QotW 5-18-03: Celebrity. [Archive]

Madison

17-05-2003, 23:59

This week's question is being brought to you by the letters J, O, H and N and the number 229.

In the past few years, we've seen FIRST attract the attention and endorsement of a number of celebrities - from Mandy Moore to Will Smith to Chuck Yeager.

The opinions and comments of celebrities can sometimes have far-reaching effects in our society, for both good and bad reasons, and with good and bad effects.

Question of the Week 5-18-03: What celebrity would make a good spokesperson for FIRST? Why?

The implications of gaining national media exposure through celebrities are interesting. It seems like a lot of good could come of it, but as with anything, there are risks. Let's see what you all think about those benefits and risks and which celebrity, if any, should be starring in some "Got FIRST?" commercials.

Daniel Brim

18-05-2003, 00:08

I would say someone that is flamboyant, or better yet, how about this

Have the guy (name slipping my mind) who used to play superman before he got in an accident. If we can get him on an Ibot, we have an example of what first is with Dean :)

Nice question John

Fixed that stupid fatal car crash deal

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 00:10

There are so many people that can endorse FIRST. There are a list of celebrities, but I believe that they are not necessary. What you need is to have is a group of people, that go around the country reaching out to every high school in the country, endorsing first. In the amount of money it would cost to buy commercial time and pay the celebrities, FIRST could afford to send nearly every school in the country a packet on the FIRST robotics program. I also think that FIRST should get political figures to endorse the program. It sure would be nice to hear President Bush to mention the FIRST robotics program during the state of the union address, or at any other time for that matter. I think that it also would be a good idea to have a team of FIRST people set up that can travel the country and help rookie teams create their programs. The more people we have looking for new teams and the more endorsing we do, the more teams we will have in the future. Keep in mind Dean's Homework assignments that he gives to all of us at nationals. We are the future of FIRST. We need to recruit new teams. I would love to see 100+ new teams next year.

Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals.

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 00:11

Daniel Brim

18-05-2003, 00:20

Thats it. I think 100 rookie teams is possible (just look at all there are this year, pretty much everything above 1000 was a rookie)

George1902

18-05-2003, 00:24

The most important thing for FIRST, imo, is a famous voice.

Carrot Top would be a PERFECT fit for FIRST. He's an incredibly smart guy, and we all know how well he can sell a product (dial down the center, eh?).

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 00:28

I would sure want to see 100 rookie teams. I think it is possible. I personally have been working with a teacher from another school that knows of the program. I have been giving him information on the program, and he is thinking of getting a team made for next year. I think that if we all try, we can talk to other people we know and get new teams set up. People have said "who ever thought that it would get this big?" The way I see it, we are just getting started.

Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals.

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 00:29

Originally posted by George1083
The most important thing for FIRST, imo, is a famous voice.

Carrot Top would be a PERFECT fit for FIRST. He's an incredibly smart guy, and we all know how well he can sell a product (dial down the center, eh?).

Hey one of the members on our team is nicknamed Carrot Top. He looks almost identical to him. We can get him to endorse us, know one will notice. lol

SarahB

18-05-2003, 00:34

Originally posted by George1083

Carrot Top would be a PERFECT fit for FIRST. He's an incredibly smart guy, and we all know how well he can sell a product (dial down the center, eh?).

I hope you're kidding. Carrot Top is one of the most annoying people EVER, and I'm sure his presence would only serve to send people away.

Mike Schroeder

18-05-2003, 01:14

I understand where you guys come from with peopel who have supported FIRST, Mandy Moore: please god never again, she gave a private concert.... i dont know how that is somthing that would bring people to first, unless you publized it, and sold tickets.....
Chuck Yeager... I <3 that guy, while peopel in my 4th grade clase were watching jordan slam dunk, i was Reading chuck yeargers auto biography
Will smith, again, if they showed him in a commercial supporting FIRST, then i think that we would bring in more people, but other than that showing somthing during nats, doesnt help much, but maybe what team need to do is somthing like what team 25 did, we sent letters to famous people, but i think that we will need to edit it to see if they will publicly support FIRST, and then direct them to FIRST so they can set somthing up, like i know when we won the nats in 2000, we went on Good Morning America, but there was a script problem, and the TV guy failed to mention FIRST :confused: but things like that is gonna bring FIRST support:)

JVN

18-05-2003, 01:29

Originally posted by M. Krass
This week's question is being brought to you by the letters J, O, H and N and the number 229.

