Eruzione scores at BEC

By Matt Slovick, editor in chief, Glass Magazine


Mike Eruzione scored the game-winning goal against the Soviet Union in the Olympics 28 years ago. He still makes a living talking about it.

And for the demographic at BEC--white, middle-aged men--you can see why he’s still popular. Actually, I talked to a woman from Minnesota the night before who still plays hockey in a co-ed league. She couldn’t wait to see the former Olympic team captain.

Eruzione opened up BEC’s Tuesday program to a packed house. I think more people waited in line for autographs after his speech than stayed for the final session on law.

The title of his speech, “Teamwork: The Winner’s Goal,” had many tips for anyone in any business, including those in the glass industry.

Before Eruzione took the stage, a highlight film recapped the amazing run of those young Americans at Lake Placid, his goal against the Soviets, the gold medal win against Finland and the lighting of the Olympic flame in Salt Lake City in 2002.

“That tape is the story of my life,” Eruzione said. “It’s four minutes long.” Laughs ensued.

Eruzione talked about the work ethic his father instilled as well as the lessons he learned from his gruff Olympic coach, Herb Brooks.

“I have a story to tell about a group of athletes that accomplished something that no one in the world thought we could accomplish,” he said.

Eruzione said Brooks told the team: “If you don’t want to be here then leave, because there are thousands of people who want to be in your shoes.”

Eruzione said you have to be part of it; you have to buy into it. “Surround yourself with people whose goals and objectives are the same as yours,” he said.

He also talked about the intangibles that he thinks successful people have whether it’s in athletics or at a job.

“You can’t measure heart, pride or commitment,” Eruzione said. “Intangibles separate good business from great business. If you believe in something, and you’re willing to work hard for it, you can accomplish it.”

He also said you have to respect your competition and even when things are going well, keep things in perspective.

“Twenty-eight years and one week ago, the president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, wanted to talk to me on the phone in the locker room,” Eruzione said. “I haven’t heard from him since.”

Eruzione still lives near his father and other family members in the Boston area. He said if they didn’t win that game, he’d probably be living in an apartment instead of a house, and he’d probably have eight kids instead of three. “I wouldn’t be traveling as much,” he said.

Eruzione said a few years ago, one of the Soviet players called him and proposed a series that would pit the two teams together again. They would play in different cities, and “make money.” Eruzione called one of his former teammates, Jack O’Callahan, to bounce the idea off him.

O’Callahan’s response: “Tell him that we played once, we won, so just get over it.”

Twenty-eight years later, it’s still enjoyable to hear stories from a man who at the age of 25 helped engineer what’s considered the biggest upset in the history of any sport.

Magical moments at BEC

By Matt Slovick, editor in chief, Glass Magazine


BEC started with opening remarks from Max Perilstein of Arch Aluminum & Glass. Max said the 650 attendees arrived from 42 states and all Canadian provinces as well as a few foreign countries.

He began the event with a Top 10 List of jobs people might have if they weren’t in the glass industry.

Each listing included a short clip from movies and TV shows such as dance instructor, “Hitch”; air traffic controller, “Airport”; military, “Stripes.” The No. 1 job was a spot on the Chippendales, which perform here at the Rio (tickets are $40 or $50). The clip came from “Saturday Night Live” featuring a buff Patrick Swayze and a portly Chris Farley auditioning for the male revue.

The opening presentation by Shep Hyken kept the entertainment going.

He talked about Creating Moments of Magic for Your Customers (his book is titled “Moments of Magic”). He had plenty of advice for business owners. “People do business with who they know, like and trust,” Hyken said. He said you need to make sure customers have more than a satisfactory experience. “There’s a big difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal customer,” he said.

Shep shared anecdotes about communication with his wife, going to McDonalds with his children, the lines at Disney, the turnaround of Scandinavian Airlines as well as a taxi driver who sent him a thank you card and at one point made $100,000 a year compared to the national average of $19,400.

“Every moment of truth needs to be a moment of magic even if it begins as a moment of misery,” he said in a moment. His 10 strategies to creating a moment of magic are:

1. Manage the first impression
2. Your expertise
3. Building rapport
4. Enthusiasm
5. Communication
6. No mistakes
7. UPOD: Under Promise, Over Delivery
8. Quality
9. Confidence
10. Appreciation.

He also performed a rope trick and card trick and ended with a “mind” trick. He asked a woman in the audience to write down on a post-it a number from 25 to 50. He asked a man in the audience to look at his watch and shout out the time every five seconds. He then began writing what appeared to be random numbers on a white pad. Between 30 and 35 seconds, he finished four rows of four numbers.

He said it took him 33 seconds to finish. Her number: 33 (OMG!). But what were those numbers all about? It just so happens that every row across, down and diagonal added up to 33. So did four-number groupings in each corner along with the four numbers grouped in the center.

It was truly a magical moment.

I wonder if he’ll send everyone in the audience a thank you card for the applause?

