The mergers of the Orlando Central Florida Chapter with the SpaceTech Chapter in 2012 and the Suncoast Chapter in 2016 motivated an initiative to extend our community’s educational STC programs state-wide by offering virtual attendance at monthly educational meetings as well as leadership meetings, with the goal of bringing currently unaffiliated, “chapter-less” Florida STC members into a single statewide chapter. We want to provide them with the advantages chapter membership brings, including a closer connection to STC via local interest groups. The benefit to members in remote areas is affiliation with an existing chapter structure without the need to create and support a local infrastructure (officers, budget, program development), which has led to the dissolution of other chapters across the state. The benefit to STC is membership incentives and closer attachment to the Society.
