[Alex2614]

I understand that. What I'm saying is that the entire year last year they kept saying "FIRST kids aren't geeks." Stuff like that. They kept trying to change the image of who we are. In the words of Dave Lavery, "I'm a geek and I'm $@#$@#$@#$@# proud of it." THAT'S who FIRST is. Promote our image and who we are, don't change it to appeal to the rest of the world. That may not have been what their intentions were, but that's how it came across to a lot of people.

And yes, the concert was nice. However, when FIRST blatantly lied to us about why the fields were in the pits, that was pretty offensive. Bill Miller said that the fields in the pits has nothing to do with the concert at all, which was obviously a lie. FIRST was originally planning to have half of the dome empty until the concert plan came through? I'm sorry, but that's bull and everyone knows it. It's all a part of the transparency issue. The lies are where the issue is. If they are going to do something like that, at least be truthful and up front with us. FIRST gave the image that the Black Eyed Peas and famous people are more important than the students and the competition. The image was that they kicked us out of the dome for the concert. Like I said, the concert was great and it was a great time, but things could have been handled differently. I know that this was not the image that FIRST was planning on giving, but that's how it came across to the teams.

Libby, everything you said in the post you linked to should have been publicly announced and explained by FIRST. I understand where you are coming from and I agree with everything you have said. All I'm asking is to try to see it from our point of view. I think everyone can agree that you probably have more of an inside view than the rest of us do... This is what it looked like from our point of view:
We had no warning or explanation for what was going to transpire at the cmp '11, then suddenly shortly before we got there, FIRST tells us that the fields are now in the pits (which, by the way, was a part of the "original plan" according to Bill Miller) and there will be a concert stage in the dome (which had nothing to do with the fields in the pits according to Bill Miller). Then having to play almost the entire cmp (with the exception of 2 matches) in the pits with seats that could not fit everybody (we had parents that could not watch matches because there were no seats) combined with other problems and discomforts and pains. All of this for a concert. FIRST had at this point yet to give a public announcement explaining why all of this was going on and to explain to teams the inside information that you have been saying. And then on top of that, we get what is obviously a lie about why we were experiencing what we were experiencing. The teams and robots were being overshadowed and kicked under the bus for the rock stars. Then there were other things that furthered our frustration, such as the hall of fame teams being shoved into the corner where nobody could see them, and out in the open is all of the big name sponsors, etc. I actually looked for the hall of fame to talk to them, and couldn't find them for the longest time. This year was a little better.

All I'm saying is that all of this gave the wrong image and there was not enough transparency to the teams. FIRST's heart was in the right place last year. I'm not saying the concert and Will.I.Am is a bad thing. In fact, I think it's great. But their approach left a little to be desired. This year, FIRST had a better balance in promoting the students and who we are.

I'm not just saying that the CMP was better this year because of the fields issues. Everything was handled better and there was a better balance everywhere one looked between the students and teams and robots and who FIRST is and the big names and sponsors. Logistics-wise the event was better as well. Things were laid out better mostly because FIRST had learned from last year. Things flowed better, etc.