In Vegas, winning with knowledge

By Matt Slovick, editor in chief, Glass Magazine


One of the final presentations of Glass Week in Vegas was a speech titled “Countdown to Teamwork” by Mike Mullane, who flew three space shuttle missions.

He spoke about self leadership and used the term “normalization of deviance,” which he believes led to the Challenger tragedy. He said under pressure circumstances, people will accept a lower standard of performance. If no immediate bad consequences occur, those lower standards become the norm.

In the shuttle’s case, it was the O rings. Documentation showed they were flawed and were getting burned, but flight after flight launched and landed without a major problem.

“The Challenger was no accident,” Mullane said. “It was a predictable surprise.”

He also said the Challenger did not explode but suffered a catastrophic structural breakdown. The capsule holding the astronauts survived intact. However, NASA had not designed an escape method as it did for Gemini and Apollo. Thus, the astronauts plunged to their deaths.

I’m sure everyone in the room learned something they can take back to their workplaces.

I’m also taking back a signed copy of Mullane’s book “Riding Rockets,” which is Rated R according to the astronaut. I won it during a NASA trivia contest.

Mullane asked who the second American in space was. I shot up my hand like the nerdy kid in high school sitting in the front row (I was in the second row). I answered Gus Grissom, which was correct. Alan Shepard was first; John Glenn third.

Mullane’s second trivia question: How many Americans have walked on the moon? Again, my arm shot up like a rocket (ha ha). Mullane told me I couldn’t win again. The correct answer was 12. Apollo 11 was first, Apollo 17 the last, and Apollo 13 never landed on the moon. After three wrong answers, Richard Green, who was giving the next presentation about the point-supported glass in the Bangkok International Airport, answered 12 (he was in the front row).

Mullane signed the book “Dream Big!”

He’s right. I’m going to go downstairs right now and hit the blackjack table.

Ice delays trip to Vegas

By Matt Slovick, editor in chief, Glass Magazine


I’m in Las Vegas for the back-to-back Glass Week/Building Envelope Contractors events.

It took awhile to get here. First, my commute home Tuesday night from the office in Northern Virginia to Maryland took three hours in the rain and ice instead of the usual one hour.

Wednesday, the drive to BWI airport was slowed by one accident. The Web site said my flight was delayed but could still leave on time. So, I still had to get there ahead of the scheduled take off of 9:55 a.m. ET.

Well, my plane was sitting on a runway in icy Hartford, Conn. After a 4 ½ hour wait, it made it to Baltimore. Once we hit cruising altitude, everything was fine on the five-hour flight. Touchdown temperature was 73 degrees!

I’m staying at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino. The little notepad here on the desk states “Exotic. Uninhibited. Fun.”

I did see some “fun” on the casino floor. The Rio has five free shows daily. Dancers take the main stage while smaller “stages” hang from the ceiling, moving on a track throughout the casino.


I’m not here as a show reviewer, but let me just say I could see why theses dancers are performing for free.

A few Chippendale dancers then arrived for photo ops. I passed on the Kodak Moment (have digital cameras and phones made that term obsolete?).

The Rio's VooDoo Lounge is on the 51st floor and has a great view of the city.

Glass Week kicks off today at 7 a.m. PT. Happy Valentine's Day.

At least my commute shouldn’t be bad. Unless the elevators aren’t working. I'm on the 14th floor.

Little 'green' lies

By Jenni Chase, editor, AutoGlass magazine

During the Feb. 12 “Green Is Good” panel discussion at the 2008 National Auto Glass Conference in Tucson, GlasWeld President Mike Boyle threw out an interesting statistic: Nine out of 10 people admit telling “green” lies in an effort to appear more environmentally responsible. The reason: People want to be green, but either don’t understand the issues or don’t know where to start.
Going green can be an intimidating prospect. I mean, how many windshields can you transport in a Toyota Prius? Yet, just because you can’t replace your fleet of mobile vans with hybrid vehicles doesn’t mean you can’t positively affect our environment. Some simple suggestions from the panel:
• Put battery chargers on a timer so they don’t drain electricity 24 hours a day.
• Replace the old soda machine in your lobby with a new, more energy-efficient model.
• Tint your shop windows to cut down on passive solar heat gain and lower air-conditioning usage.
• Use energy-efficient light bulbs.
• Replace the Styrofoam cups of coffee you give to customers with mugs.
• Install a high-quality water filter so employees can drink water from the tap rather than purchasing plastic water bottles.
• Call your local energy provider and ask them to come out and audit your facility. You’d be amazed at the number of simple changes you can make to improve your energy efficiency.
• Talk to your employees. You might be surprised by the number of suggestions they can offer.

I’d like to add one more: Share your experiences. If you’ve made a change at your location that can help others “green” their business, please let us know. E-mail myself or Matt Rumbaugh at mrumbaugh@glass.org.
For more information on the National Auto Glass Conference, visit www.autoglassmagazine.net.