Cute. :)

Personally, I think having a celebrity spokesman would give our delightful "little" program a lot of positive publicity. Well... any publicity is good publicity at this point. However, I honestly have no idea what celebrity we'd want...

Some famous action star?

Some beautiful model? (many of us can see the perks in that)

A teen heartthrob?

Rock-Star?

I just can't think of anyone I can see portraying us in the correct manner.

What do you guys think?
Would you like to see the REAL Britney Spears hanging out in the Beatty pit? Okay, so maybe that's a loaded question... but you get the idea.

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 01:33

Originally posted by JVN
Cute. :)

Personally, I think having a celebrity spokesman would give our delightful "little" program a lot of positive publicity. Well... any publicity is good publicity at this point. However, I honestly have no idea what celebrity we'd want...

Some famous action star?

Some beautiful model? (many of us can see the perks in that)

A teen heartthrob?

Rock-Star?

I just can't think of anyone I can see portraying us in the correct manner.

What do you guys think?
Would you like to see the REAL Britney Spears hanging out in the Beatty pit? Okay, so maybe that's a loaded question... but you get the idea.

Seeing as I spend a lot of time in our pits, I can say that I like the Britney Speaks idea, lol.

JVN

18-05-2003, 01:35

Originally posted by GregTheGreat
Seeing as I spend a lot of time in our pits, I can say that I like the Britney Spears idea, lol.

As if you guys don't get enough people visiting your pit as it is!

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 01:37

Originally posted by JVN
As if you guys don't get enough people visiting your pit as it is!

Maybe next year if Brittany's there, we can get a red rope and charge a dollar to enter our pits, lol. That will raise us enough money to pay for the next 4 seasons. lol.

E. The Kidd

18-05-2003, 01:44

Originally posted by GregTheGreat
I would sure want to see 100 rookie teams. I think it is possible.

umm for the past 2 or 3 years there have been ~200+ rookie teams each year.....

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 01:46

Originally posted by E. The Kidd
umm for the past 2 or 3 years there have been ~200+ rookie teams each year.....

Oh, I have recieved some false info then. If that is the case, why not 300+ next year. I hope to see 5 or 6 new regionals next year. The more people involved, the better the future of this country and this world will be.

gsensel

18-05-2003, 04:01

I think the political leader is a good idea. Until 1996 or 1997, I think, the winner of nationals got to go to Washington and meet the president.

Wayne C.

18-05-2003, 08:53

Originally posted by "Big Mike"
[COLOR=darkblue]
FIRST, then i think that we would bring in more people, but other than that showing somthing during nats, doesnt help much, but maybe what team need to do is somthing like what team 25 did, we sent letters to famous peopleCOLOR]

Mike is talking about a project we did in 2001. Somewhere we found a book of hundreds of celebrity contacts and we made a mass mailing to just about every celebrity involved with sci fi movies, CEOs of all the major companies and people who just came across as cool choices. We mailed out over 200 letters, many personally addressed to the celebrity, explaining what FIRST was and why the celebrity might want to be a part of it.

Of the pile of letters we got over a hundred "returned to sender" because the addresses had changed or the mail was refused. We did get three interesting ones:

Donald Trump sent us a nice autographed photo and letter telling us to keep up the good work

Playboy Enterprises told us that they didn't support groups involving minors as it was inappropriate. It was a shot....

Majel Barrett Roddenberry's former agent (Star Trek fame) wrote us a hand written response encouraging our team to keep trying.

