Vote For FIRST
 

The following link has been brought to my attention:

http://www.pbconnect.com/innovate/vote/

After I voted, I noticed that FIRST was just a few votes behind on the chance to win a $9,000 donation from Pitney Bowes.

Looking forward to seeing a sudden spike in FIRST votes. :D

Jason

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

As of 2:03 EST FIRST was up by 6 votes. Let's go!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

At 2:09 - Up by 20!

Go FIRST!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

At 2:15, up by 32!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

@ 2:24, up by 52.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

@ 2:52, up by 82.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

3:27 pm est: FIRST is DOWN BY 104 :eek:

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

3:36 est down by 90.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

3:37 and 95 votes behind. I'll put this on my fb page, hoping that will help.

AB

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

3:46 EST, and down by 78 votes.
I would like to take this time to remind FIRST members that each computer gets its own vote, and most schools have computer labs...

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Only down by 40 votes now, keep it up!

[edit] Wow! only 30 now! 1:08 PST
[edit] Wow! only 17 now! 1:10 PST
[edit] Its a Tie! 1:11 PST
[edit] Up by 10! 1:13 PST

This has to be my most edited post :]

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Tied at 4:11!

Gonna vote on all 25ish of our CADroom computers tonight at our meeting :D

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Tied. 4:11 EST.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Everyone should share this in every way possible.

FIRST, up by 8 votes (4:14 PM)

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Y'all help me think of an entry for the Andy Baker thread.

*runs off to find the Andy Baker (the Powerful) thread*

Here it is:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...=45474&page=22

Ooo, got one.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

@4:14: Up by 10 :)

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

4:19 pm est: FIRST is up by 12

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

1:26 PST First is up by 25!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

4:30 EST
FIRST is up by 35

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Broke 3000 votes!
Up by 27 1:33 PST
Down by 6! 1:38 PST
Down by 47! :ahh: 1:40 PST
Down by 126! :ahh: 1:41 PST
Down by 143! :ahh: How are they doing this?? 1:42 PST

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

3:45 PM CST
BuildOn
49.35%
3221 votes



FIRST
47.30%
3087 votes



Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship
3.36%
219 votes

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

4:48: Down by 129

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

everyone should invite their friends on facebook to join this group!

down by 120
- down by 112 (4:53)
- down by 94 (4:58)

We're slowly coming back!

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/...32599346753634

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

You can also vote multiple times on the same machine through different browsers.

5:08: Down by 63

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

5:14: Down by 32. We can do this!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

I just realized this...voting ends on the 9th....I don't think we can keep this up for a week...

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Oh O.o

Hmmm, I guess we don't need minute by minute, maybe hour by hour, hahaha

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Well..
Jason was looking forward to seeing a spike. I think he got to see a loop-de-loop.
It's been fun though.

And the program that is in the lead (off and on), looks like a very worthwhile program.

But, that's not going to stop the vote.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

FIRST down by 2.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Hey... isn't there a thread about "what is CD for in the off-season?"

Better add this one to the list. I have been pleasantly surprised at the numbers.

I'll remind folks that while we CAN use multiple machines and multiple browsers to vote multiple times, that the website does request that we limit our votes to one per PERSON.

Nothing wrong with encouraging lots of people to vote, of course... and I know that spamming the vote box is a pretty common occurence... and I have no way of knowing whether or not other voters are doing this.... but the request IS to keep it to one person = one vote.

Jason

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Not with that attitude!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Oh. Snap.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

UP BY 7!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

I feel sorry for Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

still up!!! go first

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

5:43 CST up by 266! ;)

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Down by 140 O.o (7:14 PM)

We can rally back!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Down by 45 (7:35pm)

keep voting, we are catching up! :D

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Up by 3 again! @ 4:43 PST

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

up by 59 (7:58 pm est) :D

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

7:06 Central
BuildOn: 3961
FIRST: 4040 :p
NFTE: 273

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Down by 79! (8:50 EST)

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

up by 87 21:50:25 EDT/EST

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Only up by 3!

Granted, $9000 isn't a huge amount of money, but better than nothing.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Its amazing how fast build-on gathers votes.
One minute we are ahead by 50 votes, then the next we are behind by 100.
Like now we are behind by 143 votes, we used to be ahead by 3 10 minutes ago, crazy!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Yeah it is amazing how quickly the scores seem to change. I wonder whether it will continue to fluctuate between FIRST and Buildon like this for the rest of the week? :confused:
I will continue and I hope everyone else will continue to tell people to vote because this could be a very intense and close race if today's voting patterns hold true :D

right now we are down 52 points at 10:46 EST

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

And now we're up 91 at 11:03 PM EDT

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Up by 184 votes at 11:18 pm EDT
(Am I reading that bar chart right?)

5171
vs
5355
vs
285

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

up by 328 at 11:24 PM :D

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

As of 11:27 EST FIRST is up by 239 votes! Great!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Well that went down fast 11:40 up by 40...

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Voted...but for 9K...?

Maybe FIRST just wants to get its foot in the door I guess?

