[PayneTrain]

Talking about television coverage can be fun. However, as members of FIRST teams, we are all acting as agents pf the organization as well as the teams we represent.

I think a big issue in FIRST is that the competition is not an inherently accessible thing to attend. Like Dean said, we have forgotten to invite everyone. With a few exceptions, the most accessible part of FIRST, the FRC's events, are held in environments that are contained by regional organizations under the advising of HQ. Sometimes it feels like the competitions too frequently run in parallel to what is happening in the event's city. In Richmond, we shut down entire parts of the city for road races, the circus, summer concerts, and other events, but it is hard to get people to take item out of their day to go see an event like this without any personal stake in it or any guarantee or security of an expected value of entertainment. You can go do demonstrations in your community, and be in parades, and start FLL teams until the cows come home, but how are we getting people to show up?

I haven't seen heavy discussion on this, but when Dean talked about making FIRST loud, he talked about how he and HQ are going to implement a system where teams can submit a 2 minute video showcasing a compelling story about themselves. This is great! I loved this so much! I don't know how many sports fans we have in the CD crowd, but I love sports. Sure, I have my favorite teams and favorite sports, but what makes me watch them is to see documentaries like ESPN's 30 for 30 series and all the great pieces put together by NFL films and going to see the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame... it's not just "not about the robot" for FIRST, it's how the sport isn't the result on the field, but the people and the stories that come from them.

I finally got some friends from a school without a team at any level to come to a competition in my senior year of high school and they loved it, but we don't talk about how the team does. We talk about the stories. We ended up watching i.am.FIRST and the Education in America special. Those are the stories FIRST needs.

We can assemble all of these pieces together as teams, as regional boards, etc, take them to a production company, and sell the idea of broadcasting the world's best kept secret once again.

The movement is going to be hard. Starting FLL teams? Demonstrating the robot? That's important, but it's going to look like child's play in comparison to how you can breach the wall of pop culture with an initiative like this.