White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/content.aspx?id=18378


And it's happening now!

It's the very first White House Science Fair on Monday, Oct. 18! The prez will spotlight the winners of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions, then do some local Democratic fundraising in the evening. Here's what's on deck:


11:35 a.m. -- Views science fair projects in the State Dining Room.

Noon -- Delivers remarks at the White House Science Fair in the East Room. "If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you're a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too," the president said in November, according to the White House.

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Soooo...
What FRC teams were invited?

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Answered my own question:
http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/content.aspx?id=18378

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Just had a moment of, "Gah, I know those kids!" :yikes:

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Hey, I know about FTC Team 25!

Congrats to the all-girls robotics team from the Los Angeles area!

I'm a little disappointed that there wasn't more advanced notice to the FIRST community. I sent an e-mail to the robotics coordinator for Pasadena Unified School District just before the President made his remarks. With a little more notice, the webcast could have been viewed by many students in classrooms. THAT would truly be inspirational...

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Rock n' Roll Robots at the White House
http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-cohn/78460/obama-republicans-intellectuals-student-science


Miss Daisy at the White House Science Fair
http://remakeamericanow.org/2010/10/...cience-fair-2/

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

My understanding is they generally don't want to publish too much info about who will visit the White House and when ahead of time for security reasons. I'm not surprised that we didn't see anything until this morning.

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Check out the article in the attached Washington Post link

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=artslot

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

As tweeted:

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

That is hard when our "top" award has nothing to do with the robot. :o

Oh there is so much more to FIRST than just the robot.

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Someone should also inform them that there are more than 340 teams in FRC. :p

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Many of us have experienced some frustration with trying our best to convey/explain FIRST to reporters. Some of us have also experienced delight when what we tried to convey or thought we had conveyed shows up in well-crafted articles/reports. What that part of our job is - is to do it as well as we can as teams and participants, continuing to hone our skills in communication and working with the folks that help promote the program - the journalists/media.

This thread can point out the mistakes and shortcomings, true - but it really is a celebration of the teams and all those that shared this special day in the limelight that was centered on young people who enjoy thinking and doing the math. Let's help celebrate with them!

Well done, teams. Hats off to our young people and mentors who make a difference and challenge the cultural status quo.

Jane

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

I've been posting articles and news stories all day long over at LinkedIN. It's amazing how much publicity the FIRST teams have been getting as well as all the science and technology recognition. Kudos to those that organized it and those that participated. Hopefully this becomes a regular event and maybe even expands outside of Washington DC.

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Congrats to the FIRST teams and to all the science and technology education programs which were spotlighted at the White House yesterday. We can nitpick about the details, but the bottom line is that this type of recognition has taken a long time to be realized in this way.

For our country to truly value technology and innovation, we need to celebrate it on a national scale. That's what yesterday's event did. We all should be proud of our FIRST teams and all the other great programs highlighted yesterday. While othes can learn more about FIRST, we can also learn about other efforts to generate excitement in the areas of science and technology.

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Jane and John, I meant no disrespect to the great teams who have earned the right to represent FIRST.

I have spent years trying to teach the elevator pitch to students, and it was tough to see the White House didn't get it right.

I apologize if my post was not appropriate in this thread.

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

In my post, I wasn't necessarily thinking about what you wrote, Jenny, and I'm sorry if it sounded that way. As long as I've know you, I've known and respected your work in the areas of communication, esp. the 2 minute areas - the elevator pitch.

Truthfully, if the event/news source is given the proper and correct information and they are careless with their posting or reporting - then it shows that they have work to do, too. Communication is a two-way street. We see this every day in news coverage of events world-wide and how that coverage is treated/handled. With information comes responsibility.

Jane

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

So true. I have spent a lot of time explaining the Chairman's award to people who've seen the coverage and ask why if we won the competition we aren't the team there. It's nice that people are talking about FIRST but has become a personal nuisance. Everytime I see a local FRC related article I find myself explaining the reality to people verses what the article has for information. While this issue isn't as bad as it used to be I wish I didn't cringe with every article I read thinking about what I need to explain to people when they come talk to me about it.

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

The robot competition is the most obvious, visible, and distilled-media-friendly part of the picture. It's what people see when they attend a regional or championship event. It's two thirds of the letters in FRC. We shouldn't be surprised that it's all that gets into the news coverage, when that coverage is managed by someone who isn't already well versed in what FIRST is trying to do.

The rest of the story is harder to capture in photos or on video, and it's harder to make it sound exciting in a newspaper article. The way to change this is probably to be consistently enthusiastic about the culture-change aspects of FIRST when talking to reporters, while almost apologetically acknowledging how much fun the robot side of things is.

Being consistently enthusiastic with a consistent message is not easy to do without sounding like a cult. We could use a reasonably large collection of things to say that restate the mission and vision of FIRST but don't appear to be stock phrases.

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

That's where superhero comic books have been smarter than the average bear.

KABLAM!!!! is my most favorite enthusiastic word although ZAP!!! with lightning bolts is a close second.

Sorry, I digress.derail.detour. *cough*

Jane

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Jane, your inner child is showing :D


I was talking to an executive at work, chatting about robots of course, when I casually mentioned how FIRST had affected my daughter by influencing her to choose a career in engineering. All of a sudden you could see him perk up and really take interest in what I was saying. It so happens that his daughter was having trouble finding a focus in school and getting hooked up with an FRC team last year is starting to help her get focused.

My point is that you never really know what is going to click with the person you are talking to, but they need some sort of context to frame what you are saying and make a connection. It's tough with somebody you don't know, you really have to be good at reading body language and other clues in order to get your point across.

It takes practice. So talk about FIRST every chance you get, watch their reactions, and hone your personal interaction skills.

P.S. At the Fall Workshops in San Diego, we are going to have a session on Elevator Pitches. Just one more opportunity to better our communication skills!

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Jenny:

I fully understand. I have not been in the details of events like this and can appreciate the bigger picture without having to deal with all the details, which can certainly be frustrating when the media get it wrong.

Regards.

John

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

The information that you are discussing did not come from the students at the event, but was collected from some other research or source. Most likely transferred between adults. Although some of the details were certainly wrong, the spirit of the day and the message from the President was "spot on". We really need to look at the big picture.

I listened to every second of all of the student groups in the State Dining Room and I would ride an elevator with any of them. This was the most eloquent group of kids I have ever seen. The poise with which they interacted with the leader of our country was just inspiring. Every student conveyed to the President their passion for science and the love they had for their particular activity, whether they had worked in the family garage or traveled to an international competition.

We all certainly want the details to be accurate and it is frustrating when the press gets it wrong. But I believe that the mission of our visit was to convey the excitement of FLL, FTC, and FRC to the nation via the President. And when the President of the United States is playing with LEGOs and getting down on the floor to look inside of robots, then I would have to say "Mission Accomplished".

Re: White House to host winners of STEM competitions
 

Thank you for representing us all so well. Seeing that picture made me get a little teary eyed because I felt the same proud emotions that were on each of those kids faces even though I am miles and miles away. :*)

I cannot express enough thanks that you represented FIRST so perfectly.