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

As of midnight EST we are down by 36 :(

but I have I high hopes for the results of tommorrow :)

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Every little bit counts, especially for a non profit organization who depends on sponsors! :]

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

FIRST is down by 440 now. :eek:

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

My! How things change in a few minutes!
First is up by 6,504!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

We are winning by 6,691. (I think it is 7:06 Eastern time...)

Having an international organisation seems to help as we pulled up over night!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Up by 6,725 (if my calculation is right) 7:25:50 EDT / EST

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

woohoo!!!! up by overr 7000!!!!!! :D

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Hahahhaa, I bet the buildon people went to sleep, woke up, and were like, "Whahahahaht?"

I know this is 9k, but I believe FIRST is also in another vote for 200K.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

It seems like a sleeping giant has been awakened. FIRST response has been awesome.

Here is the link to the $200K vote. You will have to register to vote:
http://www.takepart.com/membersproject/vote

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Here is the link to the $200K vote. You will have to register to vote:
http://www.takepart.com/membersproject/vote[/quote]

FIRST is ahead in this one to, 38% to 24%.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship - Just jumped up to over 10,000! going past BuildOn xD

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

2:43 PM up by 5,385 votes!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Just added another vote, and now we're up by 5,386 votes. You guys are fantastic and awesome!

Keep voting, though. Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship got some seriously fast votes over night. They're now ahead of BuildOn.

And to ye who said something about 9K not being a large sum of money, even if it's NOT for an organization this big, it's still awesome to see the FIRST teams and alumni getting together to do something off season. If that be voting, carry on. It's a cool feeling of team spirit.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

And you need to be 18 to register to vote for this.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

3:00 ahead by 5,207 :D

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Agreed, and as a global community working towards this goal, together. Pitney Bowes has provided an opportunity for the FIRST community to have some fun and to see the bigger picture and to recognize that votes do count.

Pretty cool.

Jane

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

In the lead by 5,420 votes!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Can we win the 9000 by OVER 9000!!!!!!

Sorry, I had to

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

You can put voting macro on it, but can't make it to obvious by winning by a lot...

Just tried it with iMacros on Firefox, works fine (just have to clear cache and cookies as usual)...

EDIT: Forgot to mention you need a delay and wait for the results to pop up then clear your cache and cookies

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

It officially happened! :D

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Please don't do this. This reflects poorly on both you individually and FIRST as a whole. The sponsor of the competition has asked for one vote per person and that should be respected. If that means that FIRST does not win the money then so be it.

Remember, WWGD? (What would Grandma Do?)

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

There's actually another really good lesson here: don't trust the results of stupid web polls.

You know the ones that newspapers and news programs like to run? Where they make up a biased or simplistic question, and then pontificate about the perceived significance of the results? And then usually fail to understand that some kid is spamming the results? (Basically, this.*)

Given what's been reported in this thread about the Pitney Bowes votes, it's pretty obvious that all three organizations are getting plenty of scripted votes here. Like Wolf Blitzer used to say, "this is not, repeat not, a scientific poll".

And it's all for $9 000 USD. For that matter, what's the point of giving just $9 000 to one of three multi-million-dollar organizations? (Check their financials: FIRST, buildOn and NFTE.) Certainly there are other worthy organizations for which this would be a much bigger deal.

The other voting page has its own problems—like requiring your registration in their program and your consent to disclose information to a third party (American Express)—but at least they've taken some measures to make the tally legitimate. And they're offering much more money to the winner. That's the one that the FIRST community should have its eyes on (every week for the next several months).

*In case that link dies, it's a Fox News web poll about the "real" goals of the Tea Party movement. In the lead: "Fruitless mix of racism, conspiracy theories", 89%.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Put in my vote and now we're in the lead by 7,227 :D

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Heh, just noticed they added a captcha (go recaptcha!).

Got my vote. We're by a lot. Don't know how much, too lazy to do the math.

-Tanner

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

up by 7,386 votes!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

I'm sure a lot of people already said they've used computer labs to vote multiple times. The only difference in a macro is that it automatically votes and doesn't require another computer, plus one vote on the macro takes like 20s because of the speed of the voter. I only tested it to see if the macro would work. i ensure you that people have repeat voted more than the macro voted. I did it for 3 votes (4 if you include setting up the macro). Not to mention that the other organizations have probably used one (i think one went from like 500 to like 10,000 in a night). plus i just checked and they added a macro preventer, so it should be even now

EDIT: And i was surprised when they didn't put the macro preventer in the first place, based on that it's internet voting giving money to technology skilled kids

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Wow Build On is now in third. Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship shot forward quite a bit. We are still up by about 8500.

~DK

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Now this was an interesting Capcha... :D

Very appropriate I'd say.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

FIRST is up! I'm putting this on my Facebook as well!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

FIRST has the lead but Network for Teaching is gaining votes at a faster rate.
Keep sending emails to your team to vote, end of competition is June 9th !

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Guess what, we won!

