Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

Oh I'm sure something is coming soon for the West Coast...

Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

With teases like that you should join GameSense :p

Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

And now the cat's out of the bag....

:D

Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

Will there be changes made to STIMS registration in the future to make it more user-friendly? Thanks!

Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

Hey everyone we're going to be closing up these questions soon (4pm EST). Thanks to everybody who emailed, posted on social media, and on CD. You're all entered to win a Gear game piece or a FUN T-Shirt.

Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

Do you feel that FRC is approaching a point where the barrier to entry for rookie teams is going to be too high to create rookie teams sustainably / maintain veteran teams?

Along the same vein, is saturation of resources, both in terms of team financials and in materials, something that needs to be addressed now (is it a thing right now?) One of the major issues I've heard teams in rural areas complain about is that there simply aren't enough sponsors or money in their region in general to fund a team beyond their rookie years.

Do you personally feel that a higher level of competition, along the same spirit as FRC, but with the intent of being made for "TV" or online to cultivate the "inspiration" portion, would have a place in the FIRST family?

What, right now, do you see as the biggest issue hindering the progress of FIRST & FRC? How do you see it being resolved, if it can be at all?

Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

With the move to Districts, and the increasing trend of having Regionals in school gyms, do you think inspiring participants in these smaller spaces with more limited production might be an issue? If so, do you have a plan to address this?

Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

What was the reasoning behind having the actual scoring of gears be based on human actions rather than robot actions?

Could you give a breakdown of the FRC operating budget and how our registration fees fit into that?

In the past, one of the problems with FRC refereeing has been consistency between referees, sometimes within the same event. Are there any plans to improve this issue so teams know what to expect on "judgement calls" from referees?

What's the backup plan if the automated scoring system craps out?

Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

Was there ever any discussion of turning each of the current FTC Super-Regionals into "mini-worlds" with both FRC and FTC events, with each feeding to Championship as an alternative to 2Champs?

Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

How much thought and discussion went into the potential visibility issues for drivers in FIRST STEAMWORKS? In STRONGHOLD only a small portion of the field was *occasionally* obstructed by the drawbridge, and teams still struggled. Now you have these large, ~9 foot wide structures width-centered on the field.

Re: AMAA with FRC Director Frank Merrick 1/16 8:30pm EST
 

How did you determine the best object to use for FUEL?