pic: Dean's new water dispenser
 

Let me just say these things look even cooler in person. With the cool glowyness that vending machines have and the big eye catching first logo!

Whoa, where is that located?

That was displayed at Dean's house during the chairman's dinner.

Hm, I wonder though, if the water will cost $1.25 like other brands... if so, I'm a bit disappointed.

This one was at Deans house, but they made it sound like they might actualy start using them out in the public like in place of your normal vending machine.

This one is fully loaded with FIRST Shasta water, and its free you just push a button and out comes FIRST water...

They should put free ones like these around at nats so we can stay fully hydrated!

Now Way they would get abused so much!

Agh, $1.25 for a bottle of water? Must be a city thing... ... ... was there any mention of a possible release date for these machines from the local vendor companies?

I didn't hear any official word...
But someone else might have talked to someone who knew.

At a local movie theatre they get away with charging $3 for a 20 oz. bottle. At school and usually around here in venfing machines it's $1.

OMG! I loved the water machine. It is soo good to finally see the FIRST symbol instead of these football players and basketball players on the front of the coke machines. I cant wait to see these start to show up in other public places, it will be such a good feeling to know that I am part of this organization. I think this will really spread the word alot and help FIRST get more recognition if it IS released in the public.:)

What she said ^^^^
But i dont mind Ana Kornakova on the machines

hey..1.25 isnt half bad for a bottle here in canada.. usually 1.50 at most vending machines CDN dollars.. i guess it might be cheaper over there

355 ml can usually 1.00 or .75 at really cheap ones

$1.25 for water isn't incredibly bad. You should try going to Europe. They have water with and without gas. If you want to buy soda, though, it's $4-$5 (soda is an import).

The FIRST water could easily be a good promotion. Kinda like a TV add for a gas station. Most people don't go to a gas station because of an advertisement, I know I don't and nobody I know does. We go because it's a decent price and have had good experiences or no experience.

So.. you walk up to a new vending machine for water.. you first think "Oooooh Shiney" Then take a look at the price. "Hmm... 75¢ ($1.00.. $1.25.. whatever it is) for a water.. why not give it a try." So you cough up the cash and chug down the liquid.. and make a decision. "Hmm.. snazzy. I'll get another one later"

Then you tell your friends.. "Hey I found a good priced water.. at Joe's Groceries SupaMarket" I don't know what all of this "FIRST" stuff is.. so you take a look at the website on the bottle.

What's this done? Given the common person a decent thirst quencher without a corporate ad campaign bumping up the price. Promotes the organization by "word of mouth."

School's with FIRST teams could benifit too. My thought is to have the school's =TEAM= (not the school itself) run the machine as a fundraiser. Many teams don't have a lot of money, and this could get them probably up to $500 a season. Many schools don't allow Soda Pop in a classroom, but almost all allow water.

It would be a good promotion and fundraiser for teams to run these machines at their schools and maybe around their communities.

hehe... I'd get one to have in my apartment to dispense FIRST water to myself :p

... word could be spread easily... add to college campuses, hospitals, and even industries for addition of sponsors and resources - in addition to expanding with schools.

Then where do i sign?

I would find anyway possible to get my school to use these! It's well worth anything (within reason)...this would be a great promotion. They need these over at MIS (and w/ at the most the price being $1....if you got MIS, you'll know).

I overheard one team talking (sorry, didn't get their number), and apparently they have arranged with the shasta people to get one at their school. So yes Raven, I think you probably could get one of these at your school if you talked to shasta.

That man on the left is my next-door neighbor and friend to Team 236, Commander Vince Wilczynski of the USCG and Team 500. He's such a wonderful guy, and a great supporter of F.I.R.S.T. GO CAPTAIN VINNY!!

Whoa, that'd be so cool to have in school. My high school recently got rid of all of our soda machines and replaced them with water, juice, and milk dispensers (yay for health kicks :rolleyes: ). These water dispensers would be great for schools looking for "healthier drinking alternatives" :)

Hmm ... now to contact someone about getting one ... ;)

- Katie

Heh, we have so many things that shouldn't be sold to use (because of the healthy laws we have) it's way past funny. Believe it or not though, we are 1rst (well, Detroit is, but I live only like 5 mins from there). I doubt our school would even if we got them for free (we are a democracy [ha, not really]).

In NY, caffeinated drinks aren't allowed to be sold in school (cafeteria or vending machines) till after 1pm.

Considering that our team doesn't have a whole lot of resources as it is, having a FIRST water machine with benefits to the team could very well help us pay for almost everything.

It could keep teams like mine alive. :ahh:

Don't the machines themselves have a hefty pricetag, as well as the cost for having a person come to restock it every few days? I don't know much about the costs, but wouldn't it take some time to break even? I might be wrong, but I was just wondering.

It depends I think. A highly-known name like Pepsi or Coke, I think they do have a big price. But I think FIRST would sell them cheap.

Heh... at least your school is on a health kick. About 3 years ago, the Rochester Community Schools signed something like a $10 million deal with Pepsi to put vending machines in all the schools. With that, RHS went from having 2 machines by the gym to having about 20 all around the school. About half of them are Pepsi machines with sodas, most of the rest are water machines (with juice, too), and there are one or two milk machines in each school. I believe it's just for the middle schools and high schools, though, and the middle school machines are limited to lunch and after-school hours. So, though it's not 100% bad... it's ironic to see schools like yours banning soda while others seem to be embracing it in the pursuit for the elusive dollar.

I know my old high school just had Pepsi products stocked and had aides reload the machines during study periods.

I would be more than happy to reload the machines if it brought some kind of profit for my team.

The machine itself often has a semi-high price.. but I'd be more than willing to throw down a couple hundred if I knew I'd get it back. Water sells, especially in dorms where there is no air conditioning.

Don't forget after Gym, no matter when really. I know I spent about 50 dollars total buying water after gym my 9th grade year (1$ each time).

Vending machines are a hefty chunk of change, $2500 is a cheap new machine, and used machines are not that much cheaper.


This water has been comming to a store near you for 2 years now, and I've yet to see it.


Wetzel

Well, my school has recently begun a major nutritional campaign aimed at getting all students to eat and drink healthier. I believe there was a nearly $500,000 grant for this purpose. One of the stated goals of the project was to remove Coca-Cola from the school entirely, because they were "Ripping us off big-time", to quote a student representative of the project. Much to my dismay, I find our familiar Coca-cola machines now replaced with "Dasani" bottled water machines, operated by ::gasp!:: coca-cola! I suspect that these machines would be a welcome alternative at my school, so if anyone finds out how to get them, please tell!