Half-full? Bah-humbug!

For an industry whose mission is filling glasses, we tend to look at our world with a "glass half-empty" perspective. It is never as good as it can be, there are always hurdles lurking around the next corner to jump and we constantly create hurdles for ourselves.

The facts tend to indicate we have a vibrant industry. We are increasingly responsive to our customers. We are world-leaders in quality, consistency, packaging, marketing and promotion, cultural practices and more.

We have consistently been an early adopter of new innovations and our leadership has been world-class.

This track record should be applauded, celebrated and cheered on toward greater accomplishments. This is not a time to look at the glass being half-full, wherein we have seen our best days, but rather the possibilites we can achieve if we continue to stretch our imaginations, increase our creativity and maintain the bold, "can-do" attitude that senior members of our leadership avowed in helping build the industry we all enjoy to this day.