Interesting that this thread got restarted. I had an interesting discussion on why I would pass out First info at a VEX event. It's simple, I don't really care what program people are involved in (even though VEX is the most awesome
, but I want them involved. I spent some time with Joe P, talking about how the hangar we were in would be amazing for a FRC event. And I made sure he got introduced to the liaison for DAFB, our Air Force recruiter and the Senators aide for Delaware. If I could double the number of robotics kids each year, year after year, for the next 10 years, our penetration rate in Delaware would just break the 5% mark.
And I'm convinced it's about the events, and I've been convinced by that for a long time. We started with VRC with one event in Newark and one event in central PA and 4 teams in Philly. Now there are 20 VEX events within a 2 hour drive of the center of Philadelphia (including Dover Delaware!) and about 100 teams. It's competition robotics, without competitions why do it?