[Taylor]

Regarding celebrating celebrities:
I've seen pictures of Fred Armisen, several Mythbusters, Shaka Smart, Barack Obama, and that dude that makes cakes on TV on CD-Media. In none of those corresponding threads has there been grumbling about "pandering to celebrities" or "celebrating the wrong culture".
When will.i.am was part of the 2011 kickoff, before the splash page fiasco, people thought that was pretty cool, and were excited about the prospect of a live performance. People on this forum were practically foaming at the mouth, looking for some nod of the head to FIRST during the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

So what's different about this?

I appreciate concerns about crowding in the pits - there's another thread devoted to that. But what's done is done, we've got a tremendous opportunity to once again promote FIRST to the public, why not take advantage of it?

I, for one, am very happy about the way this has been handled, and the way our gracious STL hosts are treating us. IMHO, most of the times when FIRST is displayed to the general public (usually as a side story on CNN or 20/20 or 60 Minutes or some such show), it's displayed as this cute little boutique program. I'm yearning for the day when FIRST is above that, is given the same publicity as, say, an NCAA basketball game or NBA football game or the Chicago Marathon. For twenty years, the PTB in NH have been working to make FIRST a household-known entity; having a closed-doors concert by an internationally known act - and not in such a way as to portray us as a "charity case" - is a great thing.

Sure, it's a PITA. I completely agree that we should voice concerns about the space situation. But let's leave the pitchforks and torches at home.