FREDx 2014 GCI

Had the pleasure of being invited to FREDx 2014 (Future Ride Engineers and Designers), sponsored by Great Coasters International, during the weekend of August 9th. This was, without a doubt, the most important career networking event for all those who attended to-date. Here's a little rundown of what we did:

- All met up at the Sunbury office and introduced ourselves, given a tour of the facility while enjoying some donuts.

- Each attendee assembled pieces of a lapbar. Being mostly comprised of mechanical engineering students, this group excelled... well, except me, of course. But hey, give me a site design for a coaster, and I'll knock that out of the park no problem.

- We got to interview with some of the engineers at GCI and talk about our favorite rides, and even got to check out some models of some of their designs.

- Around 5, we drove over to Knoebels for a backstage tour with Jim Martini and Brian Knoebel, getting a little history of the park, some insight into the new ride going in next year, and some knowledge on the Flying Turns coaster. Mike Boodley himself was there to discuss his trains and long history of the Turns.

- At 8, Knoebels hooked us up with an all-you-can-ride pass for the next 2 hours for 10 bucks. A few new networkers and I ran around the park, hitting the front row of Phoenix first (one of the most incredible wooden coasters ever), the Twister, and Phoenix again. We also hit the Black Diamond, which had been relocated from my old stomping grounds of Wildwood, NJ.

- All met up right before closing at Flying Turns, who let us in to ride it before the park closed. Even got to witness Boodley riding his own creation. Quite poignant.

- The next day, we had several speakers ranging from ride controls design to some members of IAAPA. So very informative, as each person gave a different facet of the industry. After all was done, we had some food and chatted with the industry leaders to gain some insight. Around 2pm, was time to call it a day.

Can really not thank GCI, the staff at Knoebels, the members of IAAPA, Irvine Ondrey, and Mike Boodley enough for the informative weekend. Feel like everyone walked away with something and left themselves in way better positions for the future after attending.