Would any of these letters have interested some big name celebrity in FIRST? Who knows? But we gave it a shot, got the FIRST name out there and maybe planted a few seeds.

WC:cool:

SkitzoSmurf

18-05-2003, 09:24

Hmmmmm, I'm trying to think of some people who used to be geeky or are geeky and are now famous. I know tis sounds weird, but Shaq loves gadgets, and imagine him a little taller on a Segway or Ibot, lol. Jim Carry? Guy is hilarious, and I'm sure could come up with some material on robots. Bill Gates? Only the most famous guy in the worrld. Stan Lee? Cool creative guy. As for music artists, Linkin Park, ( idunno if they're interested or not, just my fave band), HOW ABOUT OZZY!!! those robots would freak him out, omg, YESSS!!! OK, I'm not coming up with any serious ones. . .

OneAngryDaisy

18-05-2003, 11:08

Originally posted by SkitzoSmurf
Hmmmmm, I'm trying to think of some people who used to be geeky or are geeky and are now famous. Bill Gates? Only the most famous guy in the worrld. . .

Bill Gates:

http://www.markbarry.com/multimedia/images/bill-gates-mugshot.jpg

Let's be realistic- how many non-FIRSTers will recognize Bill Gates? We need someone who everyone knows.. someone notorious..

Will Smith would be the ideal choice because hey, he's already involved, and if you don't know who Will Smith is, you're seriously deprived..

Also, wouldn't it be awesome if there was a FIRST episode on the Simpsons where Lisa makes a robot or something? That'd really make us famous.

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 12:13

Originally posted by OneAngryDaisy
Bill Gates:

http://www.markbarry.com/multimedia/images/bill-gates-mugshot.jpg

Let's be realistic- how many non-FIRSTers will recognize Bill Gates? We need someone who everyone knows.. someone notorious..

Will Smith would be the ideal choice because hey, he's already involved, and if you don't know who Will Smith is, you're seriously deprived..

Also, wouldn't it be awesome if there was a FIRST episode on the Simpsons where Lisa makes a robot or something? That'd really make us famous.

Now the simpson idea, it is good. There are millions of Simpson watchers all over the country. Now I think that it would be cool if Homer was riding around on a Segway while attending a FIRST even. Maybe the title can be "Simpson's go to Houston". As if they haven't wen't on enough trips. lol. Good Idea OneAngryDaisy.

Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals.

indieFan

18-05-2003, 12:19

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned tapping into the "youth of Hollywood." Since this program is aimed at students, why not get someone of the same age to promote it? I'm thinking of people that are generally on either Disney Channel, FOX, or WB.

Personally, if I can't have an entire tv show based on the year in the life of a robotics team, I'd at least like to see an episode of something like _Malcolm in the Middle_ based on this competition. Can anyone out there imagine a Krelboyn robot?

indieFan

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 12:25

Originally posted by indieFan
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned tapping into the "youth of Hollywood." Since this program is aimed at students, why not get someone of the same age to promote it? I'm thinking of people that are generally on either Disney Channel, FOX, or WB.

Personally, if I can't have an entire tv show based on the year in the life of a robotics team, I'd at least like to see an episode of something like _Malcolm in the Middle_ based on this competition. Can anyone out there imagine a Krelboyn robot?

indieFan

Good Idea. Maybe a reality TV show on the life of a Robot Team. It would be pretty cool I think.

Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals.

DanLevin247

18-05-2003, 12:36

Originally posted by DanielBCR
I would say someone that is flamboyant, or better yet, how about this

Have the guy (name slipping my mind) who used to play superman before he got in a fatal car crash. If we can get him on an Ibot, we have an example of what first is with Dean :)

Nice question John

Originally posted by GregTheGreat
Do you mean Christopher Reeve?

I think that DanielBCR is talking about Christopher Reeve....but if he was in a fatal car crash, wouldn't that make him dead? FYI...he fell off of a horse, and remains paralized to this day as a result of his injuries. I think he would make a great spokesman for FIRST, as he is constantly pushing the advancment of science and technology.