Confessions of a dangerous golfer

By Jenni Chase, editor, AutoGlass magazine

For years, I’ve secretly dreamt of participating in the National Auto Glass Annual Golf Classic. In fact, it was the inspiration behind many a golf lesson with my extremely patient husband. A zero handicap, he warned me that golf was a game of practice and patience. He didn’t tell me it was also a game of life and death. Let me explain.
When I walked on to the golf course for the first time, toting my brand-new clubs and hot-pink golf balls, I was both nervous and excited. On the 9th hole, I stepped up to the tee, took a big swing, and topped the ball. Rather than soaring through the air, it went skidding across the grass at a high rate of speed before stopping abruptly. Its target: a squirrel crossing the fairway. On bad days, I can’t hit the broad side of a barn, let alone a 2-pound moving target 150 yards away. Yet, that day my golf ball was destined to meet that squirrel. I’ll leave it to your imagination as to the nickname this incident inspired. And no, it’s not “Fuzzy.”
One of these days, my pink golf ball will be among those on the 18th green at the golf classic. Until then, I’ll leave it to the experts. Congratulations to Rodger Pickett, James O’Malley, Kirk Reed and Brian Clayton for placing first in the 2008 National Auto Glass Annual Golf Classic, held Feb. 11 at the Starr Pass Golf Club in Tucson. Sponsored by Equalizer Industries, the tournament kicks off three days of management-level education seminars at the National Auto Glass Conference: A Forum for Auto Glass Executives at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in that Arizona city. For complete conference coverage, visit www.autoglassmagazine.net.

'American Idol' loves glass

—By Katy Devlin, e-newsletter editor

Well, more accurately, "American Idol" contestant Josh Jones loves glass.

Jones, a 26-year-old lead installer at Binswanger Glass Co. in Atlanta, graced America with a lesson on glass before moving to the music during the Feb. 5 episode of "American Idol." "I have a passion for glass," Jones said during the show. Click on the video below to watch the segment.



“When they learned I worked in glass, they were really intrigued,” Jones said during a phone interview. “People from all backgrounds audition for the show, but apparently they’ve never had a glass guy.”

Jones, a seven-year industry veteran, started working in a glass shop in Jacksonville, Fla., before moving to Binswanger Glass in Greenville, S.C. He transferred to Atlanta in January 2007. “I install frameless shower doors—that’s my expertise,” Jones said.

Jones’ passion to glass is rivaled by his devotion to music. He has been singing since he can remember and heads up the Atlanta three-piece band Josh Jones Machine.

“If you were to throw Coldplay, David Bowie, Dave Matthews and Yes into a bucket, shake it and pour it out, that would be Josh Jones Machine,” he said.

Marty Mahoney, Binswanger Glass branch manager in Atlanta, said Jones finds a way to make music at the shop. “We knew when he transferred to our branch that his aspirations were in music,” Mahoney said. “We have quite a few musicians and from time to time they stay back in the shop, set up equipment and play. … He’s very talented.”

Watch "American Idol" at 8 p.m. Feb. 12 on Fox to see Jones hit Hollywood for the final round of auditions.

Sun, sand and volleyball

By Matt Slovick, editor in chief, Glass Magazine


Like most conferences, the IGMA event in Sanibel Island included a golf tournament.

The winning foursome was Bob Spindler (Cardinal), Jon DeVoogd (Allmetal), Dave Pinder (Cardinal) and Steve Meisel (WR Grace). DeVoogd and Ray Gallagher (Technoform) got closest to the pin; Ken Brenden (AAMA) had the longest drive.

On Thursday, a three-hour block was reserved for a tennis tournament or volleyball. Gerhard Reichert, Edgetech I.G., beat Chris Barry of Pilkington North America for the tennis title.

I didn’t play golf or tennis. But I did show up for volleyball, which took place on the sand between the pool and the beach. I understand many who had signed up for volleyball elected to play another round of golf.

About 14 people played throughout the afternoon. Phil Jones, general manager of G.James Safety Glass in Australia, noted in his classic Australian accent: "I remember when I could leap over the net, now I can't even reach the bloody top."

A group of five stayed from the first serve until the last point more than four hours later. As we walked (limped) off the court, people started arriving for the poolside dinner.

The Iron Men were Ken “Spike” Brenden; Tracy “I Got Your Back” Rogers, Edgetech; John “The Serve” Czopek, Sommer and Maca Industries; Joe “Dig” Erb, Edgetech; and myself. Honorable mention goes to John’s wife, Ann, who played in all but the final game (she wanted a little bit more time to get ready for the dinner).

Some old injuries became aggravated, there was a jammed finger, a pulled “something” along with a few bumps, bruises, mouths full of sand, some smack talk along ... and loads of fun.

Thanks to IGMA for supplying a courtside cooler with water and other beverages, which had to be constantly restocked.

The best news is that everyone made it to the presentations the next morning. I’ve included the view from the windows of the meeting room. I miss Sanibel Island.