Quote:
Originally Posted by AcesJames
If you were one of the world's biggest pop stars, and then suddenly after a few phone calls you were on a jet to a televised event you knew next to nothing about, how would you respond? I know Will is no stranger to audiences and cameras, but just think about how hard it would be to formulate an opinion about something you were just being introduced to, and then trying to articulate an educated response into a microphone for thousands to hear.
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This completely makes sense, but I have to say at Kickoff last year I was completely dumbfounded... See I was at Dean's house the night before when we first found out about Will.i.am and he came out and gave an INCREDIBLY eloquent speech, in fact it was more eloquent than I've seen him at any event since! Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful for Will.i.am's support, I think having him help us with the spotlight is great for the program! But I was just amazing that my first impression (his speech at Dean's) was so drastically different from many of the following. I am guessing his speech for Dean's was prewritten, though if so, it was very well delivered and not read of a sheet of paper (he might have had notes, I dont recall), but I think coming from a very highly educated and highly critical population like FIRST, I think we all want to expect as much from him as we do from Dave Lavery, when in reality, they are two different aspects that are very important in tying together the bigger picture of getting the word out there. We need the intelligence and forethought from Dean, the eloquence from Dave, Woodie, Blair, etc... the history buffs like Karthik, the organizers like Mikell and Kathy, the leaders like Raul, Paul, JVN... to make this program run, but then we need people like Will.i.am and the celebrities he has rounded up to really really make this mainstream. Will.i.am sometimes comes across as reserved (perhaps what others label other things), but I think sometimes its because he is crafting thought. He's sort of the anti-Dean... we all know everything Dean is thinking in great detail, we have to sort of decipher what Will.i.am says
In the end, he is trying to do great things for FIRST, and for that I am thankful!