As many of you are already aware, there was a critical technical issue with the FIRST Choice site today that crashed the site. The result was that all users were unable to access the site and place their orders.

The root cause of the issue has yet to be identified, but the service provider has confirmed that some change was made within the last 24 hours that broke the site. They have reverted the site to a known good state, and it will be re-tested this afternoon. More work will be done to identify the exact cause.

As a result of this issue, FIRST and AndyMark have agreed to postpone the opening of FIRST Choice until tomorrow, 12/15/13, 3pm Eastern. We believe this is the most appropriate course of action because it gives a conservative amount of time for testing, allows customers to get on with their day, and gives a generous window of time for us to get this message out to all of you.

The expiration time/date for the 3D Printer lottery will also be adjusted and is now Tuesday, 12/17/14, 8am.


On behalf of FIRST and AndyMark, we’re very sorry for the frustration and inconvenience this has caused. We are grateful for for your patience and your understanding. We know the time, energy, and resources you put in to FIRST; you deserve service that reflects that.