Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Habemus Præsidens

The Animation Guild's old and new conclavis vergobretus aka Executive Boards, Smoke House Restaurant, December 7, 2011. Front row, left to right: Nathan Loofbourrow†, Jan Browning, Stephan Zupkas*, Karen Carnegie Johnson, Cathy Jones, Nicole Dubuc. Second row: Janette Hulett, Chris Simmons†, Gordon Kent† (in red shirt), Bronnie Barry, Earl Kress, John Cataldi. Back row: Steve Hulett, Bob Foster, Kevin Koch*, Jeff Massie, Russell Calabrese*, Mike Roth†. Absent: Karen Nugent*, Jack Thomas†, Matt Wayne*. * Retiring Board member; † New Board member.

Last night we got together at the Smoke House restaurant in Toluca Lake to celebrate the changing of the guard from Præsidens Kevin Koch to Præsidens Bob Foster, to welcome four new members of the conclave vergobretus aka Executive Board, and to toast the retiring Board members.

As the first order of business, President Kevin Koch gavelled the meeting to order (noting as he did that the gavel felt strange ...) He then swore in the new and returning officers, after which he turned the gavel over to our new President, Bob Foster.

As Sergeant-At-Arms Jan Browning watched, Recording Secretary Jeff Massie presented a plaque to outgoing Board member Stephan Zupkas, who retired after serving on the Board for twenty-nine years, longer than any other officer in the Guild's history.

The Mystery Of The Strange Gavel was solved when President Foster presented President Emeritus Koch with a plaque on which is mounted the gavel that Kevin was presented by Tom Sito upon Kevin's swearing-in in 2001, and that he has used at every meeting since. Russell Calabrese also received a plaque, as will Karen Nugent and Matt Wayne who were unable to attend.

We also presented Kevin with a photograph of one of his most noticeable legacies, our building at 1105 N. Hollywood Way. And that building in turn bears the name of the Animation Guild, Local 839 IATSE ... the name change to which is yet another of Kevin Koch's legacies.

Group photo courtesy Smoke House Restaurant; other photos courtesy Bronwen Barry.

8 comments:

Floyd Norman said...

Congratulations, President Foster.

What a perfect location for the dinner. The Smoke House is where the old Disney animators got me drunk. And, more than once, I might add.

Anonymous said...

So that's why the holiday party was moved until after the new year. I hope you spent a lot of our money.

Anonymous said...

Board members serve as VOLUNTEERS and contribute enormous time and effort to make this organization function, for which they receive no personal benefit. I do not begrudge them the cost of a dinner to welcome the new faces and thank the outgoing ones. Bravo to them.

Anonymous said...

So that's why the holiday party was moved until after the new year. I hope you spent a lot of our money.

Waaaaaaaaahhh!! Whars mah Chissmus parteh??!

Anonymous said...

Since at least a small percentage of people might be inclined to find meaning in the anonymous comment from 1:30 pm, let us point out for the record that these installation dinners happen every three years at the first executive board meeting after the election, that this has been the custom and practice of local 839 for many years, and that the expense of the dinner is trivial in the grand scheme of things (a modestly priced dinner for about 20 board members every three years).

This dinner had absolutely nothing to do with the date of the TAG Holiday Party (that date was chosen AFTER it was decided to have the Autry Museum be the venue, as a way to avoid the traffic log-jams associated with the Festival of Lights). The installation dinner happens on a Tuesday, the party happens on a Friday, so it couldn't have been a conflict. But hey, if you really need something to be disgruntled about, I guess this is as good a choice as any.

A TAG board member

Anonymous said...

So that's why the holiday party was moved until after the new year. I hope you spent a lot of our money.

The pettiness of some supposed union members never ceases to amaze. To the board members, thank you for your service to us all. I know my friends in the industry are also thankful for the work you have done, and will do.

Jeff Massie said...

Here is a flyer for the next TAG party, as has been previously announced in the Peg-Board and on the e-mail list:

http://animationguild.org/2011PartyFlyer.pdf

The next TAG party will be held on January 7, 2011 at the Gene Autry Museum, across from the Los Angeles Zoo.

On March 30, the membership voted to hold the party in January. At that time, we assumed the DWP Festival of Lights would be closing off the roads in Griffith Park south of the museum until New Year's, and we didn't want to deal with the traffic hassles. Subsequently we found out the Festival of Lights had been cancelled, but by then it was too late to change it to an earlier date. On September 28, the membership approved the budget.

So come on January 7, celebrate the winter solstice, Millard Fillmore's birthday, the wedding anniversary of George Burns and Gracie Allen, or a reason of your own to celebrate with your fellow members of the animation community.

TotalD said...

When I see the group I think of who is missing, Pres. It's a great place the smoke house.

The anonymous members should know ( and what I have always known) is that with no effort your address can be tracked, identifies ( and they will so don't fool yourself) . Posting anonymously here is symbolic only so while you think it gives you carte blanche think again. =)

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