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Unread 06-05-2011, 18:59
alexhenning alexhenning is offline
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Re: Bills Blog- Yes, I’m already counting down to kickoff 2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Frenchie461 View Post
Has anyone considered the possibility of simply getting rid of FTC. If FIRST could get FRC affordable so teams could do more with less. Get rid of the official FIRST lighting and sound people. For example, at the BMR, college students would have done just as good of a job on lighting and sound for a whole lot less. With several changes like that, a regional could be down to 1500 or so per team, making it a lot more accessible to schools that are only able to afford FTC. If a FRC team was only twice an FTC team (I'm assuming FTC is like Vex where schools have multiple teams), schools would choose FRC.

tl;dr make first cheap, get rid of FTC
FRC is the flagship of FIRST, and as much as FIRST wants to help FTC, I don't think it should be put ahead of FRC. If anything, FIRST should help the FTC teams become FRC teams. The FTC teams for the most part have exceptional students who are motivated. They have wonderful mentor. However, they lack funding.

FIRST should help the FTC teams become aware of sponsorship opportunities. For instance:
This year, JCPenny gave ~$6,500 to rookies.
There's also the NASA grants for about ~$5,000.
PTC should be offering sponsorships next year.
Tons of local businesses.
Assuming FTC teams already have $2,000 a year in funding, they "just" need one of those grants and another $1,500. The money could be obtained by fundraising, a big sponsor, several small local sponsors. That's assuming you live within driving distance of a regional, but I believe their are enough sponsorship and fundraising opportunities as long as the team is dedicated enough.
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