We planned the new website to provide on-target information to all different types of users, including those in the industry, architects, specifiers, consumers, and others with an interest in glass. What makes the site unique is that the information provided is tailored to the user’s needs. With a variety of locators and buyers’ guides available, we expect it to prove very helpful to all who use it.

Unique to the site, too, is the Consumer Info Center@glass.com. It allows consumers to search for information and also to ask questions about glass and glass products.

What we didn’t expect in our planning was a baptism by fire. But that’s what we got on the evening of February 25, 2000. As you may know, the ABC news magazine show 20/20 aired a report on improper installation of windshields. (An in-depth report will be published in the next issue of our auto glass magazine AGRR.)

The producers of 20/20 chose to link its web site to glass.com and the Consumer Info Center@glass.com went to work. By Saturday morning, more than 3,000 people had visited glass.com and our group of experts had answered nearly 1,000 questions from consumers—mostly about the safety of their windshields, but some with other concerns as well.

The questions really brought home how important accurate information is in allying fear and doubt. There were more than 100 questions from people that began with “I have a toddler,” or “I have babies and I’m worried about them being thrown through the windshield ...” Some people had their windshield replaced and wanted to know if it was installed properly. In fact,
one visitor had hers replaced that morning, by one of the companies shown in the 20/20 report. You
could feel the concern, even through
e-mail.

To tell you the truth, being able to answer the questions as a public service was a thrill. We work so much in paper and on “inside industry” information that having the chance to help Joe Average learn about glass and proper installations was heart-warming. We plan to expand the Consumer Info Center and provide even more information during the coming months, and appreciate the companies that are helping us with it.

One question we received really stuck out too. It was from an auto glass installer in the South and I promised him I would ask our readers for advice. “What do you do,” he asked, “when you’ve been trained and you know the right way to do things, but your owner wants you to take short cuts? I need my job, so what do I do?”

I told him that was a tough one ... and that I’d ask the best experts in the world—our readers. So please let me know. You can e-mail me with comments, suggestions and feedback. Send them to deb@glass.com.

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