Busy in the Big Apple
I’m still settling back in to life in the office after a whirlwind week recently in New York, and let me tell you … what a week it was. This trip began with an early morning flight and didn’t stop until I made it home on Friday night. There were companies to visit, seminars to attend, trade shows to walk, sites to see and awards to be (almost) had.
The trip started on a Tuesday at LaGuardia airport where I met up with some of my co-workers to head over to the Long Island Marriott where Glass Expo Northeast ’19™ would begin the next day. Once we arrived, I quickly had to transform from comfortable travel-attire into camera-ready media professional, since I was headed to visit nearby Innovative Glass Corp. where we would be filming for an upcoming newscast to highlight the company’s new showroom and design center.
I’ve worked closely with Robin Abadi, the company’s director of public relations and marketing for a number of years, and she has always been great to work with, whether for feature articles, new or product information. Even though we’d exchanged tons of emails, we’d never met face-to-face, so I was excited to finally be putting a face to a name.
From the moment we arrived, it was like we were part of the family. We were hugged, greeted, welcomed and presented a feast of New York fare: pizza, bagels, salads, fruit and these delicious rainbow cookies. And lunch wasn’t just with a select few, but with every employee. We all sat together, talked, laughed and got to know each other. It really was like meal time with family.
After lunch we took a pre-tour of the facility before we did the actual video tour and filming. The company was founded by Steve Abadi, and when he speaks about his business, his face glows with the pride and joy it brings. The facility features a wide selection of smart glass products and is designed to showcase the many different ways in which it can be used. I don’t want to give too much away just yet, as we will be featuring the company in an upcoming USGNN newscast, so be sure and keep a look out for it.
One other thing I will add … as someone who is impressed with little details, I loved seeing these Hershey Kisses, custom-wrapped in the colors of the company’s logo. Such a nice added touch.
A sweet treat from Innovative Glass Corp.
The eglass configuration wall in the Innovative Glass Corp. showroom allows you to combine different types of glass products resulting in dozens of possible combinations.
The education didn’t end there, as the week continued the next two days with both Glass Expo Northeast and Architects’ Forum 2019, both at the Long Island Marriott. You can check out our videos and news from the events through the links below.
Glass Expo Northeast Kicks Off Today in Long Island
Glass Expo Northeast Seminars Continue
Glass Expo Northeast Wraps up with a Strong Finish
VIDEO: Day One at Glass Expo Northeast
VIDEO: Glass Expo Northeast, Day Two
Architects’ Forum Offers Glass and Fenestration Education
Speaking of the Architects’ Forum, it was great to see so many architects come out for a day of learning. Our presenting sponsors were outstanding and offered a lot of great information. A special thank you to Quanex Building Products, Guardian Glass, Kuraray America and YKK AP America for being a part of Architects’ Forum 2019.
Architects’ Forum 2019 brought architects together for a day of glass-industry education and networking.
My time in New York concluded on Friday with the awards ceremony for the Jesse H. Neal Awards. USGlass was a finalist for best technical content and also best use of video/webcast. It was an absolute honor to be there, and I look forward to going back.
Attending the Neal Awards Ceremony with Drew Vass (left) and Jordan Scott.
If you read this blog regularly, you know I’m also a runner, and no trip to the Big Apple is complete without an early morning run. I hit the High Line the morning before the awards lunch and took a slight detour into Hudson Yards where I got a nice look at the Vessel, as well as the Shed. While the old saying goes “The early bird gets the worm,” I like to say early birds can also get some nice shots of otherwise crowded sites. Oh, and I had to grab that shot of the 520 West 28th Condominiums, which were featured last year on the June cover … I showed the picture I took to a friend, who then asked me if it in Germany.
“That was New York!” I responded, and I’m excited to see even more globally-inspired architecture here in the U.S. in the future.
The Vessel at Hudson Yards.
520 West 28th.
