Editorial Archives - Page 4 of 9 - Specialty Fabrics Review

Making more than money

February 1, 2020 | Editorial

January always brings two things forcibly to mind: first, the NFL playoffs, and second, an almost viral need to find lists of reasons to make business or economic predictions for the coming year. (This is the February issue, I know, but it’s January 14 as I write this.) The Minnesota Vikings … w…

100 years of IFAI Expo

January 1, 2020 | Editorial

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were Temperance organizations in nearly every state. In 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol, was ratified and went into effect on Jan. 16, 1920, beginning the era known as Prohibition. Alm…

Future history

December 1, 2019 | Editorial

On Sept. 12, 1912, 14 manufacturers of canvas and awnings from the central part of the U.S. met at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver to form a new trade association: the National Tent & Awning Manufacturers Association. By 1915, membership had grown sufficiently that the group decided to form a c…

IFAI Expo: 99 and counting…

November 1, 2019 | Editorial

As we wrap up our 99th IFAI Expo with the show coverage on page 43 (and the cover story on page 22, and The Greater Good on page 68), I’m getting ready to jump backwards in history through decades of the Review, as I did before IFAI’s 100th anniversary in 2012 and Review’s 100th anniversary &h…

The ultimate fabric; the ultimate customer

October 1, 2019 | Editorial

A few weeks ago, many members of IFAI’s board of directors and division managers converged here in Roseville for severals days of meetings and presentations. I always enjoy these visits, as it gives me the opportunity to ask questions about when we’ll have awnings that can communicate, chan…

Boots on the ground

September 1, 2019 | Editorial

Since IFAI’s editorial department moved back to the third floor a month or two ago, I’ve had a pile of pennies sitting on my work surface, just waiting for a co-worker (or a visitor, or even an intruder) to ask about it, so I could smile modestly and say “It’s to remind me that change &helli…

Your trade, your show

August 1, 2019 | Editorial

by Linden Wicklund This year is the 99th year of IFAI Expo, and like every year, we’ve added new features to keep attendees and exhibitors coming back year after year. Among other things, there will be a fun run, puppies, and classroom and show floor education each day of the show. But the most en…

Riding the cluetrain

July 1, 2019 | Editorial

The art of working with people is found in meeting them where they’re at, which means I must be willing to go where I am not. –Craig D. Lounsbrough Almost 20 years ago, Robert Putnam published “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.” He posited that the demise of bow…

IFAI EXPO: past, present and future

June 1, 2019 | Editorial

Some weeks back, my book club was discussing the book “A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression,” which mostly details the government’s sometimes tortuous efforts to convince the U.S. public that they could eat less if they’d just eat more wisely. Results were mixed, but the…

The value proposition

May 1, 2019 | Editorial

Thirty years ago, I was working as a magazine editor in a small Minneapolis-based trade publishing company, and at the time we had no desktop publishing capability; we typed our copy and sent it to a local printer, who would typeset it and then deliver it to us in his battered green pickup. Sometime…

Category: Editorial