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Unread 28-04-2014, 15:07
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Re: Jane Cosmetics at 2014 Championship

Quote:
Originally Posted by Taylor View Post
As an observer who was actually at the FIRST Championship, heard Dean introduce Ms. Tilton at least twice (therefore hearing his take on her inclusion), and hearing Ms. Tilton speak on her own behalf, I'd like to offer a perspective:
The theme throughout the event was let's stop preaching to the choir. Over the past quarter century, FIRST has become pretty good at infiltrating STEM-centric industries. Now their focus is on expanding beyond that. They've created partnerships with celebrities, television networks, athletes - and Jane offers an example of industry beyond the traditional tech firms with which we're normally associated.
Ms. Tilton explained that she could have brought in one of her mills, automotive manufacturers, etc. - but those are already captured audiences. Cosmetics is largely untapped with regards to FIRST, and could have the largest effect.
Since she, and her corporate interests, are new to FIRST, I'm not at all surprised that a new sponsor set up a booth (which was given its prominent position, I assume, in proportion to the monetary donation given) that displays its products, and allows interested parties to test them out. Of the 'makeovers' I witnessed, I didn't see anything garish. I didn't see any implied message other than "hey, we support FIRST, and here's our company and what we do" - just like any other corporate sponsor does.
In her remarks, like Chris said, Ms. Tilton expressed support for confidence, not conformity. And rather than espouse the societal idea of beauty, she chose to focus on the philanthropic nature of the product line.
As with many things, if one enters this partnership with preconceived notions and makes value judgments based on those biases, then one is mostly missing the point.
The hope is Jane will help #MakeItLoud
And I don't see this partnership as any more outlandish than McDonald's sponsoring the Olympics. It's all about Top Of Mind Awareness, for all parties involved.
I agree with Taylor, as two of our girls who was chosen to get makeovers, it was nice that they got them. However, the girls weren't affected by it, and one being our student captain, she was more in a hurry to get her makeover done and get back working on the robot. When they came back from their makeovers, they were praised with how great their hair looked and their makeup done, but it didn't deter them in anyway shape or form. Nor did it take away from them being who they are.

I personally, am excited that FIRST is reaching out beyond the typical "STEM" partners and going into different ideas of possible partners. We have variety of girls on the team, some wearing makeup to none at all. But being able to be "pampered" at an event that is suppose to be a "man's world," I think getting a little makeover is fun. I see it as "anything you can do, we can do better and put on makeup while at it." Not all of you will agree with this.

I hate putting on makeup, but when I take the time to do it, I like what I did. (sometimes). While everyone thinks that makeup is something terrible, you'd be surprised at how you can put it on and be totally transformed. Everyone had some form of makeup (face, body, glitter, etc) on this weekend boy or girl. While as girls, we are suppose to have it on a certain way, think outside the box and have uses for makeup in different ways. I certainly wouldn't want to put sharpie marker on my face to represent my team colors.

Disclaimer: this is my opinion and does not reflect anyone else's. I had a great time at the event, and it's been far too long since my last one. I'm back! <3
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