Connected to the Glass Industry

I know this blog is late in coming, but I wanted to just say for the record that Glass Performance Days was a blast. I was really surprised about how many of us first-timers were there – and here I thought that I was the only person in the industry not to have made it to Tampere, Finland, for this notable biannual conference. Some people were drawn by this year’s expanded focus on solar glazing, some because they’re starting to do more business overseas and were interested in networking with the heavy-hitters that this event tends to attract. I was there to soak it all in. As I commented time and again to other attendees, the five simultaneous tracks was a bit overwhelming – but it was possible to learn about the seminars you missed just by tuning into the buzz at the coffee breaks or chatting with the speakers over dinner.

Of course beyond the flood of information on glass processing and design, there was another nugget of information I took home with me. Never do I appreciate the connectedness offered by the internet as when I’m overseas. While at GPD I had numerous comments from my compatriots over there about how at the end of the day they would check their email and find already a report on the conference’s activities on USGNN.com. (I had high hopes of blogging daily but somehow between the day-long sessions and the night-long networking, I’m sure you can understand that it was hard to find the time to collect my thoughts much less post them … ) On tomorrow's USGNN newscast (stay tuned!) you’ll see some video footage from Finland, as video is another great medium more and more people are adopting to help spread information. Following GPD, as I enjoyed a few days of R&R in beautiful Helsinki, I was able to better appreciate the beauty of social media as I kept my friends and family updated on my whereabouts by posting photos and stories on my personal blog.

What about you out there? Obviously if you’re reading this blog you’re taking advantage of one of the most popular means of social media in the name of business. But what other platforms do you use? Do you tweet about glass? Are you linked in? Does your business blog? Are your Facebook friends all in the glass industry? Let me know – not only would I like to connect virtually, I’d like to include your comments on connectedness in our electronic-focused August issue of USGlass.

In this upcoming issue we’ll also be running our Best of the Web contest (in fact, our judges are reviewing those many nominations this week …!). I can’t help but think of how for the past several years we’ve urged our readers to create and update websites, as it’s a medium you can hardly do business without these days. In the future, will a website be enough or will other forms of online marketing be a necessity for keeping competitive?

Packing for GPD

I spent my Saturday afternoon trying to cram three suitcases worth of stuff into one much-abused bag. I tend to over-pack anyway, but I wanted to be particularly prepared for anything for my upcoming trip to Finland.

“Finland?” my friends have said with some surprise over the past few months when I’ve mentioned my trip.

I do somewhat share that sentiment, in the respect that Finland seems so off-the-beaten path compared to the usual European tourist destinations. Who goes to Finland? Well, aside from the several hundred other members of the glass industry who will be flocking to Tampere for the Glass Performance Days conference?

I’ve been looking forward to this trip for about five years now, since I first joined the USGlass team and heard stories about my coworkers’ visits to this much-talked about event.

My friend and colleague, Brigid, recently shared with me a few words of advice based upon her GPD trip four years ago (which you can read about here):

• "Ask for ‘flat’ water, otherwise you get seltzer water (or be prepared to drink tea, coffee or carbonated beverages);


• If you're traveling by train, make sure you're in the right train car before you sit down;
  
• Don't be afraid to try food you've never seen or heard of before. If nothing else, it's a great conversation starter; and


• Don't worry about the sun not going down - the hotel rooms have wonderfully thick, dark curtains on them and you won't be able to tell what time it is outside. Not that you could even if the curtains were open," she says.

Ellen Rogers added to Brigid’s words of wisdom from that trip. “Get used to the midnight sun,” she advised. Ellen recalled from her last trip, “I remember being at an outside bar with a few others from GPD ... it was around 1:00 a.m. and still daylight. It's so strange ... luckily there are heavy drapes in the hotel rooms. One of the best parts about the trip was having dinner at the top of the Näsinneula Observation tower (a restaurant offering a vegetarian option!). It must have been around midnight ... maybe even later ... and from windows on one side of the tower you could see the sun setting, while on the other side it was rising. Very cool.”

And although I’m excited about the literal 24-hour days and am salivating at the thought of a week’s worth of salmon … the glass geek in me is anticipating a fantastic seminar schedule, as this show is known first and foremost for its cutting-edge presentations. As my friend Steve reminded me when I asked for his impressions on the show he attended two years ago, “GPD is the premiere world-wide glass technology conference. The breadth of topics along with the wealth of knowledge at this event is world class. Anyone involved in the glass or fenestration industries must attend for the scientific and networking opportunities.”

If you will be attending GPD—I’m sure we North Americans will stick out and I’ll be saying hello to you soon. If you won’t make it to the conference, take a look at the program and let me know if there’s a conference topic you’re particularly interested in, as I’ll be working to include the most useful information for you in our USGNN.com newsletter, as well as the August issue of USGlass. And if you have any tips for traveling to Tampere - post them here!