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GANA Launches Online Video Education Site
by Brian K. Pitman

In the construction industry as a whole, much of the focus of the industry is on providing top-notch products that meet or At many Glass Association of North America (GANA) events, especially the GANA Glass Fabrication and Glazing Educational Conference and the Building Envelope Contractors (BEC) Conference, you may have seen a video command center at the back of the room if you were in attendance. We have been doing this for most of our events in the past decade or so. GANA has filmed most of our educational presentations with the purpose of making them available to the industry online. Recently, GANA launched its video portal at www.glasseducation.com. The site carries a mix of live presentations, webinars and other video offerings, including the GANA presentations that have been approved for American Institute of Architects (AIA) credit.

While some videos are available to stream at no charge, others are being made available at a modest fee. We launched the site with ten or so video presentations, but our collection of videos is increasing as more videos are being added to the site each month. In total, more than 300 presentations will be available on the site in the first year, each of which offers a unique perspective or solution to many of the manufacturing, fabrication or installation issues that all of you face on a daily basis. Some are educational in nature, while others may be more informational or give a certain opinion about industry issues, such as the green movement, building codes and more.

Your Choice
We are excited to launch glasseducation.com after these many years of preparation. We feel that GANA has offered some of the best educational sessions over the past decade, and to be able to offer those to industry members online without any of the travel costs associated with the top events benefits our members even more. Think of it as creating your own glass conference, with you deciding which presentations are given. We have even included handouts for the presentations so it was as if you were in the room when it was given.

The initial set of ten or so videos offered includes educational sessions from the 2011 GANA Glass Fabrication Educational Conference. Specific tracts of videos include sessions on decorative glazing and laminated glass, as well as videos for glazing contractors from the BEC Conference. Most videos are in the 30-minute to one-hour range, so watching a video to better yourself isn’t going to take you away from your busy day or activity list. You may even find watching them at home helps you retain the knowledge a little better.

To get started, visit the website at www.glasseducation.com and browse through the available videos. Make sure you bookmark the site, because we are adding new videos all the time. For free videos, simply click on the video to see the presentation. For those that are pay-to-view, simply fill out the secure form with your information and a credit card, and then you will be emailed an instruction sheet with a unique link to view your video. Our videos can also be viewed on your smartphone or iPad, if you live in a more mobile world. We know you are going to enjoy this new tool to make your company better, your performance top-notch, and your processes the best they can be. n

Brian K. Pitman is the director of marketing and communications for the Glass Association of North America (GANA).

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