FINISHING VIEWPOINT: And the Winner Is...
Finishing Today realizes that it’s imperative to recognize the technical leaders of our industry. In concert with this goal, we are currently accepting nominations for FT’s 2007 Innovation Awards.
“I would like to thank my agent, and my mother and the producers for believing in me, blah, blah, blah…”
Ever get tired of all those award shows? It wasn’t so bad when all we had to slog through were the Academy Awards, the Grammys and the Emmys. Now we have the Tonys, MTV VMA’s and Movie Awards, People’s Choice, Critic’s Choice, Golden Globes, Country Music Awards, SAG, BET, American Music Awards, BAFTA, etc., etc., ad nauseam. Will it ever stop?
In spite of all this pervasive self-congratulatory blather, Finishing Today realizes that it’s imperative to recognize the technical leaders of our industry. In concert with this goal, we are currently accepting nominations for FT’s 2007 Innovation Awards. Last year, eight companies garnered awards for their innovative technologies encompassing material, process, instrumentation and equipment advancements. Helios Coatings received the Top Innovator Prize for their ground-breaking finishing system for automotive wheels (see October 2006).
Some fear that America has lost its technological edge. Indeed, we see the economic tide sweeping from our shores to the Far East and with it, it seems our technical pre-eminence. I’m not so pessimistic. While many of today’s technology advances are facilitated by a global fellowship, some of the most innovative developments are born right in our backyards.
Undoubtedly the most important avenue to innovation is to engage people. Great ideas are not spawned out of confined laboratory fortresses. Networking with colleagues, business associates and creative people leads to the germination of new approaches. The upcoming months offer plenty of opportunities to brainstorm with innovative minds. From August 13 through 16, NASF will be hosting the SUR/FIN show in Cleveland. In September, the inaugural edition of FIN-X will debut in Indianapolis from the 17th through the 20th. Southern Metal Finishing hosts its conference the following week in Charleston. And the International Coatings Exhibition will be held in Toronto on October 3 to 5. Don’t let the potential for the next great coating technology slip through your fingers.
The American composer, writer, philosopher, mycologist and avid mushroom collector John Milton Cage succinctly pointed out, “I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of old ones.”
I couldn’t have said it any better. Please forward your thoughts on innovative achievements worthy of recognition to me at editor@finishingtodaymag.com. We’ll feature the winners in our December issue.
“I would like to thank my agent, and my mother and the producers for believing in me, blah, blah, blah…”
Ever get tired of all those award shows? It wasn’t so bad when all we had to slog through were the Academy Awards, the Grammys and the Emmys. Now we have the Tonys, MTV VMA’s and Movie Awards, People’s Choice, Critic’s Choice, Golden Globes, Country Music Awards, SAG, BET, American Music Awards, BAFTA, etc., etc., ad nauseam. Will it ever stop?
In spite of all this pervasive self-congratulatory blather, Finishing Today realizes that it’s imperative to recognize the technical leaders of our industry. In concert with this goal, we are currently accepting nominations for FT’s 2007 Innovation Awards. Last year, eight companies garnered awards for their innovative technologies encompassing material, process, instrumentation and equipment advancements. Helios Coatings received the Top Innovator Prize for their ground-breaking finishing system for automotive wheels (see October 2006).
Some fear that America has lost its technological edge. Indeed, we see the economic tide sweeping from our shores to the Far East and with it, it seems our technical pre-eminence. I’m not so pessimistic. While many of today’s technology advances are facilitated by a global fellowship, some of the most innovative developments are born right in our backyards.
Undoubtedly the most important avenue to innovation is to engage people. Great ideas are not spawned out of confined laboratory fortresses. Networking with colleagues, business associates and creative people leads to the germination of new approaches. The upcoming months offer plenty of opportunities to brainstorm with innovative minds. From August 13 through 16, NASF will be hosting the SUR/FIN show in Cleveland. In September, the inaugural edition of FIN-X will debut in Indianapolis from the 17th through the 20th. Southern Metal Finishing hosts its conference the following week in Charleston. And the International Coatings Exhibition will be held in Toronto on October 3 to 5. Don’t let the potential for the next great coating technology slip through your fingers.
The American composer, writer, philosopher, mycologist and avid mushroom collector John Milton Cage succinctly pointed out, “I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of old ones.”
I couldn’t have said it any better. Please forward your thoughts on innovative achievements worthy of recognition to me at editor@finishingtodaymag.com. We’ll feature the winners in our December issue.
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