AGA’s annual trade show and convention, Americas Glass Showcase® was held on May 2nd & 3rd. Our trade show was co-located with two other groups, the Independent Glass Association (IGA) and the International Window Film Expo (IWFE) at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas, NV.

Thursday morning’s AGA Golf Classic kicked off the three day event at Rhodes Ranch Golf Course. The “Best Ball Scramble” competition was a blustery day, but golfers commented on what a beautiful and well maintained course it was.

Congratulations to the following men and women:

1st Place, Cathy Finney, Stephanie Lamb, Daniel Rodriquez & Jonathan Schuyler
 

2nd Place, Ed Farnan, Tim Gibson, Jimmy Jenkins & Steve Sherman
 

Before the trade show opened on Friday, our Keynote speaker, Tom Grandy, made his well attended presentation.

AGA President; Donn Harter addressed members present at the AGA Annual Meeting. Donn reported on the AGA’s accomplishments and progress of current issues we are working on. He also presented three awards; the President’s Award to Kermit Robinson, International Codes Council (ICC), the Chairman’s Award went to Roger Grant, Sr., Atascadero Glass Company and honored for 25 years of membership was Don Sverchek, Contractor’s Glass Company.

Our attendees showed their thirst for information and knowledge by filling the rooms of the 10 educational seminars offered. Topics covered were code updates, labor pricing, proper installation of glass railings to mastering emotional intelligence and fire rated glazing.

IWFE hosted an automotive and an architectural “Tint-Off” competition. There were two sets of rules for each event. The auto competition had to tint the two side windows of the vehicle in 30 minutes. The top three scores from the preliminary heats went on to the finals, where they tinted the back glass.

Automotive Winners
1st Place, Les Helton, Performance Window Tinting Inc.
2nd Place, Chris Brooks, Kauff’s Kustom Tint & Graphics
3rd Place, George Reyna, Tint Masters
 

 

The architectural division only had one round and they had a 7.5 foot tall glass pane/similar to a door to tint. Their challenge was to create a vertical seam in the center and make it as seamless as possible while also watching their rubber gaskets and other elements.

Architectural Winners
1st Place, Damon Eidson, Pro-Tint
2nd Place, Caleb Silkett, Midwest Tinting Inc.

Three raffles were held during the trade show, four “Bug-it”TM stencil kits and four 2006 editions of theSource® were awarded. The third Grand Prize raffle was held during the last minutes of the trade show on Saturday. A 46” flat screen T.V. was given to the winner, Brenda Perez from A Touch of Glass of Yuma, AZ.

Attendees weren’t the only winners at this year’s event. Exhibitors were also judged on their booth display. The criteria used for the “Best of Showcase” trophies were: company identity, product presentation, exhibit visual appeal and effectiveness and exhibit personnel. Sharing the spotlight was:

1st Place, Palmer Products, Louisville, KY
 


2nd Place, Roland ASD, Irvine, CA
 


3rd Place, GlassWerks, LA, Los Angeles, CA

Be sure to join us in 2009 for Americas Glass Showcase® where the fun, sharing of knowledge and networking will again take place.  South Point Hotel, Casino, Spa is the location, and May 15 & 16, 2009 are the dates. Hope to see you there!