[EricH]

Originally Posted by Andrew Bates

I look at this from an inspiration stand point, what has KAJ done that means people should look up to him and aspire to be him? He was an outstanding basketball player, an actor, and a all around good guy and good face for basketball. That's all good but I don't see where that fits into inspiring kids to pursue STEM paths.

To be fair, you could ask the exact same question about will.i.am (musician), George H.W. Bush (former president), Jon Dudas (patent office) or _____(one of the Google founders who spoke at Championship; the name escapes me right now). Every one of them has been at the Championship, speaking. But other than patents (which can be very dry, boring, and otherwise "who cares" to the outside public), what does any of them have to do with inspiring kids to STEM? What have they done that people in general should look up to them?

I can see how him attending the competition can help from a recognition standpoint, yes he is a big name, yes he will draw additional media. I'm sure some kids will continue to move towards STEM paths because KAJ says it's a good thing. I'm just not sure this is the best recognition possible, FIRST should be recognized for what it does, not by what celebrities it can attract to pat the kids on their back.

I think that's 90% of it. It is additional recognition of FIRST, and not for what celebrities it can attract. You see, to be a decent journalist, you do need to get some background. So you go to cover KAJ at this robotics competition, and you start asking questions, maybe not to KAJ, but to the organizers. To the teams. To onlookers. Then you find out what FIRST does and write at least somewhat about that.

Don't get me wrong, I think this does help and is a good thing. I just wish FIRST would bring in more engineers and the likes. Speakers from TED talks would be great, after all these are the people would inspire people to follow their paths, the same paths FIRST is trying to promote.

Here's the biggest problem with that sort of line. Speakers at the TED talks--"Who's that? Oh, some dude who came up with X technology that isn't practical right now. Meh. I'm going to the mall." That isn't necessarily my response--but I'd be willing to bet that other than a few people, it'd cover a lot of today's youth and/or adults--FIRST's target audience. Interesting topics? Yes. Interesting speakers? Maybe. Interested audience? Probably not. Some of the other options, like Bill Nye--I don't even know if he's on the air anymore--might work, for people that are already out of school and saw this cool show as a kid. (And I don't have a clue who Neil deGrasse Tyson is.) In other words, still not getting to the target audience.

But, if you want to go that way, I'd go for Adam, Jamie, Kari, Tori, and Grant, AKA the Mythbusters. That's a group that both sides--the engineers and the general populace--could relate to.