13,060 - Build On
27,631 - FIRST
16,765 - Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship

That was just the warm up round, now, get out there and vote for $200K on this one: http://www.takepart.com/membersproject/vote

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

For the Education catagory for the $200,000 FIRST is in the lead, 45% to 20%. See this thread: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=85987

By the way, all three charities ended up getting the $9000.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Grumble... OK, it's a good thing for the other two, but then if we had known, we'd have expended our energy elsewhere.

Well, $9k is 9k, so no complaints here.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

It's one way to get 57,000 hits on a web site.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

FIRST is currently tied with JumpStart for first place with 23% of the vote.

Remember, you can vote every week through Aug 22nd.

http://www.takepart.com/membersproject/vote

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

FIRST is currently ahead of JumpStart with 32% to 23%

Remember, you can vote every week through Aug 22nd.

http://www.takepart.com/membersproject/vote

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

FIRST's looking in good shape to win!

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Bill mentioned this on his Blog on Thursday. It turns out the pot's even bigger than just $200K!
That's a lot of publicity. :eek:

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

I just got yet another email on this and am frustrated...

Does anyone have any idea what FIRST is going to use the $200K for? I haven't voted yet because I can't seem to find an answer. I even WROTE to FIRST, and still have not received an answer.

There were some very good points made in this thread. I hate to sound political, but if FIRST is going to use it to fund more overhead and isn't going to use it to help fund regionals, or offset costs for teams, or increase Rookie grants, I'm not sure I am interested in helping them garner $200K. Teams and Regional events are struggling. $200K more to FIRST HQ that doesn't filter down isn't a good investment on Amex's part in my mind.

I absolutely love FIRST and all it brings in for all of us, but I'm not going to blindly vote for a brand name.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

I'm curious what you define as "overhead". Do you mean the people that work at FIRST HQ to organize the regional programs? Do you mean the people who work to get the donations for the kit of parts? Do you mean the people who work to design and build the field elements for each year? Do you mean the other people in payroll, IT and HR that keep all these other people paid?

I guess overhead could also be the electronics in the field, or the field elements themselves. Or it could mean the money it spends to develop the game. Or even any of the other things I just mentioned for both FTC and FLL.

Maybe it's for the insurance they need to have so that they don't lose all that they have built up. Overhead could also mean the mortgage that they don't have to pay because my tax dollars went to giving them a building (not that I'm complaining).

I guess what I'm trying to say is, what is it that you thing FIRST is spending its money on that is NOT the programs they support?

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

I started voting when it was revealed that the winner would receive coverage in nationally aired advertisements. Before that, I figured $200,000 could go to some group that needed it more.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

I am not saying overhead isn't justified. I am certain that everyone at FIRST HQ works hard for a salary (in fact from what I understand many are underpaid).

But I get to choose who I vote for, and I want to know what they are going to spend that money on. I think I have that right.

Every year we pay $6,000 for our first regional, $4,000 for every regional after that... yet the regional committees never see a dime of that. If our team registered for 6 regionals, all of that money would go to FIRST HQ. I still don't understand why something like even $1K of that doesn't go to the regional.

Every year teams drop out of FIRST because they can't afford it. FIRST is trying things to make this cheaper, but the events are shorter or they are "less grand", you have to find ways to ship your own robot, etc. Overall perhaps a savings to the teams which is a step in the right direction, but not with the same product.

I've been in FIRST since 1996, I know that it USED to be cheaper, so I know their overhead is going up. Im sure that improvements in the kits can account for some of that. I'm sure there are other reasons, but I dont know them. I've read the annual reports, and I just don't see/understand them as an "average" person. They don't present the "why's" or the "where we can be more efficient".

Again, these are the issues that are important to ME and me alone. If they want my vote, that's where I want to see the money spent. OR I want to see a VERY good reason why they aren't spending it on that.

I am very particular about money. I went to Clarkson, I loved my Clarkson education. But after I graduated, Clarkson was spending money on fancy new academic buildings when they didn't have enough space to house all the students they were bringing in. They would use the alumni funds to support campus improvements instead of funding things like FIRST that were direct recruiting tools. So I chose to give money directly to the groups that I thought deserved/needed the funding. Its my money, I have that right.

Just like I have the right to choose who to VOTE for.

I am not arguing that the overhead is unjustified. I want to know what they plan to spend the $200K on and why. That's all.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

*Like*

.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

It would be nice to know what FIRST wants to use the money for, although I'm sure were probably not going to get an answer. At the same time, it would also be fair if we knew exactly how each group was going to the spend their money, however I suspect we will probably not know that either.

Based on the fact that we will probably gain no new knowledge, and the fact that I participate in the program, I am going to have to vote for FIRST. The money would be quite helpful in some way (whatever it may be), and the advertising is something that could really elevate FIRST to the next level.

-Brando

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

It is getting very close...FIRST 34%, Jumpstart 32% as of 1:00 (it was 35-31 this morning). Although I do not know exactly what FIRST will use the money for, I also don't know what anyone else would use the money for. From what I have seen after only one year involved I think it is pretty likely that it will be put to good use, if we can keep the lead for just a couple more days.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

34% to 33% now, at 2:23.

Re: Vote For FIRST
 

Jumpstart is now ahead.