BEC Conference Underway in Las Vegas

by Charles Cumpston

LAS VEGAS—The ever-expanding Glass Association of North America Building Envelope Contractors (BEC) Conference got underway last night with a reception at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino in Las Vegas with a capacity crowd of 420 people.

More Wanted to Come

GANA officials in Topeka, Kan., had closed off registration to the event last week when the number of attendees hit the maximum number of people that can be physically accommodated in the room.

A strong educational program has made this a must-attend industry event for contract glaziers and their suppliers.

Max Perilstein, BEC division chairperson, opened the educational program. He pointed out that attendance had gone from 350 last year to more than 400 this year. In starting, Perilstein said he wanted to depart from precedence and presented his Top 10 List of humorous helpful hints for approving your sales approach in business, using film clips from various comedy sources. While a number of them revolved around bad manners and eating problems, the one that seemed to ring most true was the boy who asked the girl what his chances where with her and she said, “One in a million.” His reply: “So you’re telling me I have a chance. Yes!” Life is not easy in contract glazing.

Perilstein then introduced keynote speaker Steven Little, a business consultant who discussed keys to sustained business growth. He said the people problem—the lack of them—is the problem. There are more jobs being created than there are new workers to fill them, he told the group.

His advice? Make it an opportunity, and he then went through methods companies have used to achieve sustained growth. An organization has to have a sense of purpose and its leaders are responsible for setting that purpose. He said it has to be disseminated throughout the company and that requires planning. He stressed that people have to be in the plan, and also in the planning. “The best planning comes from the working level and rises to the top. It can’t start at the top and be shoved down people’s throats,” he said.

Just prior to the opening reception on Sunday evening, members of the BEC Division Technical Committee met to discuss the AAMA Guide Specification for Blast Hazard Mitigation as well as the recently introduced Project Managers Reference Manual. The group also has two shop drawings informational bulletins that are nearing completion.