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 12:38

Originally posted by DanLevin247
I think that DanielBCR is talking about Christopher Reeve....but if he was in a fatal car crash, wouldn't that make him dead? FYI...he fell off of a horse, and remains paralized to this day as a result of his injuries. I think he would make a great spokesman for FIRST, as he is constantly pushing the advancment of science and technology.

I think he would be a great spokesman especially because of his pursuing for further Science of stem-cell research.

Good luck to everyone at the invitationals.

JVN

18-05-2003, 12:47

Originally posted by DanLevin247
....but if he was in a fatal car crash, wouldn't that make him dead?

You can be in a fatal car crash without being the one who died... :(

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 12:49

Originally posted by JVN
You can be in a fatal car crash without being the one who died... :(

Although it would not be a fatal car crash, because he fell of a horse. It wasen't a car crash.

Good Luck to everyone at the invitationals.

Not2B

18-05-2003, 13:21

I think a famous person would be good to get the word out...

But why not make Dean and Woody famous? (Maybe hard, maybe not.)

IMDWalrus

18-05-2003, 13:29

Bit of a long shot, but getting the cast of the Matrix movies to do a PSA would work wonders for FIRST. For the past two months, it's seemed like everyone around me is obsessed with those movies.

Josh Hambright

18-05-2003, 13:39

First off, Great question!

I think that getting a celebrity would be a great thing. Why not celebrities? Often times there are GROUPS of celebrities that endorse groups and charities. Now though it would be cool i'm not talking about a 'we are the world' type of thing for robots, that would be pretty cool the more i think about it. But what if a FIRST event could get media exposer by having several celebrities go to each event and get the media interested. Though this could definately backfire on us and people would just end up freaking out about celebrities instead of robots.

I think getting celebrities who are known for being interested in computers, science and technology. Christopher Reeves is a great example he has been pushing science in technology for years in his quest to walk again and has been a real fighter for raising money to help research in repairing spinal chord injuries. But what about getting someone like (yes my opinion is biased due to the fact i am a fan of his work) Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails. He has been a spokes person for apple for years and endorsed their products and been very outspoken about how much he likes them. Something like that, were celebrities could just mention in an article about the program or something in an interview about us, thats the best way to get our name out there.

In regards to the simpsons idea, did anyone else notice how much the spell-olympics competition lisa attended in an episode this season resembled a first competition? I think it would be a great idea if Lisa joined a FIRST team, and they could get a guest apearance from Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers, or any of the other famous faces of FIRST. We already know that Matt Groening knows about segways as there have been multiple references to Segways in the Simpsons, well maybe not multiple but i can think of ATLEAST 1 and i thought there was another. What about ads in teen magazines and that sort of thing that talk about our program, or if Dateline or another News Magazine did a story on a FIRST team (to bad that 60 minutes thing with hammond never happened).

I dont know my brain is empty now...

Daniel Brim

18-05-2003, 13:53

Originally posted by DanLevin247
I think that DanielBCR is talking about Christopher Reeve....but if he was in a fatal car crash, wouldn't that make him dead? FYI...he fell off of a horse, and remains paralized to this day as a result of his injuries. I think he would make a great spokesman for FIRST, as he is constantly pushing the advancment of science and technology.
Oops, lol, typo, get that fixed right away.
And yes I was talking about Christopher Reeve.

Jaime648

18-05-2003, 15:12

I think that Christopher Reeve would be a great spokesman too. But on the other hand we have a kid on our team nicknamed Britney does that count???

Jaime648

:cool:

GregTheGreat

18-05-2003, 15:17

Originally posted by oneangrydwarf
First off, Great question!

I think that getting a celebrity would be a great thing. Why not celebrities? Often times there are GROUPS of celebrities that endorse groups and charities. Now though it would be cool i'm not talking about a 'we are the world' type of thing for robots, that would be pretty cool the more i think about it. But what if a FIRST event could get media exposer by having several celebrities go to each event and get the media interested. Though this could definately backfire on us and people would just end up freaking out about celebrities instead of robots.

