Glass Canada • April 2022 • The influencer

Max Perilstein talks to glazing contractors and glass fabricators. A lot of them. All the time. For more than 30 years now. As author of the must-read weekly newsletter, From the Fabricator, Max collects stories and inside information from across the North American glass industry, keeping us up-to-date on who is doing what and how. In his time so far, Max has seen just about everything this crazy business has to offer – from rocketing success to crashing failure. In this entertaining talk, Perilstein shares his insights and thoughts on what makes this industry tick, what works, what doesn’t and what we all could be doing better.

Max Perilstein has the glass and glazing industry in his blood. Thanks to roots that harken back more than 120 years and a passion for the industry today, what goes on in the present and future of the glass industry is always something at the forefront of Max’s world. Max’s great grandfather Harris Perilstein arrived in North America in 1898 with only $34 dollars and glasscutter in his pocket. He started a glass company in Philadelphia, Pa., and delivered his material by bicycle. Fast forward to today and Max’s current role in the glass world. He is the founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm that focuses on the glass and glazing industry and specializes in market research, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management. For the past 30 years Max has been involved at some of the highest levels in the glass and glazing industry including time as vice-president of marketing for Arch Aluminum and Glass, and chief marketing officer for Vitro America. Max served four years on the board of directors of the Glass Association of North America and during that time oversaw the explosive growth of the annual BEC show, taking it from 200 people to a high of more than 800 in 2007. Max still serves on the planning committee of that event and moderates at least one panel discussion each year. Max is also very involved with GlassBuild America and lends his expertise to the National Glass Association staff with regards to the planning and execution of that event. For many, Max is best known through his blog From the Fabricator which is now going on its 16th year after being the first such industry piece of its kind. The blog is published 48 weeks a year and retransmitted on glassmagazine.com. In addition, in 2021, Max launched a monthly podcast also named From the Fabricator that features multiple guests from various segments of the glass and glazing world. Max considers himself an enthusiastic and independent observer of the industry and the people and products that make the glass world go. He is a graduate of Ohio University. Max and his wife Beth live with their two children in New Baltimore, Mi.