During the opening ceremony of this year’s GPD, founder and chairman Jorma Vitkala was called on stage to receive a stand-up ovation in appreciation of everything he has accomplished for the international glass industry.
GPD Chairman Jorma Vitkala was honoured at GPD 2017
There was a great deal of emotion and surprise when Jorma Vitkala, the founder and Chairman of the leading global glass conference, Glass Performance Days (GPD), was called on stage during the 2017 opening ceremony to receive a superb stand-up ovation in appreciation of everything he has accomplished for the international glass industry since its inception some 25 years ago. On behalf of the entire glass industry, the platinum sponsors, represented by Jean-Paul Hautekeer from Dow Corning and Jonathan Cohen from Kuraray, showed a short video containing a sample of tributes collected two months prior to the conference. In this video, several industry experts expressed their gratitude to Vitkala, not only for his professional contribution to the industry, but also for the camaraderie and friendship he has uniquely built amongst so many glass industry enthusiasts.
“Sometimes, we just need to step back and say THANK YOU,” said Hautekeer, Global Marketing Director for High Performance Building at Dow Corning. “What Jorma has accomplished for the glass industry is unparalleled. During the last 25 years, over 3,200 presentations have been shared at 15 conferences in Finland and other regional venues. More than 14,600 glass professionals have attended these events, including 1,100 speakers, and over 10,000 pages of technical documents have been published. GPD has become the reference for the industry in terms of knowledge management and networking. You can gain in three days at GPD wha...
“Sometimes, we just need to step back and say THANK YOU,” said Hautekeer, Global Marketing Director for High Performance Building at Dow Corning. “What Jorma has accomplished for the glass industry is unparalleled. During the last 25 years, over 3,200 presentations have been shared at 15 conferences in Finland and other regional venues. More than 14,600 glass professionals have attended these events, including 1,100 speakers, and over 10,000 pages of technical documents have been published. GPD has become the reference for the industry in terms of knowledge management and networking. You can gain in three days at GPD wha...
