Back from AIA

I’m not quite over the jet lag yet, but with the May USGlass going to press and the June New Products Guide deadline just passed (yes, that’s right – but if you send in your products this week we may be able to squeeze them into this packed issue) leading to an avalanche of product releases, lounging at home wasn’t exactly an option. Yes, those West Coast shows sure can be tough for us East Coast dwellers. The American Institute of Architects Annual Convention may have been tough for a lot of exhibitors, though.

Max Perilstein touched on the show floor layout in his blog last week and I’m sure will have additional comments on the show later this week. For my part, the first day seemed to get off to a fairly slow start, but, in the South Hall at least, it remained steady even through the last minutes of the show on Saturday. While the refrain of “quality leads over quantity” quickly became tired, by the second day I found myself echoing it—not because traffic was so slow at our booth but because those architects who came by truly were excited to see the magazines we were offering. As one exhibitor I spoke with mentioned, “Probably everyone that has come by has a need where we can help them.” It just goes to show you that if you’re investing in the dollars to travel in this economic climate, you’re going to take it seriously.

But I didn’t spend nearly as much time in our booth as I did wandering the show floor (and with the many booths mismarked in the directory listing, wandering proved more helpful than setting out to track companies down). If you didn’t make it to the show, we tried to capture a sense of the goings-on via our video reports on USGNN.com, and a great many more product highlights will be featured in our full show review in the June USGlass. (If you did make it to the show, please share your observations by commenting here on this blog!)

You can see on our video post my interest in solar products was shared by a number of companies showcasing their photovoltaic products at the show. In addition to the video, you’ll want to check out our Solar Glazing website for other highlights in this arena.

My college art history courses flashed before my eyes when I stopped with my colleague Ellen Rogers at the NGI Designer Glass booth. Although I know Ellen will be writing plenty on the gorgeous decorative glass options showcased at the show I can’t help but to comment on the amazing clarity of the replica masterpieces captured within and in some cases upon the glass in that booth.

At the Dorma booth, Mari Ciastko was kind enough to give me a tour of some of the stylish new products I’d been reading about from the company. There was plenty there to impress, including the slim header of the automatic sliding door that is operated using the same magnetic technology as the “maglev” trains that float rapidly over the rails in Shanghai. According to Mari, the real “wow” factor for architects visiting the booth was the MOVEO glass operable room partitions that combine transparency with sound insulation.

Serious Materials had a serious presence at the show, and I was happy for the opportunity to talk with Sandra Vaughan and Judy DePuy in the marketing department about their upcoming projects. That’s a company that’s sure to have a lot on its plate in the months ahead as it amps up production at its new facilities that we’ve highlighted on USGNN.com. Although I got a kick out of the graphics in the booth of the Virginia Air and Space Museum in my hometown, talking with these ladies got me curious about the projects this company will be working on in the near future.

It also was a pleasure to meet up with Mark Kearns with Dlubak after visiting with him at my recent plant tour. Mark was spotlighting the company’s new Green Heat product among other things; you’ll be able to learn much more about what the company is working on these days in the June USGlass.

Obviously this list is far from complete, so for those obvious omissions - I'm blaming it on the jet lag. Please give me a hand by posting your impressions of the show here. And for those of you who didn't make it to San Francisco, there will be plenty more to learn about in our review within the June USGlass.