I think getting celebrities who are known for being interested in computers, science and technology. Christopher Reeves is a great example he has been pushing science in technology for years in his quest to walk again and has been a real fighter for raising money to help research in repairing spinal chord injuries. But what about getting someone like (yes my opinion is biased due to the fact i am a fan of his work) Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails. He has been a spokes person for apple for years and endorsed their products and been very outspoken about how much he likes them. Something like that, were celebrities could just mention in an article about the program or something in an interview about us, thats the best way to get our name out there.

In regards to the simpsons idea, did anyone else notice how much the spell-olympics competition lisa attended in an episode this season resembled a first competition? I think it would be a great idea if Lisa joined a FIRST team, and they could get a guest apearance from Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers, or any of the other famous faces of FIRST. We already know that Matt Groening knows about segways as there have been multiple references to Segways in the Simpsons, well maybe not multiple but i can think of ATLEAST 1 and i thought there was another. What about ads in teen magazines and that sort of thing that talk about our program, or if Dateline or another News Magazine did a story on a FIRST team (to bad that 60 minutes thing with hammond never happened).

I dont know my brain is empty now...

I can think of only 1 episode with the Segway, but maybe I am just not thinking hard enough. Now that you mention it the Spelling one with lisa, resembles the FIRST events. The simpsons would be a great way to make FIRST known. Hey we should all write Matt Groening a letter, I don't know how much good it will do though. lol.

Adam Y.

18-05-2003, 15:18

Kath Rodgers or Jesse James.
Junkyard Wars and Monster Garage Rocks.

Jessie-648

18-05-2003, 15:20

I think that christopher reeve should be the spokes person. as for the Simpson's thing that would be a great idea b/c not alot of people i know dont know what robotics is and if they did a epssode on the simpsons they would know about FIRST.

Adam Y.

18-05-2003, 20:58

How about Tim Allen?? Everyone knows who he is. Oooo wait you want a representative of FIRST. He would be be representative of my team. Heheh oopps we let the robot roll of the table. Not to mention he likes Macs.

Andy A.

18-05-2003, 23:09

James Doohan. You may know him better as 'Scotty' of Star Trek fame.

Come on, the greatest engineer of the 24th century, who can top that?

Ok, so maybe that wouldn't appeal to much to the general public. But still, he is Scotty.

-Andy A.

SkitzoSmurf

18-05-2003, 23:12

homer simpson, oh wait, he's not real,
DOH!

GregTheGreat

19-05-2003, 00:28

Originally posted by SkitzoSmurf
homer simpson, oh wait, he's not real,
DOH!

Huh, Homer Simpson isn't real.....

What am I to do know. My Idol is not real. Oh what a day. lol.

Daniel Brim

19-05-2003, 00:42

Team 22's mascot is Homer Simson. But Homer is an acronym

Human
Operated
Mechanically
Engineered
Robot

:D

GregTheGreat

19-05-2003, 00:56

Now that could be Incorporated into a nice animation. HOMER pretty cool acro.

Amanda Morrison

19-05-2003, 15:55

Good question, John. A lot of FIRSTers are passionate when it comes to how the program is projected to the rest of the world.

The celebrity that FIRST uses to endorse the program (keep in mind that this is all my opinion only) would not necessarily be a 'celebrity' in the types of Brad Pitt and such, but instead someone who is famous for being an activist, a scholar, etc. Unfortunately, the Curie's keeled over and Newton and Einstein did too, but there are still people throughout the world making technological, scientific, and mathematical advancements that sometimes end up having a breakthrough, and BAM - the whole world is focused on that person. That's why we need an activist, a leader, someone who is passionate about FIRST to go about and just let everyone know about the program.

