Chapter News

Happy New Year to all Central Florida Chapter members! With the start of 2013 we are really excited to announce a new behind the scenes tour at Walt Disney World on the evening of Thursday, January 17, 2013.  Greg George, IFPS proctor and accredited instructor and Senior Engineer at Walt Disney World has arranged a tour of the Animation Training Center and Laboratory where there are several generations of control systems and working animated figures on display.

Members who attend will also be getting a great presentation on the history of Disney Animation from one of Disney's foremost experts; Mouse Silverstein.  Mouse has been involved with animation control systems at Disney for many years, and he has put together an informative presentation that includes many historical milestones that date back before the 1964 World's Fair.

We anticipate a high member turn-out for the tour and presentation, so we will need to get an exact number of attendees by Friday, January 11, 2013. This will be a full and exciting evening if not a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a presentation from one of Disney's animation experts. If you are interested in attending, please email  florida49er@ifps.org with your name and company so we can add you to the list of attendees.

Once we have an exact number we will send out a separate email on Monday, January 14, 2013 giving directions and instructions on where and when to meet.

Committee Elections

This will be a full and exciting evening if not a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a presentation from one of Disney's animation experts. On the same evening the Chapter 49 committee elections will be held. This year all chapter committee positions will be up for election, a number of new members have volunteered to join the committee and there will be a new position for Certifications to be voted on.

As many of you may be aware Scott Gower the Chapters president for the last three years will be stepping down to accept a role with the IFPS at a national level. Perhaps this is a time to reflect on the advancements and achievements of the Central Florida Chapter under his leadership during the last three years. The regular communication of news to members through this newsletter, the assembly of a real world crane which has been used at local schools to educate students about fluid power equations, more involvement, education and sponsorship for FIRST teams based in Central Florida and multiple behind the scenes tours of local manufacturing and distribution facilities for members.

We were recently informed by the national team at the IFPS that our Central Florida Chapter is now the most active in the country and will be used as a model for other IFPS Chapters who wish to start in the future.

What a great platform for new and existing members to carry this forward into 2013 and beyond.