TIA HALL OF FAME
www.tireindustry.org/hall_of_fame.asp

Every year for the last 20-plus years, TIA inducts several luminaries from our industry into the TIA Hall of Fame. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to honor, preserve and perpetuate the names and outstanding accomplishments of personalities who have brought lasting fame to the tire, rubber and transportation industries. As you might know, they are given awards to great fanfare each year in Las Vegas during the Performance Tires & Wheels/SEMA Show at TIA’s Breakfast with the President. What you might not know is that there is an archive online of every person who has won the Hall of Fame award, the Historical Contributors award and the Friend of the Industry Award. Past inductees include Harvey Firestone, Charles Goodyear, Andrew Michelin, John Dunlop, Les Schwab and Ernest Zielasko. Check out the “who’s who” in the tire industry and imagine who’ll be nominated next year.

TIRE BLOGS

Talk about recycling tires to some and you’ll hear about retreads, crumb rubber or even alternative fuels. Talk to some in the blogosphere and they’ll show you pictures of tire art! As with everything else in the world that is on the web, tire blogs are starting to show up online, and in particular, OTR tire blogs. Who knew! Visit these sites for more tire art examples:

• http://otrtire.blogspot.com/
• http://www.agoratire.com/otr_tire_blog/
• http://spluch.blogspot.com/2006/10/tire-art.html
• blogs.cars.com

ORLANDO

From February 5-7, 2008, TIA will hold its second Commercial Tire, Retread & Recycling Conference (CTRRC), at the Rosen Center Hotel in Orlando, Florida. This meeting is held in conjunction with the Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition. So basically more then a few folks will find themselves in sunny Florida… and they might even make a vacation out of it! As a destination city, Orlando has the second largest number of hotel rooms in the country (after Las Vegas), and is one of the busiest cities in the US for conferences and conventions. As you can imagine, there is much to do! Nearby are places like SeaWorld and Universal Orlando Resort as well as a short drive to take you to Walt Disney World Resort and the Kennedy Space Center. Check out these links for info on fun places to go, dining and night life in Orlando:

• www.orlando.com
• www.disneyworld.com
• www.seaworld.com/orlando
• www.UniversalOrlando.com
• www.kennedyspacecenter.com
• http://orlando.citysearch.com