I once thought a cool job would be to be a 'motivational speaker' for FIRST, doing nothing but driving from high school to high school and holding assemblies and such to let kids know about this program. Needless to say, once I got into the real world, I realized that this wouldn't be a cool job, it would be a dream job. I'm not the best at public speaking, but think about it - someone from FIRST who has had great life-changing experiences through the program goes out and tells middle- and high-school kids all about the greatness of FIRST and what it does for our schools, our youth, and our country. Get the president to say something about it. That person will go from FIRSTer to celebrity status in no time.

That's all it takes. But it's a big task, and someone has rise up to the challenge and do it. That's what it will take.

p.s. - Greg, please don't reply three thousand times to a thread...especially to your own post. The 'edit' button is a useful tool. Thank you. :)

Alex Salomonsky

19-05-2003, 16:01

George Lucas

GregTheGreat

19-05-2003, 17:15

Originally posted by Amanda Morrison
p.s. - Greg, please don't reply three thousand times to a thread...especially to your own post. The 'edit' button is a useful tool. Thank you. :)

I am sorry, I know I post a-lot. I don't think that I have posted upon my own messages, but if I did, I am sorry. I am used to a little bit more action on these posts though. I guess the season ends and a lot of people don't look at the boards. Once again, I am sorry. I will try to keep my multiple posting's to a minimum.

Michelle 236

28-05-2003, 21:12

Anyone but Russel Crowe.
We all saw how he treated Dean on Leno

Joe Matt

28-05-2003, 21:44

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the goal of FIRST to influence kids through robots to like science and technology, and not sports stars and actors? Wouldn't having a FIRST celebrity be against the ideas of FIRST and why it was started? If a celebrity endorses FIRST, wouldn't that remove the idea of scientists and engeiners becoming the stars?

JVN

28-05-2003, 22:31

Ken Leung

28-05-2003, 22:36

The ideals of FIRST are still taught to its participants through its competitions and challenges.

Having celebrities and stars endorsing FIRST will shows that people who doesn't do science and technology as a living approve of FIRST. The stars could serve as Ambassadors introducing us to the rest of the world.

srawls

28-05-2003, 23:02

Originally posted by JosephM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the goal of FIRST to influence kids through robots to like science and technology, and not sports stars and actors? Wouldn't having a FIRST celebrity be against the ideas of FIRST and why it was started? If a celebrity endorses FIRST, wouldn't that remove the idea of scientists and engeiners becoming the stars?

Let me ask you this: would a celebrity endorsing FIRST inspire young people into science and technology? The answer is most probably, yes.

The real question then, is will FIRST be bending its principles to acomplish its goals. I don't believe they will. Consider this: There are many paths in life, and many things to excel in--each does what he is compelled to do. Science and engineering are wonderful, but if we lived in a country with only scientists and engineers, our culture would be severely lacking. So then, there is most certainly a place for actors and celebrities in our society.

Now, if there is a place for them in our society, why should we be elitist, and exclude them from promoting FIRST? The real issue is not that sports stars and celebrities are bad, it is that too much undue attention is paid to them, and too little to scientist and engineers. If these celebrities are willing to help shift some of that attention to FIRST, in an attempt to change the culture, how is that against the spirit of FIRST?

Hope that wasn't too long ...
Stephen

Madison

28-05-2003, 23:10

What you'd ideally like, I think, is a "reformed celebrity."

If you can get someone to say, "You all know me because I've made millions of dollars starring in such films as. . . but, I really wish I'd have had the chance to be in FIRST like you all do."

...or something. Maybe they'll sound less like Troy McClure.

Ben B

29-05-2003, 00:29

All that I have to say is this:
ALAN ALDA! :D

Wetzel

29-05-2003, 02:40

Darrell Green
~Already has shown a dedicated interest in helping youth to achive. Darrell Green Youth Life Foundation (http://www.dgylf.org/)
Mr. I-Invented-the-Internet
~Has become much more reserved recently
Q
~Makes the coolest and most creative things, ever.
David Beckham
~One can dream. :)

Wetzel

GregTheGreat

29-05-2003, 12:06

Originally posted by M. Krass
What you'd ideally like, I think, is a "reformed celebrity."

