I don't think I can overstate just how important will.i.am's efforts are in terms of "shining a spotlight" on our community.
FIRST was based on creating science and technology heroes that would inspire our young people. Every time he does something like this, it raises awareness of our program, breaks down society's stigma placed on "geniuses," and bring us that much closer to being able to create mainstream STEM heroes.
will.i.am is a mainstream celebrity who genuinely and unabashedly thinks what we do is wicked cool. And because will.i.am thinks FIRST is cool, thousands, if not millions more feel that much more comfortable saying that FIRST is awesome with a straight face.
Believe me, when I tell people that "I build competitive robots" the reaction is now more "Oh yeah! That's cool! I know about that" as opposed to "
"
Culture change and directing the spotlight are easily just as important, if not more important that the robots we build...
...but having said that...
As the spotlight is directed towards us, it's up to us to build something worth looking at!