Felt Normal to Attend a Trade Show Again. Glass TEXpo™ was Great

Last week I had a chance to attend Glass TEXpo™ in San Antonio, Texas.  This was the first trade show I have attended in several years, and it reminded me of how important trade shows are to our industry.  I want to thank Chris and the team at FHC for inviting me to attend and help out in their booth. First, the Texas Glass Association and USGlass did a great job setting up the show to make everyone feel safe and welcome. It started at the front entrance, where your temperature was taken and masks were supplied. The show floor was set up with an empty booth between each vendor. This spread the booths, giving everybody plenty of room for social distance. This is one feature that I hope they consider in the future for this type of show.

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of vendors that were there. Not only the large companies but numerous smaller new and local companies. Walking the show, I saw many new and innovative products being offered, from computer software to help glass companies quote and sell shower doors from their website by bidclips  https://bidclips.com or a neat new tool from FHC  https://fhc-usa.com that trims shower door seals with ease solving problems when seals are a bit to snug. The knowledge and experience represented at a show like this are priceless.

Educational seminars were also offered. I attended a seminar from Kuraray https://www.kuraray.us.com,bringing us up to date on new building codes for all glass handrails and safety glass. This was well worth it as heavy glass handrails are a popular item in the industry right now, with many questions of what meets codes and where laminated tempered glass is mandated. Of course, that old question of whether a top cap is needed on all installations was covered; yes, but always check with the local authority in charge for exceptions.

While most of the crowd was from Texas, many companies were attending from around the country. Most of the attendees I spoke with told me that they were looking for a reason to get out of the shop and go somewhere now that the country is starting to open.  I believe the NGA Glass Show in September will be well attended. By then, we should be getting back to the new normal. Knowing the glass industry, there will be a lot of pent-up new ideas, innovative products and a lot of experience to be shared. See you there!