If you can get someone to say, "You all know me because I've made millions of dollars starring in such films as. . . but, I really wish I'd have had the chance to be in FIRST like you all do."

...or something. Maybe they'll sound less like Troy McClure.

I couldn't agree with you more. I think that a "reformed celebrity" is exactly what FIRST needs.

What would really be nice is a celebrity that already was in the FIRST program. Their may be one out there, you never know. :confused:

Stina236

29-05-2003, 15:45

Originally posted by deansmyidol
Anyone but Russel Crowe.
We all saw how he treated Dean on Leno

I have to agree... can't redeem yourself after that one, can ya?

Aignam

29-05-2003, 19:25

Along the same lines as Q, how about Pierce Brosnan---He's famous for using nothing but the coolest, most cutting-edge technology, and I can think of a million and one ways for him to total a stack of bins with a BMW.

Ian W.

29-05-2003, 20:54

everyone is mentioning actors, music stars, etc, but what about politicians?

yeah yeah, we all know they lie and no one likes them, but everyone listens to them. even if they don't want to, they still do.

my idea, maybe get whatever FIRST team wins something big (like chairman's award) they would meet with some big wig politician(s) (doesn't have to be president, but maybe like, state governer, a bunch of senators, representatives, etc). if that happens enough, people will start to see FIRST.

another idea is try and get FIRST mentioned on channels like MTV (yes, i do know that's been tried). imagine a FIRST team as guests on TRL? obviously it'd have to be an exceptional robot, but i'm confident if FIRST, MTV, and some team that made an amazing machine were to cooperate, it'd definitely doable.

lastly, and this is a bit of a stretch, but maybe we can get FIRST mentioned in some movies? someone mentioned several characters from James Bond. maybe figure out someway to incorporate FIRST into the next bond movie?

remember, we don't just need one giant celebrity. we also need lots of smaller ones, because they're just as important in spreading the word.

GregTheGreat

30-05-2003, 16:31

I thought of a real good one....

Stephen Hawkins. His voice machine shows just what technology can do. He is just the type of person FIRST would want.

D.J. Fluck

30-05-2003, 16:37

Originally posted by GregTheGreat
I thought of a real good one....

Stephen Hawkins. His voice machine shows just what technology can do. He is just the type of person FIRST would want.

Don't you mean, Stephen Hawking? ;) Unless you mean the landscape oil painter, Stephen Hawkins (http://www.hcdickins.co.uk/Hawkins/Hawkins%20home.html) :p

He wouldn't be too bad, but if you want to get FIRST's message out to the public you have to get someone who is fairly casusal that the average Joe would recognize

Kyle

30-05-2003, 16:43

Originally posted by D.J. Fluck
Don't you mean, Stephen Hawking? ;) Unless you mean the landscape oil painter, Stephen Hawkins (http://www.hcdickins.co.uk/Hawkins/Hawkins%20home.html) :p

He wouldn't be too bad, but if you want to get FIRST's message out to the public you have to get someone who is fairly casusal that the average Joe would recognize

Any average Joe thats watched the Simpsons will know Stephen Hawking. :)

D.J. Fluck

30-05-2003, 22:37

Originally posted by Kyle
Any average Joe thats watched the Simpsons will know Stephen Hawking. :)

Ah you are right, where the Utopia ended up turning into a fruitopia :D

AdamT

30-05-2003, 22:52

Originally posted by Ken L
The ideals of FIRST are still taught to its participants through its competitions and challenges.

Having celebrities and stars endorsing FIRST will shows that people who doesn't do science and technology as a living approve of FIRST. The stars could serve as Ambassadors introducing us to the rest of the world.

Well said!

On the other hand, I believe the ideal Spokes person would be a celebrity who participated in FIRST earlier in life. Now there may not be such a person right now (the program is young), but I think it is quite possible we could see a celebrity from the FIRST generation.