the retirement Jim!!

--  The Katy Devlin blog from last week on Las Vegas was excellent reading.  The stories behind the whole City Center project would make an amazing book.  I wish I had the time, money, and talent because I’d love to do it.  So much from the planning, the financing, the building, the problems etc. it would read better than any thriller on the market today.  Or at least a fun book for construction geeks like myself.

--  The Dodge Momentum Index had a nice jump in April after a couple of down months.  I think people are now getting busy in every region, so the worry now is two fold… finding workforce (as in noted above) and dealing with cash flow.  Both issues really have a serious way of dampening the enthusiasm of a busier stretch.

--  Last this week, I find myself rooting hard for the gang at the Green Building Initiative and I believe you all should as well.  I have been outspoken against LEED for its various issues but I dislike nothing more than a monopoly for services or ratings.  LEED right now is the biggest and baddest on the block but the Green Building Initiative is making inroads and had two interesting releases recently.  One was showing a diverse list of new projects that received their certifications and another that compared their cost on a project to LEED.  This one is worth the read, especially when you see LEED’s cost in the six-figure range, while Green Building Initiative at less than 10K.  Competition is a very good thing folks, lets hope this gets embraced because green building is only going to grow; we need good and logical options to rate and certify it.

LINKS of the WEEK

--  The continuing decline of mental health is our world, all summed on this story about Facebook posts.  I’m not sure why mental health does not get the focus it deserves, but it surely is a more pressing and serious issue than most of what we all talk about these days.

--  This man is a tremendous businessperson.  Brilliant!!

--  The one-armed football player… like a friend mentioned to me, this will be a movie of the week one of these days!

VIDEO of the WEEK

This is easily the funniest post game interview ever.  Obviously the player does not want to talk…. Love it.



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