Articles Association News
Fenestration Canada: To a brighter future

I think it’s fair to say none of us thought 2020 would look like this. If you’re at all like me you’ve had your fill, so I’m not going to mention it. Business for Fenestration Canada has had to morph in order to continue to provide value to our members. To say that I am pleased with our year so far is an understatement. Our staff and our volunteers have gone above and beyond when it comes to thinking outside the box.

Personally, for me, as I already work from my home there has not been significant modifications to my daily routine. Actually, I have experienced an increase in the connections with my staff and with all those involved with FenCan. With many more working from home and spending more time at their desks, and the explosion of online meetings, the ability to connect quickly and easily has improved administrative productivity. I will likely experience increased frustration as people get back to whatever normal we will see, and it will be more difficult to reach and connect quickly. I think we all look forward to that time.

Like so many others we have had to cancel and re-arrange our events. We have increased our online presence and activities. Our weekly Tech Talks with Al Jaugelis and Stephane Labelle has experienced a growing audience, and fantastic participation. We plan to continue this for the foreseeable future, and plan to add many new and worthy topics. As always, if you have a request for a topic, send it along to Steph or Al. Stephane and Laine are also working on new online events and guests to add to our virtual catalogue.

When we realized there was not going to be any possibility of holding our Spring Conference and AGM, booked for Charlottetown, P.E.I., in June, there were a lot of sad faces online. That did not last long, as our events committee and others realized we could get creative and hold the event anyway, online. Truth be told we all were a little worried. Could we pull it together quickly? Would people “attend”? Would it be of the quality we know our members deserve? Wow, as the event came together, we all were feeling like we had something to be proud of. The lineup, and participation from members, speakers and of course our great sponsors came together what apparently seamlessly. Education sessions had attendance that we were thrilled with, as well as fantastic interactive participation. The suppliers showcase had great products and speakers, with lots of attendance and great questions. And as we wrapped it up with the online trivia contest won by Adam Hess of Van isle Windows, we all breathed a sigh of relief knowing we had pulled off an event that our members valued. It went so well we are planning to enhance other in-person events with an online presence for the future.

We delivered our AGM to a well-attended group of members. Al Doyle provided a review of our financials and budget information. We remain strong financially and are confident we can weather this storm, and look forward to several initiatives while keeping costs in check. With the current situation it was decided to keep the current board in place for another year. We felt the stability that provides during this time was a good move. The board remains in place as is until the June 2021 Spring Conference in Kelowna, B.C. Thanks to all the board members for their commitment. And don’t worry, we plan to get to PEI for 2022.

So many challenges and so many new difficulties our industry is facing at this time. It’s early June and there is a lot of optimism for getting back to regular business soon. My hope for the industry is your business gets through this very difficult time with as little pain as possible. And whatever follows brings more stability and we all prosper. Remember we are only here for a short time. Be kind to one another.