As we continue to navigate our lives during the pandemic, our work lives continue to be disrupted in ways big and small. Are you and your co-workers back in the office now, or has your company decided to wait until 2022? Maybe your company has chosen to bring in only part of your team on certain days. Regardless, it’s safe to say that as 2021 comes to a close, many of us don’t have the luxury of getting the usual group photo for the annual...

In anticipation of next month’s 2021 FGIA Hybrid Fall Conference in Phoenix, AZ, we sent out information to our members about the safety protocols and what to expect at the event, for those attending in-person. The health and safety of our participants and staff is of paramount importance, and I wanted to also share that information here on the Member Edge blog. The Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass, our event venue, will accommodate CDC-recommended spacing for our group under current operating capacity. At this...

The FGIA team is excited to share that registration is now open for our 2021 Virtual Summer Conference, which will be held June 22-24! Maybe even more exciting than that is that this is the last fully-virtual event on the FGIA conference calendar! And, once again, we have a great line-up of speakers and topics to share.I’m anxious to hear keynote speaker Ken Gronbach (KGC Direct) explore the fascinating realm of demography and how counting people allows for accurately forecasting future markets to prepare companies...

As we move into warmer weather, interest in remodeling projects and window replacement increases among homeowners. With proper installation being such a critical component of realizing the full benefits of high-performing fenestration products, offering installation services performed by a qualified installer – evidenced by a third-party professional certification – adds value to your bid and allows your customers to be confident in the knowledge and expertise of your team.FGIA is proud to offer InstallationMasters® which has been available to the industry since the late 1990s....

It’s been a year since the world stopped in its tracks, and if you’re like me, you’re tired. Tired of social distancing. Tired of mask wearing. Tired of missing loved ones. Just tired. Special shout-out to all you tired parents out there! When it’s acceptable to do so, let’s all get together for the world’s largest high five. We are parenting during a pandemic, and it’s exhausting. So exhausting. As a parenting researcher put it when describing parents’ roles right now, “There’s just a lot...

It’s March, which means it has now been nearly a full year since the pandemic began, keeping us mostly indoors, including me and my family. As spring arrives, it is even more important than ever to keep an eye on open windows since we are at home so much of the time. As we all know, open windows can be dangerous for young children who are not properly supervised. Fortunately, the Window Safety Task Force shares resources and tips each spring to commemorate Window Safety...

As FGIA’s executive director, I have a lot of responsibilities, but limited time. After more than 20 years of experience in the industry, the last several of which have been in executive roles, I have learned a lot about leadership. With the online FGIA Leadership Development Program currently open for enrollment, I’ve been thinking about leadership lately and have settled on five traits that I’ve observed in great leaders and that I believe can go a long way to making sure your team is...

The FGIA Virtual Annual Conference is just around the corner! It is taking place February 23-25, and early bird registration is available through February 10. FGIA Marketing will be live-tweeting sessions throughout the conference on our Twitter account, and we would love for those attending to join the conversation. Follow the hashtag #FGIAconf and use it in your own posts about the event. We will be sharing your posts with our followers and tweeting highlights from speakers. As a reminder, you don’t need a Twitter...

We at FGIA are thrilled to announce the opening of registration for the 2021 FGIA Virtual Annual Conference, which will be held February 23-25. This three-day industry event can be attended from anywhere, with breaks built in to accommodate a range of time zones. Plus, an upgrade option is available for those companies who seek multiple registrations from different locations. Let’s get into some of the highlights for this much-anticipated fenestration and glass event.First off: Back by popular demand, economic analyst Dr. Chris Kuehl will...

2020 has certainly been a year of challenges for our industry. It is a difficult prospect, looking into 2021 and attempting to predict what is to come, but we at FGIA remain optimistic about the coming year.It is with much relief that I can report many fenestration and glass industry companies performed better financially this year than they may have feared earlier in 2020. While for many it was not as lucrative as the first couple of months of 2020 indicated, recovery did come, and...

Prior to my time with FGIA, I worked for a start-up in downtown Chicago. It was a new company with a lot of venture capital, and they invested deeply into portraying a fun, quirky company culture. With lime green walls and indoor swing sets, word quickly spread about the company’s culture. At one point, we had a game room, but it was almost always empty because everyone at the company was always too busy to enjoy it – perhaps a more telling detail about what...

Now that the holiday season has arrived, things are winding down for 2020. But what is not taking a break is FGIA’s commitment to our industry, more important now than ever with the unexpected changes brought by COVID-19. Last month, FGIA sent a survey to members to ask how companies have fared this year, and what FGIA can do to continue to ease their burdens. Three things were frequently requested by membership: education opportunities; a return to in-person conferences; and ways to combat the labor...